‘House of the Dragon’ Star Maddie Evans Is Trading Dragons for Witches in New British Horror

Maddie Evans has spent recent years building her profile within one of television’s biggest fantasy franchises, but her next project takes her into an entirely different corner of British storytelling. Rather than continuing within the world of Westeros, Evans is stepping into a chilling, real-world piece of English history for her next major role.

That project is ‘Pendle 1612,’ an upcoming British horror feature confirmed exclusively by Deadline, with Evans set to lead a cast that also includes newcomer Ella Moss and ‘Shetland’ actress Gemma Laurie. The film is written and directed by Lancashire-born twin filmmakers Liam Bashford and Kyle Bashford, marking a deeply personal project for both brothers given their own roots in the region.

According to the report, Evans will play Amy, with Moss taking on the role of Hannah and Laurie playing Meg, three young women whose documentary investigation into the disappearance of Amy’s older sister pulls them deep into the landscape surrounding Pendle Hill, a location forever tied to one of Britain’s most infamous witch trials.

Described as a docu-horror, the film draws directly from the real events of 1612, when accusations of witchcraft swept through the Lancashire region and ultimately resulted in the hanging of ten people convicted during the trials. Rather than simply retelling that historical event, though, the Bashford twins are using it as the foundation for a contemporary mystery instead.

Speaking about what drew him and his brother to the project, Liam Bashford described the Pendle Witches as a story that’s followed them their entire lives. “Growing up in Lancashire, the story of the Pendle Witches has always been around us,” Bashford said. “There’s something about Pendle itself, the landscape, the isolation and the history beneath it. That has stayed with us since we were kids. We didn’t want to recreate 1612. We wanted to ask what might still be there today.”

That approach positions the film less as a straightforward period piece and more as a modern-day exploration of how deeply historical trauma can linger within a place, using the isolated, atmospheric setting of Pendle Hill itself as a character in its own right.

Production is set to begin shooting on location at the heart of Pendle in Lancashire, with principal photography scheduled to start toward the end of September. The film is being produced by Eleven Eleven Pictures, and the Bashford twins are also currently serving as executive producers on ‘Una Notte,’ a separate short film produced through actor Harris Dickinson’s Devisio Pictures banner.

For Evans, the project offers a genuine opportunity to showcase her range well outside the confines of prestige fantasy television, while giving the Bashford brothers a chance to tell a story rooted deeply in their own upbringing. With filming just weeks away and a genuinely intriguing premise already generating buzz, ‘Pendle 1612’ looks set to become one of the more anticipated British horror releases to watch as production gets underway

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