Sadly Over-hyped

Good concept, poorly executed.

A lot more amusing than I thought it would be.

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

The writing and acting could be better but it not bad. The show is enjoyable and is historically accurate which is a huge bonus.

If this were a kind of fairy tale presentation, it would be a nice story. But much of this series banks on the impression that these events took place. Most of them did not. Now granted, historical fiction is always suspect, to a degree. But it would seem that the characters her were portrayed inaccurately. This series is best when it deals with the difficult issues of the time--like the Irish Potato Famine. Also, when Peele is trying to walk a tightrope in the Parliament. This episode is a Christmas story, a story about presents. A little black child is rescued from certain death and promised to the Queen. She lives with a kind family until it is time to give her up. Victoria welcomes her and is ready to adopt her. This leads to great concern, particularly from Albert. Albert gets into the Christmas spirit, bringing German customs into the castle, including trees hanging from the ceiling. There are issues with race, certainly. While the visuals are breathtaking, it seems that the producers have decided that anything goes. This could be a better series with a bit of effort.

Victoria succeeds with lush locations and costumes. My only (tiny) complaint is that the actress playing Victoria is too pretty. I think casting could have found an actress with a face more like the real Victoria. And the second season programming has been slightly different. The Masterpiece series usually start and end with a 2 hour show. The second episode was also two hours and I found it lengthy as it is without commercial interruption. I was then forced to watch it only in an "on demand" format where I can stop and start it to take needed breaks.

As a professional review put it, "Very good as long as you have no expectations of historical accuracy." Exactly.Queen Victoria should be an interesting enough person that one could craft several seasons of entertainment and information. (Admittedly it might be hard to know how many seasons it would last and cover her extended reign accordingly.) However, this is "Queen Vicki" for the millennial crowd, and as written by a woman has typically strong "girl power" vibe. (Sure she had power, but as a monarch not a feminist.) The focus is on her many angsts, her romantic attachments real or imagined (i.e. Melbourne), and her relationship with a rather wimpy Albert - who in real life she loved so much that she mourned him for 10 years.Of course, Victoria has to be the most enlightened of all - even though her reign is synonymous with tightly controlled morals. She doesn't want to be a "broodmare", but in real life had nine children - child-bearing being the priority of any queen. Season two amps up the political correctness. In the opening eps we get to see a black (American?) actor giving them Othello, and a near infatuation with Ada, Countess of Lovelace (for whom the Ada programming language is named) as a female mathematician. (Although the 'calculating machine' was nearly all Charles Babbage's.) And finally a gaay angle between two dandies of the court. Why the "Upstairs Downstairs / Downton Abbey doings of the servants are part of the show is beyond me. The costumes are sumptuous, the sets and settings beautiful, and mostly classically trained actors deliver their accented lines impeccably. None of this can compensate for the poor writing or wan themes.