Mary, Queen of Scots, to be portrayed on TV and film

Adelaide Kane, left, and Camille Rutherford will portray Mary on television and film

Mary, Queen of Scots, is to be portrayed by two actresses on television and film later this year.

US channel The CW will premiere Reign, which stars former Neighbours actress Adelaide Kane as the young royal, on 17 October.

French actress Camille Rutherford portrays the Scot in new film Mary Queen of Scots, which will be released in Switzerland on 7 November.

The feature was shown at this year's Toronto and Locarno film festivals.

Directed by Swiss film-maker Thomas Imbach, it is based on Austrian novelist Stefan Zweig's 1935 biography, Mary Stuart.

The film's premieres at Toronto and Locarno in Switzerland received mixed reviews from critics.

'Dark forces'

Screen Daily said Mary's story was "nicely presented" but "rarely brims with much needed passion or drama".

Variety's reviewer described the royal as "one of the most gripping figures in romantic imagination" but was not impressed with the film.

The Hollywood Reporter said it was an intimate and serious examination of Mary, but "never quite gets into the head of its protagonist".

Television network, The CW, said its new drama will chronicle the rise to power of Mary when she arrives in France as a 15-year-old, betrothed to Francis, a French prince.

In Reign, the young queen's three best friends are her ladies-in-waiting.

The CW has said in its publicity for the series that it "details the secret history of survival at French Court amidst fierce foes, dark forces, and a world of sexual intrigue".

Audrey Hepburn, Vanessa Redgrave and Clemence Poesy are among actresses to have previously portrayed the queen.

Born in 1542 in Linlithgow Palace, Mary became queen when she was just six days old.

Her cousin Elizabeth I signed orders for her execution in 1587.