Victoria (British TV series)
[1] The first series (covering 1837–1840) depicts the first few years of the reign of Queen Victoria (portrayed by Jenna Coleman), from her accession to the British throne at the age of 18 (1837), to her intense friendship and infatuation with her favourite advisor Lord Melbourne (Rufus Sewell), to her courtship and early marriage (1840) to Prince Albert (Tom Hughes) of Germany, and finally to the birth of their firstborn child and eldest daughter, Victoria, Princess Royal (born 1840).Subplots in the third series include Albert's ongoing efforts to find his place, culminating in The Great Exhibition (1851), and his efforts to mould his eldest son (ages 7–9) into a king; Victoria's political relationship with the charismatic Lord Palmerston; the sudden arrival of Queen Victoria's estranged maternal half-sister, Princess Feodora, at the palace; and a forbidden romance between one of the Queen's ladies and a footman.[10][11] Daisy Goodwin said in October 2016 that a Christmas special episode for the 2016 series had been proposed and was rejected by ITV; one was subsequently commissioned for 2017 after the rising ratings popularity for Victoria.Church Fenton Studios, a converted aircraft hangar at Leeds East Airport near Selby, was in use to recreate some interiors of Buckingham Palace.The site's consensus reads: "Strong performances by Jenna Coleman and Rufus Sewell hint at Downton-esque potential for Victoria, but the narrative falls just shy of that soapy mark.The site's consensus reads: "Victoria's sophomore series finds this striking period drama returning with a second batch of episodes that are just as absorbing as its first.[48] Victoria's writer Daisy Goodwin said that the drama was inspired by real events: "...whether they are assassination attempts, the repeal of the Corn Laws, or the terrible potato famine...All the big building blocks of the series are true.For example, Dame Diana Rigg was cast to play an elderly and curmudgeonly Duchess of Buccleuch even though the real woman was in her 30s when at court, and older sister Feodora is made into a spiteful schemer living for an extended period of some years with Victoria and Albert, although letters reveal the sisters seemingly had an affectionate bond that made them faithful correspondents across years and distance, with visits relatively rare.[citation needed] Frances Mulraney wrote on IrishCentral that "Faith, Hope & Charity" episode "overplays the extent to which Queen Victoria sought to aid the famine Irish in the 1840s, exaggerating her interest in Ireland."[53] English-born historian Christine Kinealy, founding director of Ireland's Great Hunger Institute at Quinnipiac University, who has studied Queen Victoria's diaries and the writings of Prime Ministers Peel and Russell, said: "There is no evidence that she had any real compassion for the Irish people in any way.[54] The creator of the show, Daisy Goodwin, said: "I thought [Robert Traill's] story would be a good way to illustrate the terrible way in which the Irish were treated by the British government.