Judi Dench and Billy Connolly are a wonderfully regal double-act in this perceptive blend of fact and fiction.
The story examines the relationship between Queen Victoria and her Scottish servant, John Brown (a favourite riding companion of her late husband,) who audaciously dispelled her gloom after the death of Prince Albert and with whom she became so close that gossips gave her his name.
The Oscar-nominated Dench provides a wonderfully dignified counter-balance to comedian Connolly, whose forthright bluntness causes consternation among her tradition-bound household staff.
Though the role was originally to have been played by Sean Connery, Connolly is more than just a substitute and he makes the part his own.
Director John Madden and scriptwriter Jeremy Brock have created an engrossing account of an attachment that might have fulfilled itself romantically had it not been for the repressive conventions of the time.
Queen Victoria
Judi Dench
John Brown
Billy Connolly
Benjamin Disraeli
Antony Sher
Henry Ponsonby
Geoffrey Palmer
Doctor Jenner
Richard Pasco
Bertie, Prince of Wales
David Westhead
Archie Brown
Gerard Butler
Lady Ely
Bridget McConnel
Lady Churchill
Georgie Glen
Lady in waiting
Catherine O’Donnell
Princess Alexandra
Sara Stewart
Princess Helena
Finty Williams
Princess Louise
Claire Nicolson
Princess Alice
Hattie Ladbury
Prince Alfred
Oliver Kent
Prince Arthur
Alex Menzies
Prince Leopold
Simon McKerrell
Director
John Madden
