Victoria

I can not believe the production company nor the various directors could/would want to end the series where they did, in the middle of an emotional crisis. There are another 40 plus years of history, let alone many wars, adventures, and the entire Industrial Revolution. Is it that actors were tired of the fabulous custumes or were they tired of riding in unglamorous coaches? I think most of the watching audience had emotional attachments to many of the characters and or actors, including good, bad, love and disgust, all good character development!!! It will never be too late to revive the series, albeit the actors have aged, but so have the characters!

It starts very well. They give a nice insight into an 18yo girl, totally protected and kept from everything except her family, suddenly dropped into the position of Queen of the most powerful country on the planet. Not unexpected, but completely unprepared. The early episodes are very good. Melbourne and Peel are both very well done and the drama does what it should do, it breathes life into history.

The problems start when Albert appears. Tom Hughes is simply dreadful as Albert, completely unconvincing. Albert was an intense, prickly and stubborn man. Hughes plays him as a sulky toy boy. It is awful. But then Hughes tends to play sulky toy boys so it is hardly a surprise. A better casting would have been Daniel Brühl who played Nikki Lauda in Rush, but there it is. I suspect Hughes was included as eye candy for the ladies, and certainly as a man I found Jenna Coleman very nice to look at, so I don't begrudge them that. The difference is Coleman carried her part well, Hughes was all wrong. By contrast, his brother Earnest is excellent.

It also gets increasingly soapy after Albert arrives on the scene, culminating in a final episode that is little more than an extended advert for the 2nd series. It gets quite bad. It is known that Albert was not that keen on Victoria and accepted her proposal because it was his duty to do so. He fell in love her, very much so, but after they were married. That won't do at all for a soap (it would be OK the other way around), so he has to be besotted from the start. It's hard to see the Prince Albert we are given by Hughes falling in love with anyone except himself, so it's all very false.

Jenna Coleman's acting is worth an award. Camera work by John Lee is extraordinary (the right eye for detail), music is extremely well suited, the costumes are exquisite. It's a feast for the eye and while looking at it you just tend to forget the quibbles about it's historical mistakes.

I was so looking forward to watching Victoria and I have not been disappointed. Having a keen interest in English history, especially of the Royal Family, I am obsessed with this series. I has been anxiously awaiting each new episode. Costuming is perfection, and the actors are are superb. I could not think of anyone better to play Queen Victoria. If you love period drama and English history, you will be enthralled by Victoria. I wish there was more shows like this on television. A definite must for fans of this genre. The betrayal of Lord M and Victoria's relationship may be elaborated a bit, but the basis of this show is worth the watch.

I usually don't mind when movies or shows are not historically accurate. Typically changed for dramatic effect and better pacing. However, they made Queen Victoria seem more caring about the ignored classes. She did not intervene on behalf of the Newport Chartists. She did not show compassion for the Irish during the Great Hunger and was known as the Famine Queen. Changing history to make people feel better about history is dangerous. It reduces the struggle and discrimination of people considered as other. Outside of the misrepresentation of Queen Victoria, the acting, set, costumes, screenwriting, and cinematography are commendable.