Victoria suffers by comparison with The Crown

Been watching the BBC series Victoria primarily to get a brush-up, however superficial, about British history. Essentially, it's a True Romance version of the Victorian era, or at least of Victoria's ascent to the throne and her marriage to Albert. Unfortunately for this series, it will inevitably be compared w/ the great Netflix series from last year, The Crown, which brilliantly dramatized the early years of the reign of QE2. Whereas The Crown was thought-provoking and dramatically tense, showed real character development of the course of the season (as well as character un-development, as we watch the marginalization and decline of King Phillip), and sumptuous presentation of period detail, Victoria strives for effect in each realm and comes up far short. In precisely the same mode, we have a woman unexpectedly become Queen of England, faces the judgments of all those around her and the stifling expectations of family, confides in the PM but gradually has to move out of his shadow, marries for love but inevitably puts her husband into an awkward, subsidiary position - but every one of these points is developed and presented w/ much greater subtlety and with in The Crown. Victoria is hindered by stolid writing (there are a few good laugh lines, particularly those taking pokes as the aristocracy, but far too many points when I could hear a line of dialogue coming minutes before the words are spoken), needlessly long takes, repetition of key points in case we missed the point, dull and drab interiors and a limited palate of exteriors, and an extremely tired upstairs-downstairs dramatic structure that does little to illuminate Victoria's character. On the plus side, my quick checks show that the series has so far been pretty accurate on historical detail and Jenna Coleman is winning in the title role. Worth watching to a degree, and I'll probably stay w/ it out of curiosity about the era, but not a great dramatic statement.