IFTA Award-winning Irish director Dearbhla Walsh (The Silence) has signed up for a second series of Renaissance-based drama 'Borgia'. No stranger to period dramas, having previously worked on Irish drama 'The Tudors' and the Charles Dickens adaptation 'Little Dorrit', for which she received an Emmy Award, Walsh will work alongside German film director Christoph Schrewe (The Sea Wolf) to direct 12 hour-long episodes.
'Borgia', not to be confused with 'The Borgias' which also has Irish links through creator Neil Jordan, started filming in Prague on Monday 26th March, the same location where Walsh filmed season one. Production is expected to take eight months, with further shoots to be based at original locations around Italy.
Walsh's 'Borgia', which was created by Tom Fontana (Oz), will be produced by French production company Lagardère Entertainment Atlantique Productions and Jan Mojto's international distributing company EOS Entertainment. French pay channel Canal Plus has commissioned the series which carries a budget of €30m. Netflix has pre-purchased season two to air in the UK and US, while Beta Film is currently in talks with other European broadcasters.
Season Two of 'Borgia' is expected to pick up where season one left off, with new characters being introduced in the form of Renaissance-era icons such as Michelangelo and Leonard da Vinci. John Doman (The Wire) and Mark Ryder (Robin Hood) will reprise their roles as father and son Rodrigo and Cesare Borgia.
Neil Jordan's first season of 'The Borgias' also aired in early 2011, with a second season expected to air in late 2012.
