The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power release date and cast on Amazon Prime Video

Lord of the Rings is finally returning to our screens, 18 years since the final instalment of Peter Jackson's original series, The Return of the King, was released in cinemas. This time, brought to us as a series by Amazon Prime Video.

Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power will delve back into the Second Age of J.R.R. Tolkien's fantasy world, thousands of years before the events of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings trilogy. The series looks set to track the creation of the mythical rings wielded by powerful individuals across Middle Earth.

Beginning in a time of relative peace, the series follows an ensemble cast of characters, both familiar and new, as they confront the long-feared re-emergence of evil on Middle-earth. But when can we watch it and who will be starring in it?

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The first episode of the series will debut on Amazon Prime Video on September 2nd. It will be available in more than 240 territories and countries worldwide and new episodes will release each week.

The initial series is set to have eight episodes, though binge-watchers will be disappointed to hear that only one episode will be released per week. Amazon has reportedly spent more than $1 billion on the series, so they'll want it to last for as long as possible.

Amazon has promised that there will be familiar characters from Peter Jackson's Middle Earth as well as names that will be familiar to Tolkein's readers. The characters audiences will already be familiar with include Elven queen Galadriel (played by Morfydd Clark), Elrond (Robert Aramayo) and Isildur (Maxim Baldry).

The cast for The Lord of the Rings: