‘Victoria’ Christmas special to hit screens

SINCE the Victoria premiere last year, the period drama has become a resounding hit with TV buffs.

Jenna Coleman, who was also in the romantic drama, Me Before You, is mesmerising in her role as Queen Victoria, with Tom Hughes matching her performance as Prince Albert.

The Christmas special, which is set in 1846, is directed by Jim Loach.

What can be expected?

Victoria, pregnant with her fourth child, is saddened to be celebrating her first Christmas without Baroness Lehzen. And the festive period has brought up melancholic memories of her lonely childhood at Kensington.

Meanwhile, Albert, consumed by the festive spirit, busies himself with transforming the palace into a magical, picture-perfect wonderland.

He gets so caught up in the celebrations that he invites a guest that Victoria is none too pleased about.

Creator and writer Daisy Goodwin shares, “The Victoria special has it all: love, near death and really annoying relatives.

The Christmas spirit is stretched to the limit upstairs and downstairs.”

Meanwhile, this is what Hughes had to say about Christmas: “I’m not really a man for tradition. Certainly not a stickler for it anyhow. You can’t beat Christmas pudding, though. And there’s always a good soundtrack.

“The Victorians, especially Albert, helped shape our present-day Christmas. Is this something you were aware of ?

“Once I began researching and delving into his life and the times it became apparent, not only the prominence of Christmas in their lives, but the many similarities in tradition between an 1840s Christmas and a modern-day one.”

Catch the Victoria Christmas special double-bill on ITV Choice (DStv 123) on Christmas at 8pm.