Period drama Victoria will have a Christmas special episode in 2017, the show’s writer has confirmed.

The popular ITV programme, starring Jenna Coleman as the monarch, was previously confirmed to be returning next year for a second series.

Screenwriter Daisy Goodwin has now revealed that Victoria will have a festive episode after its second outing, during a Q&A session with Radio Times.

Asked by a Twitter user if she has started writing the script for series two, and also when it will air, she replied: “Yes I have! Much to the producer’s relief.

“It’s not easy, but hope you will approve when it airs next year, autumn 2017 + xmas special.”

She was also asked if the new series would tell the story of Prince Albert’s death in 1861.

Daisy replied: “We will stay in the 1840s so Albert is safe … for now.”

Another part of the Q&A saw her say that she will write as many series as possible, and that there is “no shortage of story”.

The Sunday night prime-time drama will come to its conclusion this weekend, with Jenna’s Queen Victoria heavily pregnant.

Victoria has been a ratings winner, averaging 7.7 million viewers and beating the competition from the BBC’s rival period drama Poldark.

Jenna plays the young monarch in the early years of her reign and is joined by Tom Hughes as her husband, Prince Albert, and Rufus Sewell as prime minister Lord Melbourne.

The new series will bring the queen into the next stage of her long reign as she manages scandal and the struggles of family life.

Daisy previously explained: “Even though she reigned in the 19th century, Victoria is a heroine for our times.

“In the next series she faces the very modern dilemma of how to juggle children with her husband and her job. As Victoria will discover, it’s hard to be a wife, a mother and ruler of the most powerful nation on Earth.”