Long before she ascended the throne, young Elizabeth Tudor, played by Alicia von Rittberg ("Fury", “Charité,” “Genius”), was an orphaned teenager who became embroiled in the political and sexual politics of the English court. The death of King Henry VIII sees his nine-year-old son Edward, played by Oliver Zetterström ("The Midnight Gang", “The Romanoffs”), take the throne and sets into motion a dangerous scramble for power when Elizabeth, Edward and their sister Mary, played by Romola Garai ("The Hour," "The Miniaturist”) find themselves pawns in a game between the great families of England and the powers of Europe who vie for control of the country.
Additional key players in the relentless quest for power include King Henry’s widow, Catherine Parr, played by Jessica Raine (“The Informer,” “Patrick Melrose”), Thomas Seymour, played by Tom Cullen ("Weekend", "Black Mirror"), the new King’s uncle, who quickly marries the widowed Catherine but soon takes an interest in the teenage Elizabeth and Duke of Somerset, played by John Heffernan (“The Pursuit of Love,” “The Crown”), who loses no time in claiming the position of Lord Protector for himself when the old King dies.
Alicia von Rittberg is already an award-winning actress in her native Germany. International credits include David Ayer's Fury with Brad Pitt, which closed The London Film Festival and Our Kind of Traitor, which is based on the novel by John Le Carre, opposite Ewan McGregor, Stellan Skarsgard, Naomie Harris and Damian Lewis. Alicia has most recently been seen in “Genius” for National Geographic opposite Geoffrey Rush and Johnny Flynn and the award-winning series “Charite” for Netflix for which she won the Bambi Award for best actress.
Tom Cullen won the British Independent Film Award for Best Newcomer and for his performance in, Weekend. He starred opposite Toby Kebbell in the British TV miniseries, “Black Mirror,” which won an International Emmy for Best Series. Tom works extensively across film and television. His impressive body of screen credits include Charlie Dorfman’s Barbarians; Castle in The Ground and The Other Half.On the small screen Tom played Lord Gillingham in series 4 and 5 of “Downton Abbey”; the lead role of Wulfric in Ridley Scott produced miniseries “World Without End”; “Invasion” for Apple TV +; Jason Rose in Adrian Shergold’s “The Trials of Jimmy Rose”; Mark in “The Five”; Luc Simon in “Genius: Picasso”.
