Victoria Rating: Tasmania: Weird And Wonderful Rating: A married man must always be a diplomat, and doubly so when his wife is queen. Prince Albert (Tom Hughes) was struggling for tactful words to describe his wife's mood swings in Victoria (ITV). 'Changeable' sounds so mealy-mouthed. He could try 'highly strung' but that's just a polite way of saying 'mad'. A chance remark by the rakish Lord Palmerston, her Foreign Secretary, had put the Queen in mind of her dear dead prime minister, Lord M. She didn't have to say his name, Melbourne What he really meant was: 'Tin hats on, boys, it's hormone time.' Except he's far too uptight for that. With Germanic precision, Albert settled on the perfect euphemism. Her Majesty was 'volatile'. Now in her third series, Jenna Coleman is completely confident in her portrayal of Victoria, conveying emotions with the subtlest changes of expression. That frees writer Daisy Goodwin to explore the monarch's deeply romantic nature. Other characters have to talk us through their feelings (the chef Francatelli and his lady-love, Skerrett the dresser, spend all their time wearily explaining their sub-plot to each other) but Victoria can tell all with a look. When Albert discovered her in the palace gardens, she was staring at her reflection in a pond. Prince Albert (Tom Hughes) was struggling for tactful words to describe his wife's mood swings in Victoria (ITV). 'Changeable' sounds so mealy-mouthed. He could try 'highly strung' but that's just a polite way of saying 'mad' A chance remark by the rakish Lord Palmerston, her Foreign Secretary, had put the Queen in mind of her dear dead prime minister, Lord M. She didn't have to say his name, Melbourne. By now, we know the look Vic gets when she's remembering Lord M — gooey and slightly melted, like a cupcake that's been left in the sun. Meanwhile Louis Philippe (Vincent Regan), the deposed French king, is skulking in Buckingham Palace. Traumatised by his escape from the guillotine, he talks to everyone about death. That and his nasal accent, not to mention his scruffy white beard, keep giving me flashbacks to last month's crime thriller Baptiste. Whenever Louis is around, I'm expecting Romanian gangsters to kidnap the royal children and stuff Mr Penge the butler's head into a fridge. Such visions are mild, compared to the nightmare images conjured by the caterwauling in the rainforests on Tasmania: Weird And Wonderful (BBC2). Sir David Attenborough's voiceover gravely informed us that when European settlers first heard Tasmanian devils mewling in the night, they thought all the demons in hell had come to the surface. And it certainly is an unholy noise, like a choir of cats reading the Lord's Prayer backwards. Their appearance is as bad: the devils are no bigger than foxes but they have the faces of junkie bats. The documentary kept returning to them, as Attenborough coaxed us to see them first as fascinating behavioural specimens, then as affectionate individuals, and finally as endangered marvels that must be preserved at all costs. You still wouldn't want one as a pet, though. The documentary kept returning to them, as Attenborough coaxed us to see them first as fascinating behavioural specimens, then as affectionate individuals, and finally as endangered marvels that must be preserved at all costs This show earned its title: the devils weren't even the weirdest wonders on display. That honour goes to the Tasmanian platypus, a sort of otter that is self-identifying as a waterfowl. As yet, it hasn't gone through with all the surgery, just the duck-beak and flippers. If anyone but Sir David told you about the platypus, you might not believe them. His authority is unquestioned, however, which is why so many film-makers clamour to work with him. When I interviewed him about his new Netflix show, Our Planet, to be released on Friday, he confided: 'I've got four wildlife series planned for the next year, in various stages of completion. I can't quite believe it. I do feel like saying sometimes, 'Chaps, you do know I'm going to be 93 this year?' And he added with a chuckle, 'I don't say it too loudly, in case they hear me.'All rights reserved for this news site dailymail and under his responsibility