‘Victoria’ episode 2 preview: What lies ahead for Jenna Coleman, cast?
Tonight on PBS, you are getting a chance to see the start of something big — and not to mention, something extremely regal: “Victoria.” The ITV series is premiering tonight with a two-hour affair, one that is going to give you a great sense as to the show’s presentation of the famed Queen. There will be romance in the upcoming episodes, but also at the same time tough decisions and political hardships. We’re going to see Victoria do her best over time to get accustomed to her role — both in terms of the positives and the negatives.
For Jenna Coleman in particular, this will also allow her the fantastic opportunity to do a wide array of different things. On “Doctor Who,” we had a chance to see her adventurous and funny side; here, you will get to see more of what she can do when it comes to nuanced, heavy period drama.
Tonight, PBS opted to air two hours of the season; moving into next week, things will get a bit more normal as the show shifts to a hourly format.
Synopsis – “Dodging both rioters and suitors, Victoria grows into her royal role. As she faces pressure to marry, her friendship with Lord Melbourne grows more complex.”
Sound enticing? We certainly hope that it will be; the series premiered in the UK back in the fall, so there are spoilers aplenty out there for what comes ahead (not that you really needed them — this is history, after all). What we will still go ahead and say is that this show does a beautiful job depicting much of what it sets out to do, and you also must give a tremendous amount of credit to Coleman for all of the work that she puts in. She wasn’t eligible for any of the major awards over the past year for this part, but with the Golden Globes in particular having a thing for international flair (fitting, given their name), you better be prepared for her to emerge as a darkhorse candidate.
What did you think of the two-hour “Victoria” premiere tonight, and is there anything specific that you want to see on the series next? Let us know now in the comments! We’ll be back soon enough with some further news regarding the show at the link here; be on the lookout. (Photo: PBS.)
Namnoot
January 16, 2017 @ 2:18 pm
Having seen the original ITV showing, I didn’t feel mashing the first two episodes together worked very well. They also cut a few minor scenes, it appears (making the move to Buckingham come off as even more abrupt than it did in the original). They would have been better to keep the first two episodes separate. For one thing the semi-romance with Melbourne (which by the way is supported by a number of biographies – they never got to “lovers” territory but Victoria did fall for the guy since he was the first man who took her seriously and this was the 1830s when men’s ages and appearances weren’t important) would have grown a bit more organically. It felt rushed in the 2-hour format.