BBC drama spotlight on divorce of Duke and Duchess of Argyll
The BBC has unveiled its new drama series A Very British Scandal, about the divorce of the Duke and Duchess of Argyll, ‘one of the most notorious, extraordinary, and brutal legal cases of the 20th century’.
The three, one-hour episodes, coming soon to BBC One and BBC iPlayer, star Claire Foy, who played Queen Elizabeth II in The Crown, as Margaret Campbell, Duchess of Argyll, and Paul Bettany, famous for A Beautiful Mind, The Da Vinci Code and WandaVision, as Ian Campbell, 11th Duke of Argyll.
‘Famed for her charisma, beauty and style, Margaret, Duchess of Argyll, dominated the front pages as the divorce exposed accusations of forgery, theft, violence, drug-taking, bribery and an explicit Polaroid picture that was to haunt her for the rest of her life,’ the BBC explained.
‘A Very British Scandal turns this scandal inside out to explore the social and political climate of post-war Britain, looking at attitudes towards women and asking whether institutional misogyny was widespread at the time.
‘As her contemporaries, the press and the judiciary sought to vilify her, Margaret kept her head held high with bravery and resilience, refusing to go quietly as she was betrayed by her friends and publicly shamed by a society that revelled in her fall from grace.’
Joining the series, written by the screenwriter of The Pale Horse and Dublin Murders Sarah Phelps, are Gavin & Stacey actress Julia Davis as Maureen, Marchioness of Dufferin, and Ava and Amanda Drew from The Trial Of Christine Keeler.
A Very British Scandal, directed by Anne Sewitsky and produced by Chris Ballantyne, comes from the makers of the award-winning comedy drama A Very English Scandal, which tells the story of Jeremy Thorpe MP, a former leader of the Liberal Party who, in 1979, was tried and later acquitted of conspiring to murder his ex-lover Norman Scott.