TV preview: It's been a long wait, but series two of Discovery of Witches is finally here

Matthew Goode, the Downton Abbey star who plays Matthew, was certainly feeling the pressure, what with the show becoming a period drama this time around.

"There are many more things to think about," notes the 42-year-old actor, who was born in Exeter. "I don't think we are sitting on our laurels."

But there's no need to worry; the ten new episodes are just as gripping, romantic, and spellbinding as you'd hope.

They follow star-crossed lovers Matthew and Diana (Hacksaw Ridge's Teresa Palmer) as they travel back to Elizabethan London, where they try to find a powerful witch teacher to help Diana control her magic, and search for the elusive Book of Life.

Intertwined throughout the story, there's plenty of drama in the present day too - a world where witches, vampires, and daemons secretly live and work alongside humans.

Here - from interviews in November 2019, on set in Wales - lead stars Goode, Palmer, plus brand-new cast member Tom Hughes, tell us more.

NEW ANGLES

In between shooting series one and two, Aussie actress Palmer, 34, gave birth to a daughter, Poet, her third child.

And while she is loving the intricate Elizabethan costumes Diana wears this series - 'they're gorgeous!', she exclaims - the logistics of wearing the costumes are challenging.

The Adelaide-born star, who is married to American actor Mark Webber, is currently breastfeeding, and so has to have front opening corsets.

"And also, my baby is just not a fan of being gentle at all, with any of the collars or the beads - she just rips at everything," she quips. "So, it's been complicated at times."

But how will we see Diana adapt to a new time period?

"To be thrust back so many years is incredibly confronting and challenging, and she's in a very vulnerable position, so she's having to navigate lots of different things," Palmer muses.

We also see a different side to Matthew, she adds, as we explore his past as Matthew Roydon.

"Matthew Roydon is a really complex, broody sort of dangerous, dark character and she hasn't known this person before, and she feels like she's getting to know this whole other side of him.

"This other side of him is revealed to her and she steps up and she accepts it, and she wants to learn more about him, which I think is very romantic."

FAMOUS FACES

A whole set has been built, in the Welsh countryside, purposefully for this second series.

As we walk around, it's bustling and atmospheric, with huddles of extras milling around, and it really does feel like we've been thrust back in time - something that definitely comes across on screen.

Then there are the new characters that immerse us in the time period too, including Kit Marlow, the English playwright, poet, and translator of the Elizabethan era, played by Victoria star, Tom Hughes.

"There are elements of the real Christopher Marlowe in there; there's a kind of Mercurio quality to him, and there's a hedonism to him, there's a lyricism to him," notes Chester-born Hughes, 35.

"And then bring that in with obviously what's in the books, and how that's adapted for this story, he's slightly infantilised at times.

"Something about his emotion is very, very raw, and that brings with it a plethora of different feelings; there's volatility, there's obsession."

That obsession is with Matthew, and it also means Kit has a fear of Diana, because when Matthew arrives back from the modern-day, the whole world has changed and shifted.

"His [Kit's] emotional connection with Matthew is shifted, Matthew's aura has shifted, and the only thing that Kit can seem to identify as being the thing that's caused that is Diana."

Bring on the drama...

CASTING A SPELL

In this series, Diana doesn't have a choice other than to start embracing who she is - the most powerful witch the world has ever seen.

And Palmer says that has been really fun for her because she's "getting to do so much more magic stuff" - and has even been doing magic classes with a movement coach.

She's been "learning about weaving and the history behind witches and the idea of like the threads of the universe and weaving them together and doing these ten different knots", she explains.

Interestingly, Diana starts to realise that one of her gifts is that she brings life into things, which will no doubt make for some exciting scenes.

"There are certain elements in the book where, for instance, she has an egg and she makes the egg hatch and a live chick comes out," notes Palmer.

"There's another sequence where she's looking at someone's shoe and a snake is embroidered in it and she brings a snake out of the shoe - a real-life snake.

"So, she's starting to learn about her connection to life."

POPULAR CHARACTERS

There are so many stories about witches and vampires which have been adapted for TV or film.

Discussing their enduring appeal, father-of-three Goode says: "I think we hear those stories first when we're children and they're sort of a little bit disturbing and magical and mysterious. And then I think Harry Potter helped..."

He continues: "Halloween is huge in America, whereas actually, I'm not a big fan of it here.

"You spend your entire time telling children not to talk to strangers and take sweets and then that day all the rules go out the window!"

Palmer adds that shows like Discovery of Witches are "a departure from how we live our lives".

"Fantasy is a form of escapism, I think," she elaborates. "I remember as a kid, I was so obsessed with UFOs and aliens and ghosts and mysteries, and I still am.

"My oldest son, Bodhi, he's so excited about what we're doing and vampires and witches. I think it's just ingrained in us as children; there's just something really enticing about being a little scared."

A Discovery of Witches, Sky One and NOW TV on Friday, 9pm.