Victoria: The Complete Third Season

The third season of the historical BBC drama about the life of Queen Victoria (Jenna Coleman) begins in 1848 with the birth of her sixth child and reverberations from the French Revolution that send King Louis Philippe (Vincent Regan) into exile. Victoria gives refuge to the monarch, but revolution is also in the air in England as citizens petition for human rights. The season covers major historical events, from a cholera outbreak (where the lazy assumptions of the medical establishment are challenged by a young doctor who applies scientific research to the crisis) to the Great Exhibition of 1851—Prince Albert’s (Tom Hughes) grand celebration of science and progress in Great Britain. It also explores Victoria’s often fraught relationship with the charismatic and ambitious Foreign Secretary Lord Palmerston (a superb Laurence Fox). Meanwhile, there is the usual personal drama—the relationship between Victoria and Albert is strained by disagreements over Victoria’s role as Queen and the education of their eldest son Bertie—and palace melodrama involving Victoria’s estranged elder sister Princess Feodora (Kate Fleetwood), who has taken up residence in the palace, as well as a Duchess in the Queen’s inner circle who embarks on an affair with a footman. The soap opera aspects make this closer to Downton Abbey than The Crown, but the vivid history lesson continues to make the series well worth watching. Compiling all eight episodes of the 2019 third season that aired in the U.S. on PBS’s Masterpiece, extras include behind-the-scene featurettes and cast and crew interviews. Recommended. (S. Axmaker)