ITV has today a major new 8-hour drama series focusing on the life of Queen Victoria, the nation’s longest reigning monarch who ascended to the throne when she was just 18.
Victoria will be made by Mammoth Screen, producers of BBC One’s high;y successful Poldark reboot, and ITV’s own Endeavour, and will be written by novelist Daisy Goodwin.
Steve November, ITV’s head of drama, said, “This epic series is a chance to see the Victorian age through the eyes of the Queen herself for the first time. She’s a vibrant, fascinating character whose legacy lives on today.
“Her life story is one that is by turns genuinely dramatic, romantic and surprising.
“We are delighted to be working with Daisy Goodwin, who knows her subject intimately and has brought her to life beautifully, and with Mammoth, who we know are masters of epic period drama.”
Goodwin added: “I’ve been fascinated by Victoria since I started reading her diaries at university. She’s a woman whose personality leaps off the page – a tiny 4 foot 11 teenager who overnight became the most powerful woman in the world, and her candour and spirit makes for an irresistible heroine.
“Victoria was the first woman to have it all; she had a passionate marriage, nine children and was grandmother to most of Europe’s royalty, but she also had a job, being Queen of the most important nation in the world. It wasn’t easy; her reign was beset by scandal and sleaze and it was only by sheer force of personality that she prevailed.
“Her diaries, all sixty two million words of them, give an astonishingly vivid picture of her transformation from rebellious teenager into, to my mind, our greatest Queen.”
Casting is under way for the drama, which starts filming in locations around the UK from September.
