Jenna Coleman (Doctor Who) returns for a new season as the young queen who wants it all—romance, power, an heir, and personal freedom. Created and scripted by bestselling novelist Daisy Goodwin (The Fortune Hunter), Victoria’s premiere season drew over 16.2 million, making it the highest-rated drama on PBS in 20 years—second only to Downton Abbey.
Victoria Season 2 sees the return of Nigel Lindsay (Rome) as Sir Robert Peel, the reforming British prime minister, at odds with his sovereign over policy; Catherine Flemming (No Place to Go) as the Duchess of Kent, Victoria’s manipulative mother, still battling her headstrong daughter; and Peter Bowles (To the Manor Born) as the Duke of Wellington, the hero of the Battle of Waterloo, now a retired prime minister and sage mentor to the queen. Also back are Adrian Schiller (Beauty and the Beast) as Penge, the irascible head steward at the palace; Daniela Holtz (The Forest for the Trees) as Baroness Lehzen, Victoria’s devoted governess since birth; and David Oakes (The White Queen) as Prince Ernest, Albert’s debauched older brother, who becomes Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha on the death of their equally promiscuous father, played by Andrew Bicknell (The Royals).
Season 2 finds Victoria adapting to motherhood after the birth of her first child, a daughter (to the disappointment of many). Meanwhile, the disaster of the Anglo-Afghan War unfolds abroad, and the catastrophic Irish potato famine begins to wreak havoc. In other foreign affairs, a royal state visit to France is in the offing.
Most intriguing to Prince Albert is the budding Industrial Revolution, which is now sweeping England. There is Charles Babbage’s mechanical calculator, a collaborative project with the bewitching Ada Lovelace, daughter of the scandalous Lord Byron. Then there is William Fothergill Cooke’s miraculous electrical telegraph, not to mention Marc Isambard Brunel’s daring—and dangerous—Thames Tunnel.
What an extraordinary time to be queen!
Victoria Season 2 Blu-Ray-$59.99
Victoria Season 2 DVD-$49.99