Victoria (2016)

Stylish, charming and thoroughly engaging.

Victoria delivers precisely on two of the most essential elements of making historical fiction work: Is the cast--and particularly the lead--a group you want to spend hours with and does the plot move at a brisk, entertaining clip? That's an emphatic "yes" to both.

Victoria is a lesser offering [than Netflix's The Crown], but not without its charms, and it is certainly entertaining enough.

Victoria doesn’t have the panache or sweeping majesty of that show ["The Crown"], but it will keep house-bound New Yorkers entertained all winter long.

A perfectly entertaining period piece that has the misfortune of arriving shortly after a similarly themed but dramatically more compelling series, Netflix’s “The Crown.”

The result is a show that’s very different and much pulpier than The Crown and its attendant elegance. It doesn’t wield the weight or depth of that Netflix gem, but depending on your appetite for royal camp, Victoria boasts plenty of moments where it’s far more deliciously fun.

Though by no means perfect, Victoria is ultimately a diverting way to spend a Sunday afternoon.

It's no "Downton Abbey" (especially during tedious scenes involving the palace staff), but Victoria has enough glittering chandeliers, glowing candlelight, luxurious furnishings, sumptuous gowns and dazzling jewels to make it undemanding, cozy viewing.

Victoria at its best when the young queen is exercising her authority--and learning its limits--while widening her horizons, not worrying about what Albert might think.

It’s a perfectly fine series, and offers much for fans of historical drama to savor, including heavy doses of romance; costumes rife with voluminous skirts and elaborate tiaras; political and dramatic intrigue; the subtext of actual events, with which, naturally, some liberties have been taken.

This production seems to strive for a cross between Gossip Girl and Downton Abbey, and is thus an amusing trifle. ... Coleman is very good at portraying both sides of the Victoria depicted here: nervous adolescent romantic, and intelligent, wily influencer of government policy.

Victoria looks appropriately and enjoyably regal but only fitfully feels stirring enough to expand on the genre's loyal core. Take that as a sign that in the Masterpiece business, the crown has gotten that much heavier.

If the queen of England isn’t enough drama for you, then something is amiss. Victoria gets close to the gold crown and then backs off.

The performances are solid and the production is aptly luxe, but that's about it. The villains are comically one-dimensional, the dialogue is uneven, and there's entirely too much boring upstairs-downstairs drama. [13 Jan 2017, p.58]

As palace-bound melodramas go, Victoria is perfectly easy to watch, as long as you don’t mind that it never for a second feels as if you were watching something that could actually have taken place in the mid-19th century.

Coming on the heels of Netflix’s superior British period drama “The Crown,” Victoria is a bit of a comedown, but it’s not bad, merely familiar and expected.

It’s just the tale of a young woman finding her way and managing her personal life where, for better or worse, her being a queen often feels like an afterthought.

The result is a miniseries that’s easy on the eyes and generally more interesting when capable actors like Jenna Coleman, who plays Victoria, and Rufus Sewell, as her advisor Lord Melbourne, imbue the dialogue and character psyches with more depth than the scripts provide. Subplots about secondary and tertiary characters, which feel like castoffs from lazier “Downton Abbey” seasons, frustrate for a variety of reasons, not least because they’re executed with a lack of flair and originality.

As costume drama, Victoria will likely be a crowd-pleaser, but here's hoping next season finds a more fulfilling balance. [2-15 Jan 2017, p.18]

Moving uncertainly in fits and starts, the handsomely produced Victoria nonetheless gleams with first-rate performances. The overall storytelling execution is poor, but individual scenes can be quite rich in detail and nuance.