'Victoria' Season 2 Release Date, Spoilers: Queen Suffers Postnatal Depression [VIDEO]
Jenna Coleman and Tom Hughes will return for another season of "Victoria" on the small screen. Unlike the first year's super-charged sensual moments, however, the upcoming episodes will show the royal couple having a tougher time navigating married life.
"Victoria" season 2 will pick up a few months after the final moments of the previous season where the queen (Coleman) had her first child. The first episode will jump right into the queen's struggles with postnatal depression, with Prince Albert (Hughes) also enduring his wife's emotional outbursts.
Coleman said in an interview that she read through diaries of Queen Victoria and her husband to prepare for her role. From these historical documents, the actress learned that the queen did not love being pregnant nor raising babies — even if she bore nine children.
Get Our Latest News for FREE
Her constant "fits of rage" post-pregnancy also made things difficult for Prince Albert.
"Albert wrote something like, 'I have two choices here: I either lock the door on her and let her cry her heart out till she's exhausted, or I join in, but then it gets too heated and I feel sorry'", the actress shared one diary entry she remembered reading.
"Victoria" creator Daisy Goodwin revealed to Metro that, in real life, pregnancy became an even bigger problem for the queen when she had one baby after another. But the second season will cover about five or six years, so viewers won't see Coleman's character getting pregnant all the time.
It will be implied, however, that the addition of the children will cause a strain in the royal's marriage, especially in the early years.
"Having to adjust to allowing somebody else room in their life, that's always very tricky [in a marriage]," Goodwin said.
"Victoria" season 2 will premiere on Sunday, Aug. 27 on ITV in the United Kingdom. It will have eight episodes. Meanwhile, PBS will air the show in the United States under Masterpiece but it won't happen until Jan. 14, 2018.
