NETFLIX'S second season of mega-hit The Witcher returns to screens this week – with some Scottish connections to keep an eye out for.
The fantasy series stars Henry Cavill as Geralt of Rivia, Freya Allan as Ciri and Anya Chalotra as Yennefer of Vengerberg.
As of the start of season two, monster-hunter Geralt is taking his new ward Ciri to the Witcher keep of Kaer Morhen, while Yennefer faces up to the personal and political aftermath of a fierce battle that shaped the future of the Continent.
Fans of Outlander and Men In Kilts will be seeing a familiar face popping up – as Graham McTavish joins the cast of the show based on Polish author Andrzej Sapkowski’s books.
He’ll be playing Redanian spymaster Dijsktra – one of the major kingdoms within the landscape of the Witcher world, and set to be a key chessmaster going forward.
McTavish is no stranger to fantasy, playing Ser Harrold Westerling in the upcoming Game of Thrones spinoff House of the Dragon, and having played Dwalin in The Hobbit movies, along with voicing Deglan in an animated prequel to The Witcher that released early this year, Nightmare Of The Wolf.
A character expected to return after an appearance in the first season is Yarpen Zigrin, who led a band of dwarves on a quest for a dragon when he was seen last.
Yarpen is played by actor Jeremy Crawford – a graduate of Glasgow’s Royal Conservatoire of Scotland.
Dumfries-born Blair Kincaid appeared in the show's debut season as Skelligan nobleman Crach an Craite, attending a feast joined by compatriots with names like "Draig Bon Dhu" and accompanied by bagpipes.
The Witcher had also been eyeing up the Isle of Skye as a filming location for season two, though Covid-19 lockdown restrictions got in the way of that.
It is expected that, rules-allowing, the production will be making its way north from its main studios near London when filming for the confirmed season three is in progress.
The book series the show is based on has plenty more references to Scotland that could be drawn on in future seasons.
Scotland’s national animal, the unicorn, makes an appearance in this fantasy universe, with a “kelpie” appearing too.
The books – set in a fantasy universe – also, in a pre-chapter segment, include a quote from the fictional “Inverness Weekly” about an imagined incident involving a Mr Malcolm Guthrie of Braemore.
While The Witcher has distanced itself from Game Of Thrones, that was another recent fantasy TV series to feature much inspiration from Scotland through its source material.
Author George RR Martin drew from the Black Dinner when he wrote the infamous Red Wedding, and the cast included Scots from Iain Glen, to James Cosmo, Rose Leslie and Richard Madden.
The new season of The Witcher will go live on Netflix on December 17.
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