A Discovery of Witches (TV series)

A Discovery of Witches is a British fantasy television series based on the All Souls Trilogy by Deborah Harkness, named after the first book in the trilogy. Produced by Bad Wolf and Sky Studios, it stars Teresa Palmer and Matthew Goode as a witch and a vampire who must learn about and fend off magical creatures. Edward Bluemel, Louise Brealey, Malin Buska, Aiysha Hart, Owen Teale, Alex Kingston, and Valarie Pettiford are also featured.

The eight-episode first series of A Discovery of Witches premiered weekly in the UK on Sky One from 14 September 2018. In November 2018, Sky One renewed A Discovery of Witches for a second and third series. The ten-episode second series was initially released in its entirety on 8 January 2021, and aired weekly on Sky One. The third and final series was also initially released in its entirety on 7 January 2022 and aired weekly on Sky Max. The programme received generally positive reviews, with praise for the chemistry between the main characters, and it received a nomination for Best New Drama at the National Television Awards.

Premise
Diana Bishop, a historian and reluctant witch, unexpectedly discovers a bewitched manuscript in Oxford's Bodleian Library. This discovery forces her back into the world of magic in order to unravel the secrets it holds about magical beings. She is offered help by a mysterious geneticist and vampire Matthew Clairmont. Despite a long-held mistrust between witches and vampires, they form an alliance and set out to protect the book and solve the mysteries hidden within while dodging threats from the creature world.

Main

 * Teresa Palmer as Diana Bishop, DPhil, A witch born in 1986. Her biological parents are deceased but when living they were very powerful witches. She is a tenured historian at Yale University, studying alchemy and science at the University of Oxford
 * Matthew Goode as Matthew Clairmont, a vampire and Professor of Biochemistry
 * Edward Bluemel as Marcus Whitmore, Matthew Clairmont's vampire son and lab colleague
 * Louise Brealey as Gillian Chamberlain (series 1), a fellow witch and academic alongside Diana at Oxford
 * Malin Buska as Satu Järvinen, a Finnish witch and a Congregation member
 * Aiysha Hart as Miriam Shephard, vampire and Matthew's scientific colleague at Oxford
 * Owen Teale as Peter Knox, a high-ranking witch and a member of the Congregation
 * Alex Kingston as Sarah Bishop, Diana's aunt
 * Valarie Pettiford as Emily Mather, Sarah's partner
 * Gregg Chillin as Domenico Michele, a vampire and Congregation member
 * Elarica Johnson as Juliette Durand (series 1), a vampire, daughter of Gerbert
 * Greg McHugh as Hamish Osborne, a daemon and Matthew's best friend
 * Trevor Eve as Gerbert d'Aurillac, an ancient vampire and a Congregation member
 * Daniel Ezra as Nathaniel Wilson, a daemon, son of Agatha
 * Aisling Loftus as Sophie Wilson, a daemon, wife of Nathaniel, and as Susanna Norman (season 2), a witch
 * Tanya Moodie as Agatha Wilson, a daemon and Congregation member
 * Sorcha Cusack as Marthe, a vampire, housekeeper to Ysabeau
 * Trystan Gravelle (series 1–2) and Peter McDonald (series 3) as Baldwin Montclair, a vampire, brother of Matthew and head of the Congregation.
 * Lindsay Duncan as Ysabeau de Clermont, mother of Matthew Clairmont and wife of Philippe de Clermont
 * Holly Aird as Françoise (series 2), a vampire
 * Tom Hughes as Kit Marlowe (series 2), playwright and friend of Matthew
 * Michael Lindall as Walter Raleigh (series 2)
 * Sheila Hancock as Goody Alsop (series 2), a witch
 * Paul Rhys as Andrew Hubbard (series 2–3), a vampire
 * Steven Cree as Gallowglass (series 2–3), son of the late Hugh de Clermont and nephew of Matthew
 * Adelle Leonce as Phoebe Taylor (series 2–3), a human who becomes involved with Marcus
 * Elaine Cassidy as Louisa de Clermont (series 2), sister of Matthew
 * James Purefoy as Philippe de Clermont (series 2), husband of Ysabeau, father of Baldwin and stepfather of Matthew
 * Michael Jibson as Rudolf II (series 2), Holy Roman Emperor and King of Bohemia
 * Olivier Huband as Fernando Gonçalves (series 3), a vampire, partner of the late Hugh de Clermont
 * Jacob Ifan as Benjamin Fuchs (series 3, guest series 2), a vampire
 * Ivanno Jeremiah as Christopher Roberts (series 3), friend of Diana
 * Toby Regbo as Jack Blackfriars (series 3)
 * Joshua Pickering as young Jack Blackfriars (recurring series 2)
 * Parker Sawyers as Ransome Fayrweather (series 3), a vampire

