Movie of the Week: Victoria & Abdul

Been a while since you’ve seen your mum? Why not take the old girl out this weekend to see this – trust us, she’ll love it. We’re in 1887 England and Queen Victoria is bored out of her mind by her toadying court. Adbul, sent from India to present her with a coin on her jubilee, snaps her out of it with his lack of care for traditional protocol, and a pair of brown eyes you can just swim in. Judi Dench as terrific as Her Maj of course, and if this all sounds a bit likeMrs Brown, that’s because it is – only much broader, and surprisingly sitcom-like. Handsomely mounted, this is history as knockabout pageant, and plenty of fun if you can overlook the awkward politics of the whole thing.Trailer and times