Since its creation in 1964 the Addams Family has lured in audiences with its Halloween-chic sparkle and lovable cast of glamorous misfits. The 2022 interpretation, Wednesday, created by Alfred Gough and Miles Millar and directed by Tim Burton, saw Jenna Ortega (Wednesday) in the titular role. And suddenly we were in the gothic glamour of Nevermore Academy.   

See the ‘fits on the glam red/purple carpet event here.

A procession of British actors   

Discussions around unexpected casting for Wednesday Season 2 are buzzing, but let’s take a look at the casting history for this high profile series. Because, frankly, it’s never been driven by pop-culture frenzy.

The cast of the first seasons of Wednesday was full to the brim with British actors. Welsh star Catherine Zeta Jones, 55, took on the role of Morticia. We all remember her from her earlier career, including starring in the likes of Zorro and Titanic. Having taken multiple sabbaticals from acting in the last two decades, we wouldn’t necessarily have pegged her as a lead role in Netflix’s ‘next big thing’. But wow, is she perfect for the scary yet seductive role.   

Wednesday. (L to R) Catherine Zeta-Jones as Morticia Addams, Joy Sunday as Bianca Barclay in episode 202 of Wednesday. Cr. Jonathan Hession/Netflix © 2025

Season one of Wednesday also saw Game of Thrones star Gwendoline Christie, 46. Unlike Zeta Jones, Christie has typically played characters who are, shall we say… not so glamorous. From warrior Brienne of Tarth in GOT to fully armoured fighter, Captain Phasma in Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Wednesday saw Christie fully embrace her feminine side as principal Larissa Weems – she puts a refreshing feminine twist on the stern character. What could have easily become a bit ‘Miss Trunchball’ is instead layered and mysterious.   

Season one also saw some lesser-known Brits such as Georgie Farmer playing Ajax Petropolus, and Iman Marson as Lucas Walker. 

Who’s joining for Season 2? 

Now, with the second season launching, the series is doubling down on its British DNA – and the casting news has the potential to be pure gold. 

Okay, so this is exciting. Remember the character Grandmama Hester Frump? Portrayed in previous incarnations by Blossom Rock (1964-66), Carol Cane (1993) and Jackie Hoffman (2010). This is a character who is the embodiment of gothic glamour. This lover of death is being undertaken by the one and only Joanna Lumley, 79. British acting royalty. Famous of course for Absolutely Fabulous amongst a myriad of other successes including Sapphire and Steel, The New Avengers, and loads more. 

Having previously worked with Tim Burton on the 2005 animated film, The Corpse Bride, Lumley was thrilled to get the chance to work with him again. In an interview with Dermot O’Leary and Rochelle Hummes on This Morning, she recounted the phone call with Burton as he offered her the role, saying, “…before he’d even finished the sentence, I said, ‘how much do I need to pay you to do this?’ It’s just divine.” 

Lumley gushed over his attention to detail describing how absolutely everything is done with absolute precision. The tiniest props, like distant croquet wickets, made to look like bones. Everything is considered. 

Wednesday. Joanna Lumley as Grandmama in episode 204 of Wednesday. Cr. Owen Behan/Netflix © 2025

Lumley isn’t the only new Brit joining the Wednesday cast for Season 2. Doctor Who icon Billie Piper, who has had a varied career – from appearances on cult music show Top of the Pops to the risqué drama Secret Diary of a Call Girl. She recently shocked the nation by appearing in the plot twist ending of Doctor Who… as the Doctor, if that’s to be believed!?  Despite this, Piper is another actress who one wouldn’t necessarily have anticipated seeing in a wacky cultural phenomenon such as Wednesday. Then again, considering Doctor Who’s knack for the weird and wonderful, she might just be a perfect fit. 

Wednesday. Billie Piper as Isadora Capri in episode 205 of Wednesday. Cr. Bernard Walsh/Netflix © 2025

What’s striking is how Wednesday sidesteps the usual trend-chasing in casting. These choices feel intentional, curated. Like someone raided the vaults of British screen history and invited only the most intriguing players to join the gothic party. 