Recurring and guest

 * Adetomiwa Edun as Sean (series 1), an employee at the Bodleian Library
 * Sophia Myles as Rebecca Bishop (series 1–2), Diana's mother
 * David Newman as Stephen Proctor (series 1, guest series 2), Diana's father
 * Chloe Dumas as Meridiana (series 1), a witch
 * Milo Twomey as Pierre (series 2), a vampire
 * Barbara Marten as Elizabeth I (series 2), Queen of England
 * Adrian Rawlins as William Cecil (series 2)
 * Adam Sklar as Henry Percy (series 2)
 * Amanda Hale as Mary Sidney (series 2)
 * Struan Rodger as John Dee (series 2)
 * Anton Lesser as Rabbi Loew (series 2)
 * Lois Chimimba as Catherine Streeter (series 2), a witch
 * Amy McAllister as Marjorie Cooper (series 2), a witch
 * Victoria Yeates as Elizabeth Jackson (series 2), a witch
 * Genesis Lynea as Geraldine Newcopse (series 3), a vampire
 * Shobu Kapoor as Linda Crosby (series 3), a witch
 * Phaldut Sharma as T.J. Weston (series 3), a demon

Production
Warner Bros. purchased the film rights to A Discovery of Witches in 2011. The film was in the early stages of development, with few details released beyond the signing-on of playwright David Auburn to pen the screenplay and producers Denise Di Novi and Allison Greenspan.

British entertainment channel Sky One bought the rights for the books, to adapt them into a television programme. Teresa Palmer was cast as Diana Bishop and Matthew Goode was cast as Matthew Clairmont. After six months of filming, it was completed on 16 February 2018. Much of the work was filmed in Wales, on location and at Bad Wolf Studios in Cardiff.

On 2 November 2018, Sky One renewed A Discovery of Witches for a second and a third series before the first series finale was broadcast. A first look at the second series was released in September 2019. In December 2019, it was announced that the filming for the next series was completed in the UK, and the rest of the filming would take place in Italy. During the New York Comic Con's virtual event in October 2020, it was reported that the third series was filming at Wolf Studios in Cardiff. A trailer for the third series was released in October 2021.

Release
The programme premiered in the UK on Sky One on 14 September 2018 with its first series of eight episodes. Streaming on NOW TV also started on that date after each episode was broadcast. The international distribution of the programme is handled by Sky Vision. From January 2019, the series became available on AMC's subscription services Sundance Now, Shudder, and AMC Premiere.

It was announced by AMC Networks at the TCA press tour that the show would be making its American television debut on 7 April 2019 on AMC and BBC America, being paired with Killing Eve's second season.

The second series was initially released in its entirety on 8 January 2021, consisting of ten episodes, and continued to air weekly on Sky One.

The third series was released on SundanceNow, Shudder and AMC+ on 8 January 2022.

Critical reception
The programme received positive reviews from critics, who praised the adaptation, the production and the performances of the cast. On Rotten Tomatoes, 94% of 33 critics have given the first series a positive review, with an average rating of 7/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "A Discovery of Witches smartly grounds its flights of fancy with a lived-in authenticity and harnesses the chemistry between its two star-crossed leads to make for a promising foray into the occult." For the second series, Rotten Tomatoes collected 21 critic reviews and identified 81% of them as positive, and the average rating is 6.8/10. The consensus states, "Grounded by Matthew Goode and Teresa Palmer's infectious chemistry and a healthy dose of visual splendor, A Discovery of Witches' sophomore season makes slipping eras look easy." Metacritic, another aggregator, assigned the first series an average score of 67 out of 100 based on 13 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".

Accolades
In October 2018, A Discovery of Witches was nominated in the longlist for Best New Drama in the National Television Awards. In January 2019, it was announced as a nominee for the shortlist of Best New Drama series nominees at the 24th National Television Awards.