Doctor Who actress Jenna Coleman will star as a young Queen Victoria in ITV’s major new drama series from the makers of Poldark.

Victoria will follow the early life of Queen Victoria, from her ascension to the throne at the tender age of 18, through to her courtship and marriage to Price Albert.

The eight-part drama begins filming around the North of England next month.

Jenna Coleman commented: “I am delighted to be cast as Queen Victoria in this ambitious drama of her life.”

She added: “[Victoria] is a vivid, strong, inspirational and utterly fascinating woman in British history and I can’t wait to tell her story.”

Created and written by acclaimed novelist Daisy Goodwin, Victoria will open with a 90-minute special, followed by seven one-hour episodes.

Goodwin commented earlier this year: “I’ve been fascinated by Victoria since I started reading her diaries at university. She’s a woman whose personality leaps off the page – a tiny 4 foot 11 teenager who overnight became the most powerful woman in the world, and her candour and spirit makes for an irresistible heroine.

“Victoria was the first woman to have it all; she had a passionate marriage, nine children and was grandmother to most of Europe’s royalty, but she also had a job, being Queen of the most important nation in the world. It wasn’t easy; her reign was beset by scandal and sleaze and it was only by sheer force of personality that she prevailed.

“Her diaries, all sixty two million words of them, give an astonishingly vivid picture of her transformation from rebellious teenager into, to my mind, our greatest Queen.”

ITV’s Director of Drama Steve November added: “This epic series is a chance to see the Victorian age through the eyes of the Queen herself for the first time. She’s a vibrant, fascinating character whose legacy lives on today. Her life story is one that is by turns genuinely dramatic, romantic and surprising. We are delighted to be working with Daisy Goodwin, who knows her subject intimately and has brought her to life beautifully, and with Mammoth, who we know are masters of epic period drama.”

Coleman can be seen on BBC One this autumn as Clara in the new season of Doctor Who, which begins tomorrow night.

Are you looking forward to Victoria? Let us know below…