Famine episode of 'Victoria' TV drama that "shocked" British airs on PBS tonight

The top-rated British drama, Victoria, about the monarch who ruled during the Irish Famine, shocked British viewers to the core with the realistic presentation of Ireland's Great Hunger. Will an American audience be as horrified by the realities of the Irish famine?

Queen Victora in the PBS/BBC series.
Queen Victora in the PBS/BBC series. PBS/BBC

That Irish Famine episode of Victoria that horrified British audiences about the realities of Ireland's Great Hunger is airing on PBS in the US tonight. 

The top-rated British drama Victoria, about the monarch who ruled during the Irish Famine, shocked British viewers to the core with the realistic presentation of Ireland's Great Hunger.

The episode, titled "Faith, Hope & Charity," is airing for US viewers on tonight, Sunday, February 4 (competing with the Superbowl, no less!) at 9pm ET on PBS. 

The episode description reads "News of the horrific famine in Ireland has finally reached the Queen."

Read More: Proving the Irish famine was genocide by the British 

When it aired in the UK back in October, viewers were apparently shocked to learn about the horrors of the Great Hunger in Ireland. 

The Daily Express noted most “viewers [were] disturbed by a piece of history that they had not been taught about.”

The drama focused heavily on the “horrific famine” in Ireland. British leaders were seen as utterly indifferent to it, most notably the man in charge Charles Trevelyan, who thought it was God’s punishment for the Irish.

Read more: Little known tale of generous Turkish aid to the Irish during the Great Hunger

Screenwriter Daisy Goodwin took to Twitter to post about the accuracy of the episode.

everything #Trevelyan says about Ireland based on historical documents #Victoria

— Daisy Goodwin (@DaisyGoodwin) October 1, 2017

A fan posted back:

@DaisyGoodwin well done for highlighting the irish problem with the potato famine that the govenment ignored..thank you ?#Victoria

— GAVIN M GREAVES ? (@realgmg67) October 1, 2017

Trevelyan, who was head of administration for famine relief in the 1840s, stated, “The judgement of God sent the calamity to teach the Irish a lesson, that calamity must not be too much mitigated… The real evil with which we have to contend is not the physical evil of the Famine, but the moral evil of the selfish, perverse and turbulent character of the people.”

The TV drama portrays Queen Victoria being adamant that her government should be doing more to help.

Will an American audience be as horrified by the realities of the Irish famine? We'll find out tonight. 

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