Filming for the second cycle of Shakespeare’s history plays airing on BBC2 and PBS in America under the Hollow Crown is now underway. As with the first set of programs, this years follow-up sports quite the line-up that plays out like a who’s who of British actors who will lend their talents and star in the series’ four-part adaptation of both Henry VI (in three parts) and Richard III. Dame Judi Dench (Duchess of York), Benedict Cumberbatch (King Richard III), Sophie Okonedo (Queen Margaret), Tom Strurridge (Henry VI) and Keeley Hawes (Elizabeth Woodville) will star in Richard III with Cumberbatch cast in the lead as Shakespeare’s hunch-backed monarch.

For Cumberbatch, this will be a perfect transition into Shakespeare and his theatre role as Hamlet in 2015 from his more recent roles as the world’s most famous consulting detective, Sherlock Holmes, and more movies that anyone can legally count. Here, Cumberbatch shows off his horse-riding skills and looking very un-Sherlock like…
 

For the multi-part Henry VI, Downton Abbey‘s Hugh Bonneville stars as Humphrey of Lancaster, 1st Duke of Gloucester with Sally Hawkins as Eleanor, Duchess of Gloucester and Tom Sturridge in the title role as King Henry VI. Look for the second set of Hollow Crown: The War of the Roses in 2015 on BBC2 and on PBS as part of the Great Performances series in the States.