ITV viewers urge 'Victoria' actors to speak up amid "mumbly" dialogue

The third series of ITV’s lavish historical drama Victoria got started last night, but viewers took to social media to complain they couldn’t hear a word anyone was saying.

Fans of the previous series settled in to enjoy the first new episode last night, with Jenna Coleman returning to her role as the second longest reigning monarch in British history.

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The social media reaction soon turned a little sour, however, with viewers urging ITV to “turn the microphones up” and criticising the performances as “too quiet and mumbly”.

Some even told ITV to provide subtitles so that viewers could understand what was being said.

Tony and Olivier Award nominee Kate Fleetwood is a new addition to the cast as Victoria’s mysterious sister Feodora, but she was not immune to accusations that her dialogue was difficult to hear.

The latest series of Victoria kicks off in 1848, with the queen forced to deal with revolutions brewing across Europe and the rise of the Chartist movement in her own capital city.

In the press notes for the series, creator Daisy Goodwin said that, while putting together the new episodes, she was “continually struck by the parallels between the nineteenth century and our own populist movements at home and abroad”.

Laurence Fox has joined the cast for series 3 as UK Foreign Secretary Lord Palmerston, joining regular stars Coleman and Tom Hughes as Prince Albert.

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Coleman previously achieved fame as companion Clara Oswald alongside both Matt Smith and Peter Capaldi in Doctor Who on the BBC.

The show is set to air a total of eight new episodes in the coming weeks.

Victoria is airing on Sunday nights on ITV.