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02nd Oct 2017

‘Victoria’ episode leaves British viewers shocked by reality of Great Irish Famine

Cathy Donohue

Great Irish Famine

‘The unspoken genocide’.

Last night’s episode of ITV drama Victoria left many of its viewers shocked as it concentrated on the reality of the Great Irish Famine.

Although this period of history is covered by the British education system, many viewers were shocked to hear the extent of the suffering borne by Irish people during this horrific time.

The famine began in 1845 when blight destroyed the potato crop, it has been estimated that one million people died during the four-year famine and a further two million emigrated from the country.

Last night, many Twitter users expressed their horror at what the Irish nation endured at this time while others praised Victoria’s scriptwriters and producers for dealing with the subject in such a forthright and honest manner.

Daisy Goodwin, who can be credited with writing Victoria’s plotlines, also took to social media and said there is ‘ignorance’ in the United Kingdom regarding the true events of the Great Irish Famine.

Daisy is the great-great-great-granddaughter of Dr Robert Traill, a real-life figure who campaigned to help people during the Famine and Daisy was able to pay tribute to him by including him in last night’s episode.

It’s clear that it had a major impact on people watching, as you’ll see from the below tweets.

Main image via Twitter: VictoriaSeries