Britannia season 3: Release date, cast, trailer and everything you need to know

Historical fantasy series Britannia – which is set during the Roman invasion of Britain in AD 43 - launched in 2018 and has gone from strength to strength.

Following the success of season 2 in late 2019, season 3 was announced in January 2020.

Despite the disruption across the entire industry because of the coronavirus pandemic, we don’t have to wait too long for the new instalment.

Find out everything you need to know about Britannia season 3…

Britannia: What’s it about? Who’s in it?

Britannia season 3 release date

Sky has announced that Britannia season 3 will begin on Sky Atlantic and NOW on Tuesday, August 24 – and all eight episodes will be available straight away.

Britannia season 3 cast and plot

According to information released by Sky, a decision by Cait (Eleanor Worthington-Cox) will tie her to the future of her war-torn people and land.

In a Q&A session with press, Eleanor revealed: "I think at the beginning of this season, she’s been through so much loss and she’s been told what to do and she’s just been following along and doing as she’s told. And she’s sick and tired of being told by some ancient white guy what to do and being part of some prophecy.

"I think it’s this moment of how she becomes a woman and how she forms her own decisions and she uses her own strengths to inform those decisions, and how she might interpret the prophecy herself or if she even wants to go along with it at all. She’s got all these extremely difficult choices to make. She finds herself all alone, so she’s got a lot of thinking to do."

Meanwhile, Aulus (David Morrissey) comes under pressure from his wife (Britannia newcomer Sophie Okonedo), and Amena (Annabel Scholey) finds herself in a lethal situation with both of them. Devis (Nikolaj Lie Kaas) gets a new job which he hates, and Veran (Mackenzie Crook) sees the future from the underworld.

Julian Rhind-Tutt and Zoë Wanamaker also return to the series as Phelan and Queen Antedia respectively.

David Morrissey spoke about the challenges of playing Aulus, saying: "When I read it, I found it very, very challenging. But then when you see pieces of work like [the Rubens painting] the Massacre of the Innocents, and history where you see Hieronymus Bosch, you see throughout our history of people making horrendous sacrifices and he’s making a sacrifice in order to gain power. He’s hungry for power. He’s hungry for immortality. 

"He does something which was absolutely horrendous and disgusting, but not without reality. You see it in our history, you see it now, people making real, terrible decisions in order to have ultimate power. That’s what he’s doing and it’s a Faustian pact that he makes.

"He is warped and living in the dark side and walking into that world of wanting… it’s a world of martyrs. The whole thing of following leaders and doing outrageous things because they tell you to and giving away your own soul, that’s what Aulus does. 

"What’s wonderful about this season, without giving anything away, is it’s an internal battle right the way through the season of him coming to terms with this terrible thing that he’s done.

"At times you think he’s absolutely fine with what he’s done. He would do it again tomorrow. And at other times he’s not. And I love that fight that he has inside himself of the desire for absolute power and desire for peace and the battle he has with his own conscience."

Sophie Okonedo said she was delighted to join the cast as Hemple.

"I was already a fan of the show. I love it so much. So in the back of my mind, although I never said anything, I’d been thinking this is such a brilliant show to be in. 

"The thing about Hemple is that she’s just ravenous for everything, all the time. She’s so hungry and she just has as much as possible at all times of everything. So that’s her kind of drive.

"When you’ve got that kind of appetite that can’t be sated, you’ve just got to have your fill all the time.

"I loved all of it. I love that I’ve got these great big dogs, that I had a chariot, I loved that I wear a mask, I love that I’m either eating people or… stepping out on an orgy or coming into an orgy. She’s never not on."

Watch the Britannia season 3 trailer

Watch the Britannia season 1 and season 2 box sets on Sky Atlantic with a NOW Entertainment Pass.

Britannia season 3 will begin on Sky Atlantic and NOW on Tuesday, August 24.