As the camera pans out across the lavish set of Buckingham Palace and the rousing notes of the theme tune sung by the mediaeval baebes (see what they did there!) ring out, the first series of ITV’s Victoria draws to a close.

I was curious about Victoria: since the demise of Downton Abbey the nine o’clock slot on ITV has been filled by various shows hoping (and failing) to emulate its success. Brexit has left the British public craving another show which restores our belief in Great Britishness, and what better figure is there to take on this challenge than the matriarch of the empire herself, Queen Victoria. Daisy Goodwin’s sumptuous drama follows the rise of the young 18-year-old queen to the throne, and it’s a lot more exciting than you would think. Drama, intrigues, the saturnine Lord Melbourne – much of the show is inspired by Goodwin’s perusal into the diaries of Victoria (however the whole Albert-or-Lord-Melbourne thing suggests that the rest is inspired by the diaries of Bridget Jones.)

Victoria does seem to have attempted a brief flail towards the Downton Abbey style upstairs/downstairs plotline with a gaggle of semi developed servant characters tagged onto the main storyline. The most notable of these is the mysterious Miss Skerret, pursued by the (alternately friendly and creepy) chef Francatelli who claims that he never forgets a pretty face. But these minor characters seem like an afterthought: Victoria is, after all, focussed on the central relationship between Albert and Victoria.

This is not a bad thing. Despite the historical inaccuracies and dreadful CGI, Victoria is redeemed by the excellent performance given by Jenna Coleman, who is perfectly cast as the young and dainty Queen Victoria. Coleman carries the show with her mingled imperiousness and youthful naivety which characterises the teenage Queen Victoria. Albert too, played by Tom Hughes, captures well the sullen awkwardness of ‘the clockwork prince’, and the chemistry between the two is convincing (although it probably helps that they are dating in real life). Nevertheless, it does seem that their relationship develops implausibly quickly. One minute they’re flirtatiously playing Beethoven together, next they’re running in slow motion through the forest (Albert likes trees), then before you know it wedding bells are ringing and they seem to spend the rest of their time in the royal bedchamber. And that’s just one episode! An entire season of courtship in an hour, albeit randomly punctuated by Albert whipping out a penknife and shredding sections of his shirt, which I still don’t entirely understand.

The last episode provides a fitting finale though, with a royal birth, an assassination attempt and the suitably villainous King of Hanover, complete with a treacherous scar over his eye and a sneaky pantomime walk. Just in case you were in any doubt as to his villain status, he also has a nefarious soundtrack whenever he enters. Victoria gives birth, and the various disagreements of the series are put aside in the light of a new and hopeful future. The show ends with a tableau of the royal couple gazing lovingly at their new daughter, also named Victoria.

But it’s not all a happy ending. The failed assassin, imprisoned in Bedlam, sits tied up in a straightjacket. Miss Skerret weeps in a corner of the palace as creepy Francatelli leaves to fulfil his dream of becoming a pastry chef (maybe he’ll be the replacement for Mary Berry on Channel 4’s Great British Bake Off?). The CGI is still truly awful. And I have a sneaking suspicion that we haven’t seen the last of the villainous King of Hanover...