‘Victoria’ special: Christmas spirit stretched to the limit

Since the Victoria premiere last year, the period drama has become a resounding hit with TV buffs.

Jenna Coleman, who was also in the romantic drama, Me Before You, is mesmerising in her role as Queen Victoria, with Tom Hughes matching her performance as Prince Albert.

Interestingly, the Christmas special, which is set in 1846, is directed by Jim Loach.

What can be expected?

Victoria, pregnant with her fourth child, is saddened to be celebrating her first Christmas without Baroness Lehzen. And the festive period has brought up melancholic memories of her lonely childhood at Kensington.

Meanwhile, Albert, consumed by the festive spirit, is busy with transforming the palace into a magical, picture-perfect wonderland.

He gets so caught up in the celebrations that he invites a guest that Victoria is none too pleased about.

Tom Hughes as Prince Albert in a scene from the Victoria Christmas special double-bill. Picture: Gareth Gatrell

Creator and writer Daisy Goodwin shares, “The Victoria special has it all: love, near death and really annoying relatives. The Christmas spirit is stretched to the limit upstairs and downstairs.”

Meanwhile, this is what Hughes had to say about Christmas:

What is your favourite Christmas tradition?

I’m not really a man for tradition. Certainly not a stickler for it anyhow. You can’t beat Christmas pudding, though. And there’s always a good soundtrack.

The Victorians, especially Albert, helped shape our present-day Christmas. Is this something you were aware of?

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Once I began researching and delving into his life and the times it became apparent, not only the prominence of Christmas in their lives, but the many similarities in tradition between an 1840’s Christmas and a modern-day one.

Many of these traditions were introduced in the period and set the new trend.

What did you enjoy most about filming the Christmas special?

I enjoyed it all. The smell of pine needles on set was welcome. It was odd to walk outside from that to June sunshine, though.

In the Christmas special we see Albert ice-skating - did you have to learn to skate for the episode?

I’d been on skates before, winter wonderland and the like, but getting used to skating on plastic is a different kettle of fish.