IAN HYLAND
On last night’s telly
Mrs America, BBC2 ★★★★
This glossy new women’s lib drama about the battle over the Equal Rights Amendment in 1970s America comes with an impressive pedigree.
As well as starring some of the finest actresses in Hollywood, it also boasts the writing skills of Dahvi Waller, who cut her teeth on the hits
Mad Men and Desperate Housewives. But is it an enjoyable watch? And – perhaps more importantly, given the subject matter – does it engage the brain?
The answer to both questions is a resounding yes. It looks amazing, the soundtrack is super-cool and the likes of Cate Blanchett, Rose Byrne, Sarah Paulson, Margo Martindale and Tracey Ullman demand your attention. There are some male characters in it as well but, so far, they have tended to be smarm-buckets.
Not that it is saying all men are smarm-buckets. This lot just happened to be. But then, most of them were politicians.
In fact, there were very few judgements made in the first two episodes.
This nine-part drama has somehow managed to take a complex and divisive issue and see it from all sides.
The two main sides here are the East Coast feminists – led by campaigning magazine editor Gloria Steinem (Byrne) – who are putting their weight behind the amendment, and Middle America’s conservative housewives – led by Illinois academic and mother-of-six Phyllis Schlafly (Blanchett) – who are dead against it.
Obviously, I have massively simplified matters there. Then again, I do have only 250 words to play with.
Waller has another seven episodes at her disposal and I can’t wait to see where she goes with them.
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This took a complex and divisive issue and saw it from all sides