The second series of BBC One’s The Village has started shooting this week in Derbyshire.

The six new episodes of Silk creator Peter Moffat’s epic drama begin in 1923 after the Great War.

The Village charts the life and turbulent times of one English village through the 20th Century, seen through the prism of Bert Middleton’s eyes – a young man who never leaves the village but sees the world transform around him.

23-year-old newcomer Tom Varey has been cast as the adult Bert, the son of John and Grace Middleton (John Simm and Maxine Peake).

The official synopsis reads: “Now in a world of boom and bust, motor cars and the Charleston, the twenties bring a blast of energy and freedom to the village; as the outside world continues to break down barriers, bringing with it the big dramas that change will always generate.”

New characters in Series 2 include Lord Kilmarnock (Julian Sands), who causes upset to all he encounters; and the station master’s daughter Phoebe (Phoebe Dyneover), who falls for an oblivious Bert.

Harsh landowner Alf Rutter (Ben Batt) continues his family’s battle with his neighbours the Middletons; while Grace (Peake) fights for her rights and for her community – and meets her match in ex miner and Labour candidate Robin (Derek Riddelly).

Joy Dangerfield (Juliet Aubrey) brings the world of Marie Stopes to the village; and Robert Read (Alex Robertson) rocks Edmund Allingham’s world. Bert’s mate Gilbert Hankin (Anderw Gower) is not his father’s son; and then the professional touring boxer Ghana Jones (Daniel Ezra), discovers village life.

Other returning village regulars include the Allingham family headed by Clem (Juliet Stevenson) and her children, the politically hungry Edmund (Rupert Evans), unstable daughter Caro (Emily Beecham) and war-scarred George (Augustus Prew), now married to the headstrong Martha (Charlie Murphy); school teacher Gerrard Eyre (Matt Stokoe); the self-made Arnold Hankin (Anthony Flanagan) and wife Norma (Ainsley Howard); land agent Bairstow (Joe Armstrong); the buxom Margaret (Annabelle Apsion); naive Agnes (Chloe Harris); housemaid Polly (Amelia Young); Methodist minister Robin (Scott Handy); pub Landlord Peter (Jim Cartwright); and introducing 11-year-old Chloe Rowley as Mary Middleton.

Are you looking forward to Series 2? Let us know below…