PERIOD SET TUESDAY: MARK HAMILL, TOM FORBES, GENEVIEVE GAUNT JOIN 'KNIGHTFALL' EPIC TV SERIES SEASON 2! 1ST 'DEATH AND NIGHTINGALES' BBC PERIOD SET SAGA PHOTOS WITH JAMIE DORNAN, MATTHEW RHYS

I must admit I wasn't at all excited when, earlier this year, History announced their mediaeval series KNIGHTFALL will be getting a second

Tom Forbes is the new naughty Prince of France

season, as the first one was mediocre at best, poorly written, mostly implausible with not a single likeable character (all of them were slimy, treacherous and immoral) but with the new cast additions being announced yesterday, I might change my mind and give it a go again.

KNIGHTFALL  which starred Tom Cullen as a knight Templar who is trying to solve a mystery of the Christ's chalice while also bedding French king's wife although he is supposed to be his best friend and mentor (it did see the said adulteress queen rightfully killed in the end) will now also have Mark Hamill, Tom Forbes and Genevieve Gaunt in the cast! Hamill will  be Talus, a battle hardened Knight Templar

Lovely Genevieve Gaunt is new Princess Isabella

veteran of the Crusades, who survived captivity for ten years in the Holy Land and is tasked with training the new initiates to the Order. Tom Forbes, whom we watched in Wolf Hall and The Bastard Executioner, will play Prince Louis, the violent and unpredictable son of King Philip (EdStoppard) and heir to the throne! Meanwhile, Genevieve Gaunt (who has just been crowned as queen Willow in The Royals) will play an older princess Isabella, the daughter of King Philip and well on her way to becoming the woman who history would call the she-wolf of France. Aaron Helbing (Spartacus: War of the Damned), is the new showrunner, taking over from Dominic Minghella.

BBC has, meanwhile, released first photos from their new three part period set mini series DEATH AND NIGHTINGALES with Jamie Dornan, Matthew Rhys and Ann Skelly! A story of love, betrayal, deception and

The series is based on Eugene McCabe modern Irish Classic

revenge, it is set in the haunting countryside of Fermanagh in 1885. It’s a world of spies, confessions and double dealings where neighbours observe each other and inform. The tale takes place over a desperately tense 24-hour

Matthew Rhys plays the father in the new BBC 2 series

period. It’s Beth Winters’ (Ann Skelly) 23rd birthday and also the day she has decided to join the charming Liam Ward (Jamie Dornan) to escape from her limited life and complex relationship with her Protestant landowner

Ann Skelly and Jamie Dornan lead the cast

stepfather Billy (Matthew Rhys). As decades of pain and betrayal finally build to a devastating climax, the series sees a woman struggling to control her own destiny and will ultimately illuminate tensions that tear both families and nations apart.