LOVERS OF TV

ITV CHOICE’S stunning period drama, Victoria, is the icing on the long Christmas weekend viewing cake, with a two-hour standalone special on Monday at 8pm.

Written by creator and executive producer Daisy Goodwin, and starring Jenna Coleman as Queen Victoria and Tom Hughes as her husband and consort Prince Albert, it is set in 1846 where we find the Queen uncharacteristically melancholy as she prepares to tackle her first Christmas without her beloved Baroness Lehzen (Daniela Holtz).

Pregnant with her and Albert’s fourth child, the festive period reminds Victoria of her lonely childhood spent at Kensington. Albert on the other hand, is gripped by an obsession with staging the perfect family Christmas, transforming the palace into a magical festive wonderland. Tension rises between him and Victoria, when Albert invites some unwelcome guests to join the celebrations. It’s a story as old as time.

Albert’s love of the winter celebration has been well documented, says Goodwin: “All his children had individual Christmas trees, so he was the original ‘Christmas-zilla’ I think is the word!” at the tail end of the tour were filmed for DVD and aired on Showtime in the US more than a year ago.