Rating summary

Movie		5.0
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		4.0
Overall		4.5

Victoria: The Complete Second Season Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Martin Liebman February 15, 2018

England's Queen Victoria is the epitome of a modern woman born before her time. When she gives birth and desires to continue her duties as Queen instead of staying in the nursery and allowing Albert to rule in her stead, the men in her life are flabbergasted. When she succeeds as a working mother well before such a strenuous dual task became fashionable and, frankly, oftentimes necessary, those in her court and by her side are left speechless. Such is the story as presented in the PBS television show bearing her name, a show that depicts a modern woman stuck in an antiquated time. The show doesn't make itself overtly political, however. It simply remains true to its characters and time, revealing the endlessly interesting life of a woman who was a queen, a mother, a wife, her own person rather than a body in a dress, a brain under a crown, and a title above her name. Season two maintains the technical and narrative excellence of season one and remains one of the finer shows currently airing on television and releasing to Blu-ray.

Victoria's second season picks up shortly after season one’s close. The young Queen (Jenna Coleman) is returning to work after her confinement from the birth of her first child and must deal with the expectations of those around her who didn’t expect her to continue as an active monarch after giving birth. Season Two spans half a decade of Victoria’s reign and the birth of two more children. The season focuses on a wide variety of political and social issues as well as Victoria and Albert (Tom Hughes) continuing to balance their love affair with their roles within the monarchy.

While the first season focused more on the courtship between Victoria and Albert, the sophomore season tackles the couple's newlywed years. Like all couples, they fight and must learn to compromise and communicate, but unlike most couples, they must do so in the spotlight. The public, personal, and marital dynamics the couple demonstrates in communication are authentic and elevate the show beyond its position as a period royal romance as their relationship grows and changes with contemporarily relatable ebbs and flows. The young queen grows into a more mature monarch and learns how to be both a queen and a wife. Meanwhile, Albert works to both find his place in his marriage and make a place and a name for himself in his new country despite being relegated to a position on the sanitation committee, for example, instead of being allowed to work in areas in which he is better equipped to serve.

Season Two continues to develop the relationships amongst the servants working below the queen, further providing viewers with contrasting viewpoints from below the stairs. The insight into the servants' world helps keep the show grounded and honest, open to differing yet still inside perspectives, as well as offer a reprieve from the otherwise near constant focus on Victoria and Albert. These scenes add shape to the world that surrounds the monarchs and depth to the individuals who otherwise work largely in the shadows. Notable secondary character additions for season two include an Irish character whose family is impacted by the potato famine. Additional expansions include a wider range of settings. While season one was set almost entirely in and around Buckingham Palace, season two expands the story's scope to Germany, France, Scotland, Ireland and Africa, allowing for a greater exploration of the world within and around the vast British Empire during Victoria’s reign.

Jenna Coleman again shines in the title role. She realistically and seamlessly wrestles with the queen's internal and external pressures to succeed without losing her husband and her dual role as queen and mother. She perfectly captures the uncertainty, passion, and jealousy of a young wife as well as the listlessness and lack of interest hallmarking the depression she faces. Tom Hughes continues to mold a believable Albert, a man torn between wanting something meaningful to do with his life and position while allowing Victoria to maintain her rule. Hughes' performance stands tall at a critical point in the season when struggling with disturbing news from his past. David Oakes depicts the angst associated with his character's starrcrossed love affair, Diana Rigg adds spice to the season as a meddlesome but canny Mistress of the Robes, and Nigel Lindsay provides a strongly realized foil to Victoria as he leads the government and struggles with his party’s views when they go against his personal opinions.

Victoria: The Complete Second Season Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Victoria: The Complete Second Season offers a solid, enjoyable 1080p transfer that nicely accentuates the film's costumes and locations. While it can appear a little flat in places with details a little less precise than one would want and colors a touch less robust and mildly washed out than is ideal, the image, generally speaking, impresses in those areas. Period attire finds pleasing and often generous complexity, showcasing finer fabric elements that reveal the density and construction of the complex wardrobes. Likewise, many of the more finely appointed interiors reveal the prolific attention to detail the filmmakers have put into the show. Colors are nicely presented, again with a modest washed-out appearance in places but offering a satisfying level of saturated and nuanced depth apparent on clothing, natural colors outside, and furnishings inside. Black levels could often stand a little added depth and intensity. Flesh tones are largely fine. Light noise is present but no other maladies are of serious concern.

Victoria: The Complete Second Season Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Victoria: The Complete Second Season's DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 lossless soundtrack offers a reliable sound presentation. Music is spacious, offering precise and finely detailed instrumental clarity, with lyrical refinement over the opening titles. Support elements are often commanding and clean. Whether some scattered intensive elements or common supportive atmospherics, the track always presents its components in fine working order. Dialogue dominates most of the show, and delivery is smooth and precise with consistent location excellence.

Victoria: The Complete Second Season Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Victoria: The Complete Second Season contains a couple handfuls of short featurettes.

• An Icon For Women Today (1080p, 4:47): Series creator and writer Daisy Goodwin and actress Jenna Coleman discuss how modern women relate to Victoria and how she was and can be an inspiration for women, especially young women, both then and now.
• Researching Victoria (1080p, 2:05): A look at The London Library with Writer Daisy Goodwin who discusses how the library inspires the script by way of its collection of books and newspapers about Victoria and sources from the Victorian Era.
• The Costumes (1080p, 3:41): Costume Designer Rosalind Ebbutt discusses the costumes and how she recreated the different famous wardrobe selections for the show.
• The Footmen (1080p, 1:17): Actors Ed Whately Smith and Matthew Robinson discuss their roles as the footmen and how they portray their characters in the palace.
• The Graphics (1080p, 4:41): Florence Tasker, Graphic Designer, discusses the variety of props that had to be created for the show -- paperwork, letters, drawings, wallpaper, etc. -- that needed to not only appear authentic but be properly utilized by the actors. The piece also examines how Tasker's hand doubles for Jenna Coleman's so that the handwriting on Victoria's letters appears more authentic.
• The Silent Piano (1080p, 2:34): Music Associate Tom Kelly and Actor David Oakes discuss how the musical scenes are recreated with a silent piano and a computer generated sound. Also covered is the process of teaching the actors to appear authentic when playing the piano.
• Daisy & Ottilie: Writing Together (1080p, 2:48): Daisy Goodwin and Ottilie Wilford discuss writing the script together and how they made their writing styles mesh.
• Paget & Drummond (1080p, 2:59): Jordan Waller and Leo Sutter discuss the homosexual relationship their characters share and the difficulties their characters face exploring their relationship in the Victorian era.
• A Woman in a Man's World (1080p, 4:42): Actors Jenna Coleman, Alex Jennings, Diana Rigg, Tom Hughes, and Nigel Lindsay discuss the role of Queen Victoria, how the historical figure fought to be Queen and not just a figurehead, and how Victoria managed to succeed in a stereotypically male-dominant position.

Victoria: The Complete Second Season Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Victoria's second season is more narratively open and geographically diverse and just as engrossing as before. It's gorgeously assembled and strongly performed, and it finds narrative balance and capable delivery when dealing with issues beyond the queen's life and times, such as postpartum depression, homosexuality, and sylpulis with dramatic elegance. Victoria: The Complete Second Season's Blu-ray delivers stable video and audio along with a healthy allotment of bonus content. Highly recommended.