Victoria series 3 will air in Australia this March – but there's still no UK air date

The historical drama is set to debut on BBC Australia on 14th March, just over two months after US channel PBS Masterpiece first began airing the show.

• ITV boss hints at Victoria series 3 UK timing
• Meet Lord Palmerston, the colourful Foreign Secretary who clashed with Queen Victoria
• Jenna Coleman says there will "come a point" when she'll have to quit Victoria

ITV has yet to confirm when British audiences will finally get their hands on the much-anticipated series, but the ITV director of programmes Kevin Lygo has reassured viewers it will be sooner rather than later.

Speaking to RadioTimes.com, he promised the third run of the drama would air in the spring or summer months as he wanted the show to have the right slot on the schedules to maximise the viewing figures.

“We have to get it right and put it up against the right things on the BBC and elsewhere,” he said.

The third series will start in 1848, a hugely troubling time for the monarchy as uprisings and revolutions sweep across Europe.

But there’s trouble closer to home for Victoria (played by Doctor Who’s Jenna Coleman), as her marriage with her beloved Prince Albert (Tom Hughes) hits turbulent times.

Showrunner Daisy Goodwin explained, “Victoria and Albert are the most famous couple of the 19th century, but underneath the united facade, their relationship is at breaking point and it is a struggle for mastery that neither side can win.

“She has six children in eight years – which is a lot – and there are some gaps, so I wonder whether there may have been some withholding [of sex] on both sides; that’s certainly something I’m going to explore in series three.”

The upcoming series also welcomes Laurence Fox to the cast as the dashing Lord Palmerston – the country’s cunning and caddish foreign secretary with sympathetic leanings for anarchist uprisers.

Elsewhere, Victoria’s wayward half-sister Princess Feodor (played by Kate Fleetwood) is set to cause tension in the royal household.

American fans have already been quick to praise the third series, with many noting the show’s “darker” tone in the new episodes.

But for British fans worried about major plot points being revealed, an ITV spokesperson told RadioTimes.com, “We’ll be working to ensure that any content on social media and/or from US press will be geo-blocked to avoid any spoilers for UK viewers.”

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