Victoria, ITV, episode eight review: 'There was passion, a heartbreak and even a royal birth'

Coleman gave the most convincing impression of labour
Push!: Victoria gives birth to her first child
ITV
Edwina Langley27 June 2017

Emotions ran high in this, the final episode of ITV’s Victoria. There was passion, an attempt at regicide, a heartbreak and even a royal birth! Nothing short of brilliant, and jam-packed with drama it was too. So without further delay…

The central relationship between Victoria (Jenna Coleman) and Albert (Tom Hughes) came back to the fore once again this week, and delivered on every level: it amused us, it entertained it us and it even made us cry a bit – well, a lot. A bored and frustrated Victoria was desperate for her pregnancy to be over – but also filled with fear that it might eventually end her life. How sorry we felt for her to be surrounded by a squawk of men all half-expecting her to die. Too grotesque.

Coleman was brilliant at conveying the multilayers of Victoria’s character – her courage, her forthrightness, her vulnerability. We felt frightened for her over that business with Captain Childers but then also irritated by the constraints her household tried to impose on her freedom subsequently. (Quick shout out to Lord Alfred Paget – Jordan Waller – in that throwing violets bit for reminding us of that not often-enough-used word: “detritus”).

Undoubtedly, the moment of the episode was Victoria’s second carriage ride with Albert, when the madman Edward Oxford took a shot at her with an unloaded gun. That tender exchange between the pair on the floor of the carriage, and that slow motion sequence with Albert rushing towards the palace door cradling his wife in his arms… It has us in floods! The capacity of Coleman and Hughes to make us have as much affection for their characters’ relationship as the characters have for each other was nothing short of excellent. It made us even more emotionally involved with the birth of the young Victoria...

Speaking of which, Coleman gave the most convincing impression of labour. That moment where the Queen asked what a bunch of men were doing lurking outside her bedchamber before instructing her husband, through gritted teeth, to, “Tell them all to… go away!” was exactly what we would have said. It was a fantastic scene, ruined ever so slightly by the fact we were denied the sight of the actual moment of birth. We’d been through so much with this couple, we totally deserved it…

Other moments where Victoria shone today was via her fearful outcry at the prospect of Oxford being set free, and then her subsequent boldness in standing up to her uncle when Oxford was in fact acquitted. It was a definite R-E-S-P-E-C-T moment when she told him, “However many mistakes I have made, or perhaps am yet to make, I know I am a better monarch than you will ever be.” That sure told him! The rousing background music too was truly befitting of such a punch-the-air moment. Bravo.

At court, we saw the return of King Leopold (Alex Jennings) who we really warmed to this time round, owing to that lovely moment with Victoria and the marron glace. Then there was the pleasing arrival of Prince Ernest played by David Oakes (more of him in a minute) and, as mentioned, the terrible Duke of Cumberland/ King of Hanover returning to witness the Queen’s confinement “like a vulture circling its prey,” said Robert Peel (Nigel Lindsay) so descriptively. Peter Firth was brilliant in the role of the maimed duke, pure and utter evil. His tactlessness in banging on about regents in front of the Queen, and his general nastiness made us desperate for the royal birth to take place almost as fast as the Queen wished it would.

Next up, Prince Ernest and his love for Harriet, Duchess of Sutherland (Margaret Clunie). How delighted we were he came back – with the hankie no less! While Albert questioned his motives, we certainly didn’t, because we liked them. “My little flirtation – it was merely a convenient distraction from the very serious job of cheering you up”. As if, we chortled.

We knew he orchestrated the meeting with Harriet so that he would have her hankie to hand, but seriously, we thought, try to play it cool…

“Did you miss me?” he asked.

And with a cheeky smile she replied: “I suppose there were moments when I pondered the whereabouts of my handkerchief.”

ITV's Victoria Premiere

1/10

YES!, we cheered. They fancy each other! And at last he has a chance! The tension between them bubbled beautifully until it all climaxed with that nighttime kiss in her bedroom, and that moment when she looked as if she was going to let him unlace her corset.

But how more romantic was it that we later discovered that all he wanted was a lock of her hair… “If I were the man you think I am,” he told Albie, “I could have taken everything. But I chose not to. Out of a love for her. And I suppose a love for you too.” What a dear! This romance has sizzled away nicely all along and we only hope that next season the passion resumes, because if this episode has snuffed it out we shall be most disappointed.

And speaking of disappointed, let’s talk about the action downstairs. What on earth happened there, between Skerrett (Nell Hudson) and Francatelli (Ferdinand Kingsley)? It was all going so well! Him asking her to accompany him on his solo venture and telling her that he’d make her “Mrs Francatelli tomorrow” was virtually a proposal of marriage. That passionate moment in the corridor when it looked like they might kiss had us basically convinced that wedding bells were about to chime.

How annoying that Skerrett’s silly cousin should make our Nancy doubt the chef’s affections. That final scene between them when she scowled at him saying, “What I have, here, at the palace is better than anything you could offer me,” was too cruel and truly crushing. We don’t blame him for leaving without saying goodbye… but who’s going to invent all the puddings now?!

And so we arrived at the final scene – and picture perfect it was too: Albert, Victoria and the unnamed babe in arms. We had a feeling last week that the series might end with the announcement that V&A would name their first born after her, so while the closing sentence didn’t come as a surprise, it was nonetheless a delight. As the cameras withdrew, we left the new parents, nursing their child in the splendour of their palace, and turned off our tellies to give the couple a breather before they return to our screens (hopefully next year) with the recently commissioned series two.

Don’t keep us waiting too long, Daisy Goodwin.

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