''Jamestown'' is a British drama television series, written by Bill Gallagher and produced by Carnival Films, an NBC Universal International Television Production company, the makers of ''

Downton Abbey ''Downton Abbey'' is a British historical drama television series set in the early 20th century, created and co-written by Julian Fellowes. The series first aired in the United Kingdom on ITV on 26 September 2010 and in the United States o ...

''. Set in 1619, ''Jamestown'' follows the first English settlers as they establish a community in the

New World The term ''New World'' is often used to mean the majority of Earth's Western Hemisphere, specifically the Americas."America." ''The Oxford Companion to the English Language'' (). McArthur, Tom, ed., 1992. New York: Oxford University Press, p. ...

. Among those landing onshore are a group of women destined to be married to the men of Jamestown, including three spirited women from

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. The series premiered on Sky One in the United Kingdom in May 2017. Sky ordered a second series of ''Jamestown'' in May 2017, before the premiere of the first series. Series 2 aired from February 2018. The renewal of ''Jamestown'' for a third and final season was announced by Sky One on 23 March 2018.

Summary

1619. Twelve years after men founded the colony of Jamestown in 1607, women arrive from

duty bound to marry the men who have paid for their passage. Among the women are Jocelyn, Alice and Verity, who arrive with little idea of what the future holds or the disruption they are about to bring to the settlement. The new Governor, Sir George Yeardley, and his wife also arrive and discover that running the settlement is not without problems with a Company Secretary trying to undermine his position.

Cast and characters

* Naomi Battrick as Jocelyn Woodbryg – Betrothed and married to Samuel Castell *

Sophie Rundle Sophie Rundle (born 21 April 1988) is an English actress, best known for portraying Ada Thorne in the BBC One historical crime drama television series ''Peaky Blinders'', Ann Walker in BBC One and HBO's period drama '' Gentleman Jack'', Vicky B ...

as Alice Kett – Farm girl betrothed to Henry Sharrow but married to his brother Silas * Niamh Walsh as Verity Bridges – Betrothed and unofficially married to Meredith Rutter * Max Beesley as Henry Sharrow – Eldest brother of the three Sharrows *

Gwilym Lee Gwilym Lee (born 24 November 1983) is a Welsh actor. He is best known for his roles in '' Jamestown'', ''Midsomer Murders'', ''Top End Wedding'', ''The Great'', and for playing guitarist Brian May in the Queen biopic ''Bohemian Rhapsody''. Ear ...

as Samuel Castell – Recorder to the Virginia Company of London in Jamestown (Series 1) *

Jason Flemyng Jason Iain Flemyng''Births, Marriages & Deaths Index of England & Wales, 1916–2005.''; at ancestry.com (born 25 September 1966) is an English actor. He is known for roles in British films such as ''Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels'' (1998) ...

as Sir George Yeardley –

Virginia Company of London The London Company, officially known as the Virginia Company of London, was a division of the Virginia Company with responsibility for colonizing the east coast of North America between latitudes 34° and 41° N. History Origins The territor ...

Lieutenant-Governor A lieutenant governor, lieutenant-governor, or vice governor is a high officer of state, whose precise role and rank vary by jurisdiction. Often a lieutenant governor is the deputy, or lieutenant, to or ranked under a governor — a " second-in-com ...

and later

Governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

Claire Cox Claire Cox is a British actress. Her television appearances include acclaimed series ''The Last Salute'', '' Fresh Meat'', '' Spooks'', '' Wallander'' and '' Jamestown'' for Sky. Career Cox graduated from Central School of Speech and Drama with ...

as Temperance Flowerdew, Lady Yeardley – Wife of Sir George Yeardley *

Dean Lennox Kelly Dean Lennox Kelly (born 30 November 1975) is an English actor. He is known for his television roles as Kev Ball in '' Shameless'' and Meredith Rutter in '' Jamestown''. Early life Kelly is from Lytham St Annes, Lancashire. He trained at the Br ...

as Meredith Rutter – Owner of the tavern of Jamestown *

Shaun Dooley Shaun Dooley (born 29 March 1974) is an English actor, narrator and voice-over artist. Early life Dooley was born in Barnsley in Yorkshire. He studied at the Arden School of Theatre in Manchester between 1992 and 1995. Career Dooley's f ...

as Reverend Michaelmas Whitaker (Series 1) * Stuart Martin as Silas Sharrow – Middle brother of the three Sharrows * Steven Waddington as Thomas Redwick – Marshal of Jamestown * Matt Stokoe as James Read – Blacksmith/swordsmith/farrier/forger/craftsman *

Burn Gorman Burn Hugh Winchester Gorman (born 1 September 1974) is an English actor and musician. He is known for his roles as Owen Harper in the BBC series ''Torchwood'' (2006–2008), Phillip Stryver in ''The Dark Knight Rises'' (2012), Karl Tanner in the ...

