With the Platinum Jubilee weekend inching closer, ITV has announced its plans for a star-studded Celebration.
Dame Helen Mirren, who has played Her Majesty in the theatre and on film, is set to lead The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee Celebration. Tom Cruise and Damian Lewis, Phillip Schofield and Julie Etchingham will host the special which is set to be broadcast live from Windsor Castle on 15 May.
The TV special will feature 1300 performers and 500 horses. Made up of four acts, hosts Tom Cruise, Damian Lewis, Adjoa Andoh, and Alan Titchmarsh will help lead the celebration. Other celebrity guests include Lord Andrew Lloyd Weber, Ant and Dec, Dame Joan Collins, Sir David Jason, Sir Mo Farah, Dame Maureen Lipman, Dame Kelly Holmes, and Sir Trevor McDonald.
Dame Helen will take on the role of Queen Elizabeth I while a cast of ‘Queen’s Players’ are introduced by a character called ‘The Herald,” played by Omid Djalili. The Herald will whisk viewers through time and link different acts together as well as narrate and anchor the stories. It’s said the celebration will show moments from history such as Elizabeth I’s Tilbury Speech and James I and the Gunpowder Plot, and it will celebrate the Commonwealth as well as the four nations of the UK.
Katie Rawcliffe, Head of ITV Entertainment Commissioning said of the special: “We’re thrilled to be broadcasting the first televised event for The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee here on ITV.
“To mark this momentous occasion, we’ll be bringing the nation a celebratory, star-studded show, complete with show-stopping performances and an epic journey through history, told by some of the most well-renowned and respected names in film and television.”
This is not the first time Dame Helen will have played Queen Elizabeth I, she previously starred as the sovereign in the TV series Elizabeth I. She is also the only actor to have played both Elizabeth I and Queen Elizabeth II after starring in the 2006 film, The Queen, for which she won several awards including an Academy Award.
There will also be several musical performances from artists including Keala Settle, Gregory Porter, and Katherine Jenkins.
The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee will be broadcast live from the private grounds of Windsor Castle on Sunday 15 May on ITV and ITV Hub.
