Simon Russell Beale among new cast members for House Of The Dragon series two

Simon Russell Beale is among a slate of new cast members announced to be joining season two of HBO’s hit show House Of The Dragon.

The award-winning actor is joined by Freddie Fox, Gayle Rankin and Abubakar Salim, after production on the highly anticipated show resumed earlier this month.

The popular prequel series is set 200 years before the events of George RR Martin’s Game Of Thrones series.

It chronicles the beginning of the end of House Targaryen and the events leading up to the Targaryen civil war, known as the Dance of the Dragons.

HBO announced the additional cast members on Monday, one day after House Of The Dragon scooped three prizes at the Bafta TV Craft Awards.

They will join other big British stars Matt Smith, Emma D’Arcy and Paddy Considine, who will be reprising their roles for the second series.

Production has begun again at WBD’s Leavesden Studios in Watford, HBO previously announced.

It comes as HBO announced that it had ordered another Game Of Thrones prequel series, based around the adventures of Martin’s The Hedge Knight.

A Knight Of The Seven Kingdoms: The Hedge Knight, tells the story of two unlikely heroes in the land of Westeros, Ser Duncan The Tall and his squire Egg.