The Christmas special of ‘Victoria’ has been filmed.
The second instalment of the period drama is set to hit screens this weekend and, although the cast have spent the past few months getting up at the crack of dawn to shoot their scenes for the series, Jenna Coleman – who portrays the late monarch – has revealed they’ve also finished the festive episode, which will air in December.
Speaking at the Q&A and screening of ‘Victoria’, which was held at Ham Yard Hotel in London on Thursday (24.08.317), Jenna said: "What’s so lovely is for the Christmas special we’ve just finished filming, we can really feel the family."
The forthcoming series, which is set immediately after the first, largely involves children and animals, and the 31-year-old actress has found it a real struggle.
She said: "It’s a huge part. We’re three babies in as of last night when we wrapped. Filming with children and animals is no joke. It’s a complete challenge. We’ve had parents hid behind pillows with packets of doritos. We had to cast some puppies – new dogs – and a lot of babies. The brood is really expanding. What’s so lovely is for the Christmas special we’ve just finished filming, we can really feel the family."
And, in order to get into character, Jenna has been reading Victoria’s diaries.
She explained: "What’s really lovely is there’s an amazing website called Victoriasjournal.org or something and you can literally click in the date and go back to the point of "9:20am – ate breakfast."
"And all different details of her day so you really get a sense of her day-to-day life and rhythms and it’s probably one of the best ways to get to know her because you get these tiny bits of observations all the time.
"My favourite ones was I read the Scotland diaries because we went up to Scotland this year and she always comments on people’s appearance and she’s really candid and frank in how she thought the people more north of Scotland weren’t as attractive."