The third season of Victoria on Masterpiece premieres on Sunday, Jan. 13, at 8 p.m. This will not only be the U.S. premiere, it’ll also be the world premiere because the episodes will air here in the U.S. before they are shown in the United Kingdom.
It’s 1848 when the story picks up. Queen Victoria is expecting her sixth child and contending with a discontented Europe where revolutions are breaking out in country after country. Later, Victoria and her consort Prince Albert will have to deal with the increasingly problematic Bertie, heir to Victoria’s throne.
Jenna Coleman (Doctor Who) returns as Victoria and Tom Hughes is back as Prince Albert. Season 3 also welcomes Laurence Fox (Inspector Lewis) as Lord Palmerston, the British foreign secretary at odds with the queen over foreign policy; and Kate Fleetwood (Harlots) as Victoria’s half-sister Princess Feodora, fleeing political unrest in her German home.
Victoria was written by historical novelist Daisy Goodwin, who also serves as executive producer. Season 3 continues Sundays through March 3. Each episode will re-air at 7 p.m. the Sunday following its broadcast premiere and will also be available to stream at video.wnpt.org/show/victoria for two weeks. After that, each episode will be available via NPT Passport. Seasons 1 and 2 of Victoria on Masterpiece are currently available on NPT Passport.
Royal extras
Victoria gave her name to a period of major industrial, technological, artistic and geopolitical change. In addition, the royal family set trends in many areas, from popularizing Scottish tartans to spreading Christmas traditions to defining wedding customs. When Victoria married Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg just a few years into her reign in 1840, she did so in a stunning white lace dress and veil that made white bridal wear the standard.
Royal historian Lucy Worsley explores Queen Victoria’s nuptials in Victoria & Albert: The Wedding, a two-part special airing Sunday, Jan. 13 and 20, at 9 p.m. The program follows the painstaking re-creation of Victoria’s gown, her 300-pound wedding cake and other elements and then shows an elaborate reenactment of the wedding. Worsley was part of PBS’ “Royal Wedding Watch” team covering the 2018 wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle. Here she’s joined by food historian Annie Gray, costumier Harriet Waterhouse and military historian Jasdeep Singh. Worsley’s Tales from the Royal Wardrobe and Tales from the Royal Bedchamber re-air on NPT at 9 p.m. on Sunday, Jan. 27 and Feb. 3, respectively.
Queen Victoria’s great-great-granddaughter was for a time defined by matrimony, but in the case of Princess Margaret, it was a wedding that didn’t take place. The two-part Margaret: The Rebel Princess airs Sunday, Feb. 10 and 17, at 9 p.m. and profiles Queen Elizabeth’s glamorous, jet-setting younger sister. Forbidden from wedding dashing – and divorced – Royal Air Force pilot Peter Townshend, Margaret eventually married photographer Anthony Armstrong-Jones and became part of the Swinging London scene of the 1960s.
Our complete broadcast schedule is available at wnpt.org/schedule.