A child actor from St Albans - who stars in a hit drama on Amazon Prime- had his part rewritten after impressing during his first table read.

Henry Meredith featured in the last two episodes of The Great series two, a period drama available via the Lionsgate+ subscription on Amazon Prime.

His character had been set to be 'killed off' in a duel at the end of the series, but an impressive first table read convinced the TV show's bosses to rewrite the part.

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Henry now has a larger part in series three of the show, that also stars Elle Fanning, Nicholas Hoult and Phoebe Fox.

Herts Advertiser: Henry now has a larger part in series three.Henry now has a larger part in series three. (Image: Jon Meredith / The Great / Lionsgate+)

The Herts Advertiser spoke with Henry's father Jon about his son's role.

He began: "He basically started (acting) because his older brother was working, doing a similar thing.

"Henry joined the same agency as he was on, so he had it as a hobby as well.

                                                                                            

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"It was a bit of a surprise really, what happened next!"

Henry's brother Jack has featured in the West End, and took part in 2022's Matilda the Musical and BBC's Silent Witness.

Jon continued: "I'm really proud of Henry, particularly on this (The Great).

Herts Advertiser: Henry's character had been set to be 'killed off' in a duel.Henry's character had been set to be 'killed off' in a duel. (Image: Jon Meredith / The Great / Lionsgate+)

"He had a small part in season two, and then the table read went so well that they re-wrote him back into the series.

"He ends up with quite a prominent role, and that's off the strength of that table read.

"He was on it for seven or eight months, long days, working really hard, long hours learning scripts.

"He was trying to keep on top of school work.

"I'm really proud of his work ethic, and his performance as well."

Herts Advertiser: Henry's work ethic has been praised by his father.Henry's work ethic has been praised by his father. (Image: Jon Meredith / The Great / Lionsgate+)

Tony McNamara - the author of the book and creator of the series - told the Los Angeles Times: "While I watch, if I see characters spark, or an actor shows me something I haven’t seen before - and I think it’s good for the show - a hastily convened, post-shoot day writers-room quickly reshapes the script.

"The best example of this is a nine-year-old character who is fated for death in Episode 2, whose table read of the scenes before he is to be shot in the head is so good, and is so funny, and has veteran actors in tears laughing, that I scribble on page 42 'You should shoot yourself in the head if you shoot Maxim in the head'.

"I announce at the cast dinner that night that Maxim lives, to wild applause."