TWO BRITISH ACTING GREATS EMILY WATSON AND OLIVIA WILLIAMS TOGETHER ON SCREEN AT LAST TO STAR IN 'DUNE: PROPHECY'

It's rare to see a show in which a mature actress plays someone in a position of power.

So to get two such roles in new TV series Dune: Prophecy was a delight for award winners Emily Watson and Olivia Williams.

"I met Olivia when we first got the parts, and we went to the National Portrait Gallery," recalls Emily, 57.

"We sat in front of portraits of Elizabeth I, Mary Queen of Scots, Bloody Mary, Lady Jane Grey - all those women who lived in that terrifying time in British history where it was really a police state, and everybody wanted to kill or marry you.

"Both of those were a route to power," continues Emily, who plays older sister Valya to Olivia's Tula Harkonnen in the sci-fi series, a prequel set 10,000 years before the events of the 2021 film Dune, which was based on Frank Herbert's novel of the same name.

"The received notion that we have, that it's a glorious era of English history, is entirely because the narrative was utterly controlled. And that's what these two women do.