The purple carpet premier  

This week saw the Wednesday Season 2 premiere take place in London. It was very Wednesday, from The Hand on the DJ booth, and a purple carpet so rich it felt conjured by Morticia herself. The addictive gothic glamour vibes and attention to detail were evident throughout the event. 

The cast were additionally in keeping. Jenna Ortega wore her Wednesday style makeup. Now that’s a lot of eyeliner. Billie Piper went full goth in the dramatic black dress and Joy Sunday arrived dressed head to toe in a blood red dress with matching tights, shoes and hat.   

That’s not all the news. Just this week Netflix confirmed that Wednesday will be returning for a third season. In fact, it’s already in the works. Question is, who will crawl out of the crypt and into the cast? 

Luis Guzmán attends the Global Premiere of Netflix’s ‘Wednesday’ Season 2, Part 1 at Central Hall Westminster, London on July 30th, 2025. (Photo by StillMoving.Net for Netflix)

(L to R) Joy Sunday, Isaac Ordonez, Luis Guzmán, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Jenna Ortega, Joanna Lumley, Fred Armisen, Emma Myers, Georgie Farmer, Billie Piper and Steve Buscemi attend the Global Premiere of Netflix’s ‘Wednesday’ Season 2, Part 1 at Central Hall Westminster, London on July 30th, 2025. (Photo by StillMoving.Net for Netflix)

So when and where can you watch it?   

Wednesday Season 2 will be released in two parts, both on Netflix. Part one will come out on 6 August 2025, with the second part releasing on 3 September – both on Wednesdays of course… very clever Netflix.  

Just like the first season, there will be a total of eight episodes in the season, each promising an abundance of deadpan humour and gothic glamour.  

Wednesday. (L to R) Billie Piper as Isadora Capri, Jenna Ortega as Wednesday Addams in episode 202 of Wednesday. Cr. Helen Sloan/Netflix © 2025

Emma Cruickshank

Emma is a literature, TV, and film enthusiast. When she’s not writing, she can normally be found out in the Sussex countryside, walking her dog Herbie, or in a restaurant drinking an overpriced cocktail and dreaming up ideas for her next literary endeavour.

The post Wednesday Season 2 sees a swell of British TV royalty  appeared first on Silver Magazine.

Arriving in the chandeliered lower chamber of the Ham Yard Hotel, where I have attended a slew of preview screenings in the past, I sensed this was a far more high-stakes affair.

A blue ‘red’ carpet had been laid on for the press to snap assorted luminaries implicated in A Very Royal Scandal (available to stream from 19 September) as they posed for the cameras. The glittering centrepiece beaming beneath those flashlights though was Emily Maitlis, whose career-defining 2019 Newsnight grilling of Prince Andrew is dramatised in the three-part Prime Video series.

Incidentally, she’s also the executive producer. She cuts a taut but staunch figure encased in a slinky evening dress, and her charisma means she stands out a mile. Maitlis’ central presence dominated the line-up in the post-screening Q&A session, too.

Emily Maitlis at the premiere of A Very Royal Scandal

During the screening

Onstage, her magnetism out-ranks even the actorly stature of Ruth Wilson (who has some pretty big “third-wave feminist” shoes to fill playing Maitlis) and Michael Sheen (whose Prince Andrew swerves from simpleton to sinister without breaking a sweat).

It is proof of the pairs’ acting chops that I did not recognise either onscreen until the credits rolled – supposedly the highest compliment you can bestow upon a thespian. While neither star bears much resemblance to their real-life counterparts, the sneak preview we were afforded suggests both have an admirable crack at inhabiting their roles.

Seated between the combined clout of two household names on one side, and the industry gravitas of writer Jeremy Brock, director Julian Jarrold and executive co-producer Karen Thrussell on the other, Emily Maitlis nonetheless remained the gleaming jewel in a very heavyweight crown. And not simply down to her sparkly dress. Almost all those assembled on the stage relayed their own tale of how over-awed they were when meeting Maitlis for the first time, if not downright intimidated by her journalistic might.

