A note: Because this aired a while ago in the UK, I’m using the original BBC episode numbering, which has this as episode 7; on PBS, which double-pumped the first two, it was listed as episode 6.
This week, Victoria gets that which she fears and reviles most: womb-fruit. It seems she and Albert are a fertile pair — which was borne out in history NINE TIMES (said in Ed Rooney’s voice) — and you can imagine the joy with which Victoria greets the news that she’s about to play host to a guest she didn’t invite and doesn’t much enjoy.
The other theme here is that, per this show, Victoria doesn’t do anything unless Albert likes it first. Case in point: She has no interest in manufacturing, modernization, or growing the railways, until Albert’s fascination with technology forces her to pay attention. He even basically convinces her to like Tory leader Robert Peel. I know Victoria was heavily influenced by him, but this show REALLY throws its lot in with The Thrall of the German Sausage.
