Dame Helen Mirren and Tom Cruise to lead cast in Platinum Jubilee broadcast

Dame Helen Mirren, Tom Cruise and Damian Lewis will lead an all-star cast in a television broadcast to mark the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee.

The theatrical arena event, which will be broadcast live on ITV from the grounds of Windsor Castle on May 15, will feature 1,300 performers and 500 horses.

It will be made up of four acts, each overseen by a different event host – Cruise, Lewis, Adjoa Andoh and Alan Titchmarsh – and will look back through history from the reign of Queen Elizabeth I to the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II.

Dame Helen will take on the role of Queen Elizabeth I, while a cast of Queen’s Players will be introduced by a character called The Herald played by Omid Djalili.

The Herald will whisk viewers through time, linking the acts together and narrating and anchoring the stories.

Each act will reflect on key moments in history, including Elizabeth I’s Tilbury Speech and James I and the Gunpowder Plot.

The Commonwealth will also be celebrated, as well as the four nations of the United Kingdom, and there will be a number of military and equestrian displays from around the world including Azerbaijan, India, Oman, France, Norway, Switzerland, and Trinidad and Tobago.

Music will be provided by a 75-piece orchestra, with special performances from Keala Settle, Gregory Porter and Katherine Jenkins.

Other guests will include Andrew Lloyd Webber, Ant and Dec, Dame Joan Collins and Sir David Jason.

Katie Rawcliffe, head of ITV entertainment commissioning, said: “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.”