Victoria (TV Series) Ladies in Waiting (2016) User Reviews

Part Two of First Presented Episode

[Hitchcoc · 9/10 · 20 January 2017]

After having seen all of "The Crown," it was interesting to go back a hundred years to another long reigning monarch. Here we are introduced to the young queen who is informed by a courier at her country home that her uncle is dead. Her mother, who looks so dour, and her consort, Sir John Conroy, are obviously hoping she will fail miserably. She is feisty from the get go and tells everyone that she has been waiting for this moment. She makes it clear she just wants them to back off. She carries this into her early reign as the Parliament begins to put pressure on her. They say she is a child and should be turning things over to her mother and Sir John. But she soon hooks her wagon to Lord Melbourne, who is tired of politics. He tries hard to guide her, but she is still entrenched. She makes a serious mistake when she accuses a young woman, who advises her, of being pregnant. It is a fatal tumor and she is badly embarrassed. There is also a coup from one of the Torys to consider a case of insanity. I can't go into everything, but this is a fine start. The images, like with "The Crown," are really striking. Excellent camera work. Also, there is lots of upstairs/downstairs intrigue. We'll see how this all plays out in subsequent episodes.

Ladies in Waiting

[Prismark10 · 4/10 · 20 September 2016]

In the second episode Queen Victoria gets stroppy. Lord Melbourne's popularity in Parliament. He cannot command a majority and the Queen must ask Sir Robert Peel to form a government but she needs to have some suitable ladies in waiting friendly to the Tories. Victoria refuses even going against the advice of Lord Melbourne.

This situation leads to her enemies the Duke of Cumberland and Conroy to plot a co-regency as Victoria is not up to the job.

Despite the wonderful costumes and looking sumptuous the series is looking hokey. The Queen is walking all over Parliamentary democracy and the four members of staff that are below stairs, I am sure there are others but we only see these four have a rat infestation that is going out of control. I do not mean Cumberland and Conroy.