History Series / Victoria

* Hypocrite: The Whigs as a whole are potrayed as hypocrital and narrow-minded "limousine liberals" who are out of touch with the needs of the poor and middle-class. They also lose most of their middle-class base to the Tories during this era. Which did happen in RealLife.

** During the 1854 cholera outbreak, Florence Nightingale is depicted saying that she doesn't believe in miasma theory. In fact, Nightingale was a strong proponent of miasma theory throughout her life. Furthermore, the show has Nightingale reasoning that miasma theory must be false because she hasn't caught cholera from her patients, but that's exactly what miasma theory would predict. It was the opponents of miasma theory, the "contagionists," who believed that disease was spread from person to person. (Of course, we now know that certain diseases ''are'' spread from person to person, but it happens that cholera is not one of them--and it doesn't spread in air either, but in water.)

** During the 1854 cholera outbreak, Florence Nightingale is depicted saying that she doesn't believe in miasma theory. In fact, Nightingale was a strong proponent of miasma theory throughout her life. Furthermore, the show has Nightingale reasoning that miasma theory must be false because she hasn't caught cholera from her patients, but that's exactly what miasma theory would predict. It was the opponents of miasma theory, the "contagionists," who believed that disease was spread from person to person. (Of course, we now know that certain diseases ''are'' spread from person to person, but it happens that cholera is not one of them.)

In 1837, England's [[UsefulNotes/TheHouseOfHanover William IV]] died without a legitimate descendant to inherit, leaving the throne to his intelligent and opinionated but sheltered teenaged niece Alexandrina Victoria. As she ascends the throne, she forges an exceptionally close relationship and alliance with Prime Minister Lord Melbourne, and relies on her childhood governess Baroness Lehzen, while her mother's comptroller Sir John Conroy and her uncle, the Duke of Cumberland, scheme to control the young queen and, by extension, the British Empire. And then there's the matter of Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, Victoria's cousin and potential suitor. The young queen must contend with personal and political challenges with little room for error on the world's largest stage.

** It's not outright stated, but Mr Penge is possibly a Tory and/or sympathizes with them due to his political/religous attitudes, despite being a servant and a blue-collar worker. He seems to have a good relationship with both Victoria and Albert.

** Sir Robert Peel is not potrayed as a stereotypical stupid, selfish, evil and crazy conservative. He knows full well that the poor and middle-class are angry at the monarchy and parliament (he even tries to encorage Prince Albert to avoid the costly ball Queen Victoria throws), the cost of war and is shown to be right about the rivalry between France and the UK. He also expands the Tories party base to include middle-class bureaucrats and industrialists. Which is TruthinTelevision.

* DiplomaticImmunity: The Northern European Protestant countries and the Netherlands in paticular are the UK's closest and most relilable allies. Some of the British ProudElite are quite upset that Queen Vicotria did not marry a Dutch man instead of Prince Albert.

* FrenchJerk: Zig-zagged. The snooty women in the royal court play this strait, but Louis Philippe I of France and the French maids are not this. Napoleon III is talked about as being a resonable man.

* Grey-and-GrayMorality: The relationship between the UK and the foreign countries are potrayed this way. So is the Catholic VS Protestant rivavlry.

** Sir Robert Peel is not potrayed as a stereotypical stupid, selfish, evil and crazy conservative. He knows full well that the poor and middle-class are angry at the monarchy and parliament (he even tries to encorage Prince Albert to avoid the costly ball Queen Victoria throws), the cost of war and is shown to be right about the rivalry between France and the UK. He also expands the Tories party base to include middle-class bureaucrats and industrialists. Which is TruthInTelivison.

** Sir Robert Peel is not potrayed as a stereotypical stupid, selfish, evil and crazy conservative. He knows full well that the poor are angry at the monarchy and parliament (he even tries to encorage Prince Albert to avoid the costly ball Queen Victoria throws), the cost of war and is shown to be right about the rivalry between France and the UK.

** There is a Chartist woman who does not support republicanism, but she is in the minority. Most of them would have mostly like have killed both Victoria and Albert and even attacked the people who work in parliament if given the chance.

** Historically, Victoria considered her uncle Leopold her "best and kindest advisor", not least for setting up her marriage to Albert, whom unlike in the series she was immediately taken with after meeting him a year before becoming Queen. In the series, Leopold is depicted as manipulative and disliked by Victoria, although ([[spoiler: they finally bond in the final episode of Series 1, though in Series 2 rifts erupt]]).