Benedict Cumberbatch and Andrew Scott reunite for BBC Shakespeare

Cumberbatch will play Richard III in two of the three new Hollow Crown films

Benedict Cumberbatch will be joined by his Sherlock co-star Andrew Scott in the cast of BBC Two's next major Shakespeare adaptation.

Filming has begun on The Hollow Crown: The Wars of the Roses, which will encompass Shakespeare's Henry VI Parts I, II and III and Richard III.

The first photo to be released shows Cumberbatch, best known as Sherlock Holmes, on horseback as Richard III.

Scott, who plays Holmes' adversary Moriarty, will appear as Louis XI.

Star-studded cast

The cast of the three-part drama will also include Sophie Okonedo as Queen Margaret; Hugh Bonneville as Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester; and Sally Hawkins as Eleanor, Duchess of Gloucester.

Tom Sturridge will star as Henry VI, Sir Michael Gambon will play Mortimer, while Philip Glenister will play Talbot

Ben Miles will play Somerset, Keeley Hawes will play Elizabeth, while Dame Judi Dench will appear as Cecily, Duchess of York.

Dominic Cook‎e, the former artistic director of the Royal Court theatre in London, will direct the films.

They will follow the first Hollow Crown films, the epic adaptations of Shakespeare's Richard II, Henry IV Parts I and II and Henry V that were broadcast in 2012.