as Nicholas Farlow – Secretary of the Virginia Company of London in Jamestown * Luke Roskell as Pepper Sharrow – Youngest of the three Sharrow brothers *

Ben Starr Benjamin Starr (October 18, 1921 – January 19, 2014) was an American television producer, creator, writer and playwright. Biography Born in Manhattan, New York, to Jewish Russian immigrants, Starr grew up in Brooklyn and worked in his par ...

as Dr Christopher Priestley – Physician/surgeon/apothecary *

Tony Pitts Anthony Pitts (born 10 October 1962) is an English actor, most notable for playing Archie Brooks in the long-running British soap ''Emmerdale Farm'' between 1983 and 1993. Early life Pitts was born in Sheffield, England. His family was wor ...

as Edgar Massinger – Land owner and tobacco grower (Series 1–2) *

Patsy Ferran Patsy Ferran is a Spanish-British actress. Early life Ferran was born in Valencia, Spain, in 1989. Her father is from Barcelona and her mother is from Valencia. The family moved to England when Ferran was a child. She attended Notre Dame School ...

as Mercy Myrtle – Servant girl of Samuel Castell and maid to Jocelyn Woodbryg *

Kalani Queypo Kalani Queypo (born September 6, 1986) is an American actor best known for his role as Chacrow on '' Jamestown'' and Klah Jackson on '' Fear the Walking Dead''. Biography Kalani Queypo claimed that he grew up being "artistic". His family were dan ...

as Chacrow – Native Indian go-between the settlers and Pamunkey Indians *

Raoul Trujillo Raoul Maximiano Trujillo de Chauvelon (born May 8, 1955) is an American and Canadian actor, dancer, choreographer, and theatre director. A former soloist with the Nikolais Dance Theatre, he is the original choreographer and co-director for the ...

Opechancanough Opechancanough (; 1554–1646)Rountree, Helen C. Pocahontas, Powhatan, ''Opechancanough: Three Indian Lives Changed by Jamestown.'' University of Virginia Press: Charlottesville, 2005 was paramount chief of the Powhatan Confederacy in presen ...

– Chief or King of the Pamunkey Tribe * Abubakar Salim as Pedro – Kingdom of Kongo Angolan warrior who is captured and sold into chattel slavery by the

Portuguese Portuguese may refer to: * anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal ** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods ** Portuguese language, a Romance language *** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language ** Portu ...

but captive by the

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

(Series 2–3) *Abiola Ogunbiyi as Maria – Kingdom of Kongo Angolan married with children who is captured and sold into chattel slavery by the Portuguese but captive by the English (Series 2–3) *Rachel Colwell as Winganuske – Chacrow's sister married to Henry Sharrow as a gift (Series 2–3) *

Ben Batt Ben Batt (born 7 February 1986) is an English actor, best known for his role as the villainous List of Shameless (British TV series) characters#Joe Pritchard, Joe Pritchard in Channel 4's comedy drama ''Shameless (UK TV series), Shameless''. He ...

as Willmus Crabtree – A mysterious trader from England with his motives and intentions unknown (Series 3) *Harry Grasby as Tamlin Appleday – One of the boys sent from England by the company to work the fields (Series 3)

Production

Most of the series was filmed in Vértesacsa, Hungary.

Episodes

Series 1 (2017)

Series 2 (2018)

Series 3 (2019)

Reviews

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

said the show was an expensive

soap opera A soap opera, or ''soap'' for short, is a typically long-running radio or television serial, frequently characterized by melodrama, ensemble casts, and sentimentality. The term "soap opera" originated from radio dramas originally being sponsored ...

, but found the show to be fun. A critic with the

Financial Times The ''Financial Times'' (''FT'') is a British daily newspaper printed in broadsheet and published digitally that focuses on business and economic current affairs. Based in London, England, the paper is owned by a Japanese holding company, Ni ...

questioned the accuracy of the show, especially its portrait of women. The

Irish Times ''The Irish Times'' is an Irish daily broadsheet newspaper and online digital publication. It launched on 29 March 1859. The editor is Ruadhán Mac Cormaic. It is published every day except Sundays. ''The Irish Times'' is considered a newspaper ...

found that everything in the show is "absurd, generic or risible".

The Telegraph ''The Telegraph'', ''Daily Telegraph'', ''Sunday Telegraph'' and other variant names are popular names for newspapers. Newspapers with these titles include: Australia * ''The Telegraph'' (Adelaide), a newspaper in Adelaide, South Australia, publ ...

was kinder to the show, as it found the show to be a "silly but gripping period drama".

References

External links

* *
Meet the cast (''Radio Times'')
{{Sky1 2017 British television series debuts 2019 British television series endings 2010s British drama television series Sky UK original programming English-language television shows Television series set in the 17th century Television series about the history of the United States Television shows set in North America Television shows filmed in Hungary