News

December 27, 2017

WMHT to Broadcast Second Season of Masterpiece’s Smash-hit Victoria January 14th and Announces Free Screening of Victoria at Albany Institute January 4th

Jenna Coleman (Doctor Who) returns for a new season as the young queen who wants it all—romance, power, an heir, and personal freedom—on Victoria, Season 2, airing in seven episodes premiering January 14, 2018 at 9pm on MASTERPIECE on WMHT-TV.

WMHT invites you to a free preview screening prior to the broadcast premiere Thursday, January 4th, 2018 at 5pm & 6:30pm (snow date Friday, January 5th) at Albany Institute of History and Art located at 125 Washington Avenue, Albany, New York 12210. The local screening highlights the exhibit “Well-Dressed in Victorian Albany: 19th Century Fashion from the Albany Institute Collection.” This fabulous exhibit, showcasing fashion in the Victorian era, runs through February 19, 2018. The free screening will show the first hour of the premiere.

More than 16.2 million viewers tuned in for Victoria’s premiere season, making it the highest-rated drama on PBS in 20 years – second only to Downton Abbey.

Fans can catch up on the first season with WMHT Passport. The full second season will be available for fans to binge watch online beginning Sunday, January 14th. WMHT Passport is our new member benefit that provides WMHT members who support with a donation of $60 or more annually with extended access to an on-demand library of quality local and national public television programming.

Victoria’s first season, focusing on the teenage queen’s audacious upstaging of her handlers to chart her own path, delighted TV critics. The Hollywood Reporter called Victoria “thoroughly enjoyable and addictive.” “Royally entertaining,” proclaimed The San Francisco Chronicle, and “a sparkling gem,” said The New York Post.

Season 2 finds Victoria adapting to motherhood after the birth of her first child, a daughter (to the disappointment of many). Meanwhile, the disaster of the Anglo-Afghan War unfolds abroad, and the catastrophic Irish potato famine begins to wreak havoc. In other foreign affairs, a royal state visit to France is in the offing. What an extraordinary time to be Queen!

Tom Hughes (Dancing on the Edge) stars as the queen’s smoldering consort, Prince Albert. Also returning from last season are Rufus Sewell (Man in the High Castle) as Lord Melbourne, Nell Hudson (Outlander) as Nancy Skerrett and Ferdinand Kingsley (Borgia) as Charles Francatelli.