{"id":480491,"date":"2026-03-17T14:20:16","date_gmt":"2026-03-17T14:20:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/480491\/"},"modified":"2026-03-17T14:20:16","modified_gmt":"2026-03-17T14:20:16","slug":"judi-denchs-absolutely-brilliant-period-drama-is-now-streaming-on-the-bbc","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/480491\/","title":{"rendered":"Judi Dench’s “absolutely brilliant” period drama is now streaming on the BBC"},"content":{"rendered":"

Mrs Brown, the “absolutely brilliant” period drama starring Dame Judi Dench, is now streaming<\/a> on BBC iPlayer. Written by Jeremy Brock and directed by John Madden, the 1997 film sees the legendary actor portray Queen Victoria. <\/p>\n

Set amid the aftermath of her beloved husband’s death, the monarch withdraws from public life. To aid her grieving process following two years of seclusion, the court appoints a former servant of the Prince, John Brown (Billy Connolly), to help her.<\/p>\n

However, when Brown succeeds in his mission and becomes the queen’s sole confidante, their closeness causes a stir among the inner circle of high society.<\/p>\n

\"judi<\/p>\n

Shutterstock<\/p>\n

Related: UK film release dates: Find out when all the latest movies are coming to cinemas<\/a> <\/p>\n

Described as a “dramatisation of one of history’s most unusual love stories”, the logline reads: “A grieving Queen Victoria finds herself drawn to an unconventional Highlander.” <\/p>\n

Popular among critics and audiences alike, Mrs Brown is now available to stream on BBC iPlayer<\/a>, meaning UK viewers with a TV licence can watch it. You have just under a month to view it, with the period drama set to be removed on 12 April.<\/p>\n

The film was nominated in two categories – Best Actress in a Leading Role (for Dench) and Best Makeup – at the 70th Academy Awards, with Dench winning the equivalent trophy at both the 51st BAFTA Awards and 55th Golden Globe Awards.<\/p>\n

Over on IMDb<\/a>, Mrs Brown has a user rating of 7.2\/10 from 16,000 logs, with audiences praising Dench’s lead performance. In an 8\/10 review, one user<\/a> called the film “absolutely brilliant” and remarked that Dench should’ve won the Oscar. <\/p>\n

“Dench and Connolly play so well off each other that their relationship has a wealth of charm, tenderness, bite, wit and solidity,” penned another<\/a>, while a third wrote<\/a> that the acting was “outstanding”. <\/p>\n

\"judi<\/p>\n

Shutterstock<\/p>\n

Related: Jessie Buckley sets new Oscars record as she wins Best Actress for Hamnet<\/a><\/p>\n

Meanwhile, on Rotten Tomatoes<\/a>, the film has an impressive approval rating of 92% from 51 reviews, with the BBC<\/a> reserving praise for the “undeniable” chemistry between the central duo. <\/p>\n

“Before you know it, you’re caught up in a difficult but touching friendship, and enjoying a history lesson more than you ever thought possible,” wrote Empire Magazine (via Rotten Tomatoes).<\/p>\n

Mrs Brown is now streaming on BBC iPlayer.<\/p>\n

The new edition of Living Legends, a 100-page all-colour celebration of Harry Styles, is here! Buy Harry Styles in newsagents or online<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"Lettermark\"<\/p>\n

Reporter, Digital Spy<\/p>\n

Harriet is a freelance news writer specialising in TV<\/a> and movies<\/a> at Digital Spy.\u00a0<\/p>\n

A horror enthusiast, she joined Digital Spy after working on her own horror website, reviewing films and focusing largely on feminism in the genre.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In her spare time, Harriet paints and produces mixed-media art. She graduated from the University of Kingston with a BA in fine art, where she specialised in painting. She also has an MA in journalism from Birkbeck University.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Mrs Brown, the “absolutely brilliant” period drama starring Dame Judi Dench, is now streaming on BBC iPlayer. Written…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":480492,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[147950,379,170826,381,96,1156,2839,170825,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-480491","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-movies","tag-collection-latest-news","tag-content-type-news","tag-contentid-4af0fae2-d630-4385-ae54-ea4c29365dba","tag-displaytype-standard-article","tag-entertainment","tag-locale-gb","tag-movies","tag-shorttitle-judi-denchs-brilliant-period-drama-is-now-streaming","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/480491","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=480491"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/480491\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/480492"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=480491"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=480491"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=480491"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}