The White Queen

The White Queen – a co-production between the BBC, Starz and VRT, has finished filming in Bruges, Belgium.

Starring relative newcomer Rebecca Ferguson (famous in her native Sweden for ‘Nya tider’) and Max Irons (‘The Runaway’), the story is based on ‘The Cousin’s War’ a series of novels by Philippa Gregory and tells the story of three women involved in the fight for the throne during the War of the Roses. Ferguson plays the eponymous White Queen, Elizabeth Woodville, a commoner and widow who married Edward IV, played by Irons. Also featured heavily in the story are Elizabeth’s mother, Jacquetta (Janet McTeer, ‘Parade’s End’) and Margaret Beaufort (Amanda Hale, ‘The Crimson Petal and the White’) , the mother of Henry Tudor, battling to see her son take the throne.

The cast also includes James Frain (‘True Blood’), David Oakes (‘The Borgias’), Aneurin Barnard (‘We’ll Take Manhattan’), Juliet Aubrey (‘Primeval’) and Freya Mavor (‘Skins’). Recent guest star announcements include Andrew Gower (‘Being Human’) as Lord Strange and Michael Marcus, a recent graduate of Bristol Old Vic Theatre School, as Henry Tudor.

Filming began in Bruges in the Autumn of 2012 and wrapped this week. No official broadcast date has been released but Philippa Gregory has indicated on her website that it will air this Spring. You can also view a short clip of the programme on the Starz website.

Arthur Darvill has said he relished playing a more ruthless character in a new BBC period drama.

The 30-year-old actor is best known as mild-mannered male nurse turned sidekick Rory Williams in sci-fi hit Doctor Who and is about to hit our screens as an eager young vicar in ITV murder mystery Broadchurch.

So his next role - in the BBC's lavish adaptation of Philippa Gregory's novel The White Queen - is a bit of a departure for him.

"I play the Duke of Buckingham, who's kind of Richard III's right-hand man," he explained. "I've got a couple of really meaty scenes. It's one of those things that when I was asked about it, I thought, 'It's filming in Belgium for four weeks, I'll just nip over and do it'.

"It's something very different, he's not a very nice person. And I get a beard extension and curly hair, so I'm having a lot of fun with that. And I get to travel on the Eurostar every week to get to work, which is brilliant!

Arthur, who left Doctor Who last year, said he "doesn't have much of a game plan" when it comes to his career, but added: "There are a few things I want to do in the future.

"There are a few plays that I've always wanted to do, like The Crucible and Accidental Death Of An Anarchist.

"Actually I've got a book of lists of things I want to do and writers I want to work with and it's ever-growing, so I don't think I'll ever get them all ticked off!"