But Ruth humanises her subject somewhat during the Q&A by revealing that the former national news anchor scoffs Percy Pigs non-stop on the sly. We are teased with further glimpses of a more relatable Maitlis in the first episode, in the form of the frazzled and fallible “family woman” behind the Newsnight titan. One who guzzles her vodka nightcap with gusto, grapples with dog crap, gets chastised by BBC bigwigs for rolling her eyes during Brexit coverage, and rails against the Daily Mail. She even frets about which shoes to wear for her face-off with HRH ‒ whether to pump for feminist spike heels or more demure “Royalist” courts.

Read more: quiz – how well do you know your royal history!?

Bringing history to the screen

It feels apt to mention her attire this evening. The first episode features a wry scene in which Maitlis’ prospective interview outfit is planned in strategic detail – and, of course, in a manner and context that would never have been the case had Prince Andrew’s interrogator been a man. But, as the script recounts, Prince Andrew’s people were determined that he be interviewed by a woman. It’s “all about the optics”, as ever.

And not just any woman. In a scene that elicited gasps from the audience and actors alike, Prince Andrew meets with Maitlis for a pre-interview vetting and asks her abruptly if she has ever been abused herself.

We may only have been privy to a preview of the first episode, but such scenes go some way to setting up what promises to be an acute and astute examination of the tension between the monarchy and the media. This simmering dynamic has played out ever since QE2 was forced to kow-tow to the latter’s power for the first time in the original High Noon style stand-off with the British press following Princess Diana’s death in 1997.

…how on earth Prince Andrew could have thought “telling his truth” was a wise idea

The dialogue explores how on earth Prince Andrew could have thought “telling his truth” was a wise idea, given the circumstances, and points to his enduring privilege as the answer. Although answers are nowhere to be found in this version of events, it would seem. At least, not according to Michael Sheen.

Sheen praises Brock’s script for offering up more questions than explanations, and cites this uneasy ambiguity as key to its appeal. He goes on to divulge that he made up his own mind about Andrew’s culpability and proceeded to do different takes of crucial scenes. The Welsh star switched between playing the Duke of York as indeed guilty of sexual crimes against a minor, and depicting a maligned but ultimately benign man innocent of the allegations against him.

Sheen doesn’t share his private verdict on the Prince during the interviews, and insists it should be left to viewers to make up their own minds. Whether the rest of the series is mired in a similarly murky coyness remains to be seen. When quizzed, executive producer Karen Thrussell candidly attributes any narrative opacity to a “legal nightmare” rather than mere stylistic device or moral squeamishness. “It was fine to talk about the King wanting to become a tampon, though.”

The Q&A scandal

Speaking of moral squeamishness, it seems Maitlis has no truck with such qualms. At several points, the Q&A compere appears to ask whether Maitlis herself feels any remorse for her actions in the aftermath of probing Prince Andrew.

When met with initial bewilderment, the host presses the broader question of whether journalists should feel a sense of accountability for any adverse impact on their interview subjects.

At first somewhat flummoxed, Maitlis’ brow briefly furrows. For a fleeting moment she seems mildly riled, before shifting to rightful dismissiveness. “I don’t really think about it in that way,” she finally says. “That isn’t part of my job.”

Whatever the fallout from Randy Andy’s moment of reckoning with Emily Maitlis, his feelings (and those of his family) are not her responsibility. Nor should they be. Perhaps some of the seedier elements of the British press should face certain ethical questions about the effects of their approach on innocent parties caught up in such coverage. But just watching the first instalment of A Very Royal Scandal is reminder enough that few are more deserving of media scrutiny than the seedier elements of the British establishment itself.

I put it to my Plus One in the pub afterwards that, in its purest form, journalism is potentially among the noblest of professions ‒ when harnessed to hold the powerful to account. As one interviewer put it to another during the Q&A: “This is why we become journalists.” And why A Very Royal Scandal is potentially one worth getting caught up in.

A Very Royal Scandal streaming on Amazon Prime from 19 September 2024

Vivienne Button

Vivienne recently returned home to the East London riviera, spending her days working as an editor on Fleet Street and her evenings attending free screenings. A perennial crazy cat lady currently without a cat, she is ready, willing and more than able – when not stalking Silver’s own emotional support pug, Alice –  to pet-sit in exchange for a chance to escape the Big Smoke.

The post ‘A Very Royal Scandal’ premiere review appeared first on Silver Magazine.