Fans will no doubt be mourning the end of period drama Victoria as the first series reaches its climax with its eighth and final episode.

The lavish ITV programme, which stars Jenna Coleman in the leading role as Queen Victoria, has been a ratings success since it arrived in the prime-time Sunday night slot at the end of August.

Victoria has been a ratings winner, averaging 7.7 million viewers and beating the competition from BBC’s rival period drama Poldark.

Former Doctor Who star Coleman plays the young monarch in the early years of her reign and is joined by Tom Hughes as her husband, Prince Albert, and Rufus Sewell as prime minister Lord Melbourne.

The final episode of the series will see her heavily pregnant and also having to face an old foe.

Luckily for fans of the show, a second series and a Christmas special have been confirmed for next year.

The show’s screenwriter Daisy Goodwin explained: “Even though she reigned in the 19th century, Victoria is a heroine for our times.

“In the next series she faces the very modern dilemma of how to juggle children with her husband and her job.

“As Victoria will discover, it’s hard to be a wife, a mother and ruler of the most powerful nation on Earth.”

Victoria airs at 9pm on Sunday on ITV1