Such a disappointment. Beautifully shot and acted - but the scripts? Teenage angst? Mommy and daddy issues? Nobody understands me? Whiney, catty relatives? Was not the life of Victoria compelling enough?
I like Jenna Coleman. She's the reason I bothered. She is playing a woman for whom an age is named. But the individual scripts would not make the cut of Downton Abbey.
And then there is historical accuracy.
In order to gin up some drama they create an entirely fictional love story between Victoria and Lord Melbourne, a man who in fact was 40 years older than the young queen. (The age difference between the actors is 20 years.) The casting of Rufus Sewell is a big part of this canard. The bogus love story is at the heart of the first four episodes. I am troubled by TV/films that take largely historically accurate stories and throw in nonsense. Is not the life of Victoria compelling enough? Maybe the fact that you could walk away believing there was a "thing" between these two historical figures does not trouble the authors. It should.
To make my point, about two other people from roughly the same period: does it matter that we try to get the relationship between Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemmings right?
At one point, Lord Melbourne tells Victoria that he is thinking of retiring. Its his way of saying, "I'm too old for you." She tells him something like, "You're not old." At 60 he had exceeded life expectancy for men of the period by almost 15 years. Not only his he too old for a teenager, he is lucky to be alive.
I like Jenna Coleman. She's the reason I bothered. She is playing a woman for whom an age is named. But the individual scripts would not make the cut of Downton Abbey.
And then there is historical accuracy.
In order to gin up some drama they create an entirely fictional love story between Victoria and Lord Melbourne, a man who in fact was 40 years older than the young queen. (The age difference between the actors is 20 years.) The casting of Rufus Sewell is a big part of this canard. The bogus love story is at the heart of the first four episodes. I am troubled by TV/films that take largely historically accurate stories and throw in nonsense. Is not the life of Victoria compelling enough? Maybe the fact that you could walk away believing there was a "thing" between these two historical figures does not trouble the authors. It should.
To make my point, about two other people from roughly the same period: does it matter that we try to get the relationship between Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemmings right?
At one point, Lord Melbourne tells Victoria that he is thinking of retiring. Its his way of saying, "I'm too old for you." She tells him something like, "You're not old." At 60 he had exceeded life expectancy for men of the period by almost 15 years. Not only his he too old for a teenager, he is lucky to be alive.