Victoria Series 2 [DVD] [2017]

There’s always the fear the second act will disappoint. It’s because we’re loaded down with expectations from the first. The first has spoiled us with its quality. How can the second be as good?But there’s a flaw in this thinking and fear, and evolution is the key to its misinterpretations. Things develop naturally, organically. The Victoria of 18 — cloistered, innocent, inexperienced — is not the same Victoria three years on as Queen. At 18 she was a girl. At 21 she is a woman, wife, Queen, and soon mother-to-be. Lord Melbourne was the anchor of her life when she was 18: mentor, guide, teacher, confidante. His wisdom and experience were keys to the kingdom for her. A lesser man might have abused and exploited his privileged position. Melbourne did not. He served a higher purpose — monarchy, tradition, government, state. He was a patriot: country first, career second. There was a time when honour existed and honourable men upheld it. Lord Melbourne was one of these. Politicians today, or many of them, are nothing like him.One might say Victoria was lucky. Perhaps she was. But she possessed wisdom of her own. Intuitively, instinctively she followed the sound advice and guidance of Melbourne. Why? Because he never flattered her. Level headed, he looked her in the eye, treated her as an adult, an equal. He did this from the start of her reign, as if to say, “Trust me, take my hand, and I will lead you to paths that are right for you as you will see.” This he did and she loved him for it.What about that love? It may have teetered, but it was platonic. Victoria was a passionate woman, but Melbourne, a much older man, kept his nerve. The situation was not about him; it was about her reign and the state, the good of the nation. He groomed her in all things. Even in love, it seems. When Melbourne realised that qualities in Albert were real and good he steered Victoria toward him. Never the suitor, he was instead the perfect matchmaker. It was a match everyone wanted for her anyway, a solid dynastic one, and she felt the sting and pressure of it. Without Melbourne it’s reasonable to think she might have gone on resisting it because she could be stubborn, obstinate, wilful. But here we see Melbourne urging her onward, not because of politics but because of love, telling her to follow her heart.In Season One the courtship of Albert and Victoria is sweet to see. He is awkward, serious, inexperienced in love. She is equally inexperienced but deeply romantic, a novel reader and dreamer. She is prepared to be swept off her feet if the right man appears. Albert does. It’s at the piano, playing Schubert, where their souls first meet. Albert may be uptight with court talk, but he’s a romantic at heart too and the music brings this out in him. It delights Victoria. It makes him handsome, attractive, sexy in her eyes. Music is thus a path to their love. Albert in turn sees her delight, her vivacity and exuberance. If Victoria is beautiful, her passion makes her so. Albert falls for her, and she for him. Everyone but Melbourne is proud for engineering the match. But it isn’t about pride, they miss the point. It’s about love, as Melbourne knows. Amazing to think, but the story of Victoria and Albert is a genuine love story.In this series, Season Two, we see them grow in the relationship. Albert is highly intelligent and ambitious. He can’t be a passive onlooker to the throne. So finding a role for him that honours his talents and abilities becomes one of the themes in Season Two. The royal couple fight and bicker sometimes, as lovers do. It happens because their emotions are raw, exposed, vulnerable. But because they love each other they find ways to console and satisfy one another. In time Albert will become Victoria’s most trusted confidante, another sort of Lord Melbourne for her. She was the Queen and she ruled, but in truth her rule was a tandem project carried out with her beloved husband, two heads being better than one. This and how their relationship develops is very pleasing to see.In a way Victoria was an accidental queen. Her cousin Charlotte was in line ahead of her for the throne. But Charlotte died in childbirth, a thought that haunted Victoria. Albert is keen, eager to have children. He wants many. But they can only arrive via the body of Victoria. The series suggests she loves sex. They both do, as lovers usually do. But she fears childbirth. A woman at court in strictest confidence tells Victoria the surest contraceptive is to jump up and down on the bed at least ten times before sex. Thus the series is also humorous in showing the Queen of England jumping up and down on her bed as if it were a trampoline before removing her nightgown prior to sex (she jumps, of course, when Albert is not present in the room, but when he finally catches her in the act she sheepishly explains to him its purpose, whereupon he smiles endearingly at her naïvety). So, yes, bedroom scenes with the Queen of England, as the babies would eventually come from there, not brought to the Palace by chimney storks, though of course the scenes are tastefully done.Another man Victoria comes to rely on is a political ally, Sir Robert Peel, a Tory MP and future Prime Minister. If Lord Melbourne as surrogate father had been her life guide, and if Albert was her intimate confidante and greatest love, Sir Robert Peel was her political armour because she had her enemies, as every person in power does.The maturing Victoria at age 21 or 22 is more attractive than the inexperienced queen of 18. She shows greater confidence and depth. She is growing into what she will become — the greatest queen Britain has ever had. Her journey is fascinating. And in fact we are still early on in it. ITV intend to continue the series, so we shall see where it takes us. Jenna Coleman is radiant and beautiful as the young Victoria. She is perfect, an exquisite actress. And Tom Hughes as her German consort and first cousin Albert is dignified and handsome as the Prince of Wales. They are a gorgeous couple. But in years ahead Jenna and Tom will have to give way to older actors. Season Three is now in production, a very tantalising thought.

I love this show. I ordered this series before it aired here in the US. I loved it. Then series two aired here on tv, there were so many scenes added to the US version that really helped develop the plot.I would have expected the UK version to be the complete one! Why was it edited so drastically?It’s the only reason for loss of one star in the rating.Then my mother bought the “American version” from PBS in order to get the extra scenes. Unfortunately, the DVD were identical to the UK version.Evidently there’s no way to buy a DVD with the extra scenes.ITV missed the boat a little. Please release the complete version!

Fantastic series and great story about the life of Victiria and Albert. There love sand lifestyle and about how they helped build a better British empire and living conditions.

FYI to ALL CONCERNED: BE CAREFUL! I PICKED ONE STAR IN ORDER TO GET YOUR ATTENTION - THERE'S NOTHING WRONG OTHERWISE - PLEASE READ:I made a bad and costly mistake here. My wife and I got hooked on "Victoria" and "The Crown" and purchased the 'Season One' of each. Eager to see Season Two, that while I noted Amazon.com was the EU version, I failed to read the specification area (all the way at the bottom of their Amazon.com AD) which advised their copy was for EU viewers only. When we turned on our DVD to start the first episode, a huge warning came on the screen that this blue-ray disc was for "Region B" and would not play on our system. DANG! $33.66 totally wasted, and we won't be able to get a 'Region Free' copy from anyone until after Jan 30, 2018. TO: AMAZON.COM EU - WOULD IT HARM YOU TO NOTE THE REGION RESTRICTION AT THE "TOP" OF YOUR AD? Cheese - how hard can that be? John

As good as series one very interesting to watch from an historic point of view and also the below stairs acting is well worth watching

It’s like downton abbey meets the crown

Good continuation of the 1st season. Update - on 2nd watching down rated from 5 star (outstanding/excellent) to 4 star (very good/good).

Why can’t I give this 100 stars?!! SUCH A FANTASTIC SERIES, spectacular sets, amazing costumes, brilliant scripts and award worthy acting, everything is so so wonderful, highly recommend