Queen Victoria's Empire: Engines of Change (Episode 1)

A 2002 History Documentary hosted by Donald Sutherland, broadcasted as part of PBS Empires.

At the time of Queen Victoria's birth in 1819, England was an agrarian society. Within a few short decades, this small island nation would be transformed into an industrial superpower, with an empire spanning the globe. Queen Victoria's Empire is both the story of this remarkable time, and an engaging portrait of a Queen who ruled over a one-fifth of the world's population. It is the story of the influential figures that would shape a distinctively British imperialism: Gladstone, Disraeli, Livingstone, Rhodes, and Prince Albert, Victoria's husband. Whether driven by profit, passion, or noble ideals, these figures would fuel an expansion unequaled in history, forever changing Britain and the lands it controlled. Personal accounts, lush reenactments, and evocative cinematography from former outposts of the Empire, including India and Africa, recount the dramatic clash of personalities and cultures that would drive Victoria's remarkable 64-year reign.

Episode 1: Beginning with the birth of Queen Victoria, this episode explores the changes brought to Britain by the industrial revolution. By the 1840s, urban migration has created overcrowding and extremes in pollution and poverty. However, British subjects remain loyal to their Queen. Prince Albert, Victoria's husband, becomes a guiding force in the monarchy. Benjamin Disraeli and William Gladstone, political stars with starkly contrasting visions of empire, turn the nation's attention abroad.

Episode 2: https://rumble.com/v5xn7a2-queen-victorias-empire-passage-to-india-episode-2.html