The BBC is banking on JK Rowling’s magic touch in a Sunday night ratings battle between the sumptuous ITV costume drama Victoria and its own thriller, Strike, adapted from crime novels by the Harry Potter author.
Surprise hit Victoria, starring Jenna Coleman and Tom Hughes as Victoria and Albert, is back for a second series after a 500,000 ratings triumph over the BBC’s Cornish period drama Poldark last year. ITV is hoping for repeat success over Strike, adapted from the novels Rowling published under the pseudonym Robert Galbraith, and starring Tom Burke as the damaged war veteran turned detective Cormoran Strike and Holliday Grainger as his sleuthing partner Robin Ellacott.
The two contenders’ settings could not contrast more. Victoria, which picks up in 1840 after the birth of the Queen’s first baby, has been described by one TV critic as “the most sumptuous and visually rich show” on television. There is opulence and magnificence throughout in its palace settings, glittering jewels and shimmering gold brocade.
Strike’s edginess is played out against a darker, often insalubrious, backdrop as the Afghanistan war veteran, with a prosthetic leg and psychological scars to match his physical wounds, lives his chaotic life operating out of a dingy, cramped Soho office. His unique insight, and his background as a military police special investigator, prove crucial in tackling three complex cases that have eluded the police.
Rowling has said Burke is “extremely convincing” as the investigator. Producers have said, given the nature of the cases, they have been careful to ensure any depiction of violence against women is “sensitively filmed”.
The Cuckoo’s Calling has been adapted into three episodes for the BBC starting on Sunday, and is followed by two parts of The Silkworm. Career of Evil, a third instalment, will come to the screen in 2018. Rowling, an executive producer of the new drama, has hinted at more Strike books in the future, saying they could eventually outnumber her Harry Potter titles.
Ben Richard, who adapted The Cuckoo’s Calling, told Radio Times magazine: “One of the things I loved about Strike was that, although he’s grumpy and he’s got problems, he’s not tortured. He’s hard-working, not self-pitying, and kind.”
Over on ITV, rumours that Coleman, 31, has become engaged to on-screen husband and off-screen boyfriend Hughes, also 31, sparked when she wore a glittering stone on her ring finger at this week’s screen preview, will only augment interest. This season develops the couple’s famously passionate marital relationship against the historical backdrop of European and global events, and sees the arrival, too, of Dame Diana Rigg as the Duchess of Buccleuch.
Asked what it was like depicting Victoria and Albert’s often volatile relationship on screen, Coleman said at the screen preview: “I think argument scenes are really, really hard. It’s probably one of the most challenging things because, especially something that’s so fiery, it needs to be spontaneous, so you need to shoot really quickly.” During one scene, she threw her hairbrush so hard at her co-star it broke, she revealed.
Hughes said: “When you have that volatility, it gives it a real energy. Particularly in period dramas, some of it can be quite reserved at times so to have that different rhythm is helpful for the story and you just kind of dive in – and if it means you get a hairbrush thrown at you, then that’s what happens.”
The Victoria creator Daisy Goodwin said both actors were “astonishing”. “You totally believe in Albert’s internal struggles and in Victoria’s impulsiveness … she’s very stubborn and Albert’s very self-controlled so when he does break, he really breaks.”
