Based on Andrzej Sapkowski's beloved fantasy books, Netflix's The Witcher is one of the streamer's most popular TV shows. Starring Henry Cavill as monster-slayer Geralt of Rivia, the first two seasons of The Witcher followed the White Wolf as he became the surrogate father of Ciri (Freya Allan), a girl with a special kind of blood that makes her a target for all the people trying to wield control over the Continent. The stakes are higher than ever in the upcoming Season 3, as new villains emerge and Ciri must learn to defend herself without Geralt. We are all anxiously waiting for Season 3 to premiere and scouring the internet for clues about what happens next in the story. Fortunately, Collider was granted access to some of the secrets of The Witcher Season 3 during a set visit with the show's cast and crew.
Last year, a select group of journalists was invited to spend a day in Longcross Studios, near London. While Season 3 of The Witcher took the cast and crew to many countries, including Italy, Croatia, Slovenia, and Morocco, Longcross Studios is where most of The Witcher is shot. For the entire day, we jumped from department to department, learning new things about an impressive production that involves thousands of people. Now that The Witcher Season 3 has a release date, we can finally share 25 exciting things Collider learned during our set visit.
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Our set visit began in the throne room of Redania, where King Vizimir (Ed Birch) reigns. The room features a massive chandelier adorned with crows and stone walls on which the Redania banner hangs. It feels great to be transported into the Continent. Still, looking up, we can see the wires and rigs that remind us that we are not in a fantasy world. In the throne room, we watched a short video about Season 3, which was filled with spoilers. Right after, we got to talk to showrunner Lauren Schmidt-Hissrich and stars Joey Batey and Freya Allan. During our Q&A session with Schmidt-Hissrich, Batey, and Allan, we learned much about the upcoming Season 3:
After our Q&A session, we were taken to the Art Department, where production designer Andrew Laws showed us the concept art for all the creatures that'll be part of Season 3. The Art Department also has models of sets used for Season 3's action scenes.
Another stop in our set visit was the backlot, where they built a village-sized location for The Witcher. Standing in the middle of the backlot, with wooden buildings surrounding us, felt like traveling through time to a medieval town. That's not far from the truth, since the backlot location is so big we could easily forget we were in a studio.
During our set visit, we were taken through the costume department, where hundreds of jackets, dresses, and armor are tailored for a cast of hundreds. We've also learned how the hair and makeup team starts their work in the middle of the night so everyone actor is ready to shoot in the morning. We also met the stunt team, visited the armory, and hung around the Aretuza set while they were shooting the ball scene, which allowed us to interact with multiple cast and crew members. Along the way, we learned many interesting things that show how much thought goes into every detail of a show like The Witcher:
A set visit is the perfect opportunity to meet the fantastic people behind the productions we love the most. However, it's also an opportunity to recognize how complex television production is. By watching a TV show, we can't possibly imagine how much work goes into each episode. So, it was a pleasure to spend a day on the set, talking to everyone and realizing how thousands of passionate workers pour all their energies into making The Witcher so successful.
Season 3 of The Witcher will be split into two parts. Volume 1 debuts on Netflix on June 29, with Volume 2 coming to the streamer on July 27.