Victoria on PBS Episode 1 Synopsis: More Crown Jewels, More Problems

PBS’ new series on Victoria will open on a teenaged queen taking the throne and immediately having to deal with the new power that comes with the crown.

Now that Poldark has returned across the sea to continue filming, something has to fill the PBS niche of British period costume drama until Aiden Turner and those glorious cliffs grace our American screens once more. Enter Victoria, which will cover the life of the famous queen of the same name.

Presumably, the show will keep away from having Victoria say “We are not amused”, since 1), she probably never said it, and 2) if she did say it, it wasn’t right when she ascended to the throne. As this series picks up right as she becomes queen, it may just be best to leave the line alone.

Speaking of the series, here’s the synopsis of the first episode, via TVGuide:

"“The story of Queen Victoria, who ascended to the throne at age 18 in 1837, begins with the young Victoria struggling to assert control amidst plots to manipulate her. Her friendship with the prime minister, meanwhile, leads to a crisis in Parliament.”"

Jenna Coleman stars as Victoria. The prime minister in question is Lord Melbourne, played in this series by Rufus Sewell. Here’s one of PBS’ first looks at the series.

Unsurprisingly, it seems like the first few episodes will have a lot of lessons for the queen in the ways of statecraft. Additionally, though she can learn much from Melbourne, opposing parties don’t take kindly to his having so much access to such a young and powerful queen. Of course, there are more threats as well — the Masterpiece schedule mentions Victoria’s family as a source of strife.

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According to that same schedule, Victoria will open with a two-hour episode on PBS on Sunday, Jan. 15. Keep it here to Culturess for a recap after the episode!