Latest news with #Outrageous
Daily Mirror
8 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Daily Mirror
Outrageous cast teases second season of scandalous period drama
U and U&Drama's new historical series Outrageous has scored rave reviews, but will the Mitford sisters' story continue? The cast of Outrageous are all keen to return for a second series of the gripping historical drama following its premiere this week. Releasing this Thursday (19th June) on U, U&Drama and BritBox, the six-part first outing follows Nancy Mitford (played by Bessie Carter) and her five sisters' ascent to notoriety in the 1930s. While Nancy was becoming a reputable author and journalist, her sisters were either breaking the rules of society or rubbing shoulders with fascists. After taking off the rose-tinted glasses for a key era of British history, will Outrageous continue the scandalous narrative in a second outing? Acclaimed star James Purefoy, who portrays the Mitfords' father, insists: 'They'd be mad not to, I think.' Reach chatted to Purefoy and the rest of the cast at the show's London premiere, and enthusiasm to continue was high across the board. 'I think it's a great show and there's a lot more meat on these bones,' he continued. 'We're only at 1937, with loads more to come.' Along with Bridgerton star Carter portraying Nancy, the Mitford family is brought to life by a crop of both established stars and new talent to watch out for. In addition to Anna Chancellor portraying their dedicated mother, Joanna Vanderham and Shannon Watson portray fascist sympathisers Diana and Unity and Isobel Jesper Jones plays Pamela Mitford, who defied gender norms of the time. Zoe Brough and Orla Hill portray the youngest sisters, Jessica and Deborah and, finally, Toby Regbo portrays the only brother, Tom Mitford. Jones teases of a potential second season: 'There is so much history to cover. It's the tip of the iceberg, there's so much more they go on to do. 'Pamela's story, in particular, is so interesting beyond the 1930s. I really hope that we'll get to do that. If anything it gets more chaotic and more outrageous.' And Hill was equally enthusiastic to return, saying: 'I would love to. 'I'm desperate to because Deborah starts to come out to society and then had a crazy, teenage… her sweet 16 was pretty [crazy], hanging out with the Kennedys. 'One of the most interesting things about Outrageous is you have all those really famous historical figures that we know just trickling in,' she added. 'Having some of that for my character's storyline would be really fun.' From the first episode's surprise appearance of Winston Churchill (Robert Daws), it's clear the Mitfords were one of the most well-connected families in Britain during the early 20th Century. With plenty more history to cover, a second season could feature cameos galore from famous faces as well as plenty more scandalous revelations about the Mitfords.
The Herald Scotland
17 hours ago
- Entertainment
- The Herald Scotland
Reviewed: Murder Most Puzzling, Mitford drama Outrageous
This isn't the first time Phyllis Logan has dabbled in crime. Her gangster's wife in Guilt was more terrifying than any of her character's henchmen, and deserved a series of her own (quick as you like, Neil Forsyth). In the meantime, we will have to make do with Murder Most Puzzling, one of a growing band of 'cosy crime' offerings taking over the TV schedules (Ludwig, The Madame Blanc Mysteries), publishing (Richard Osman's The Thursday Murder Club) and film (Netflix's adaptation of Osman's book, arriving August). Cosy and crime: it's a difficult combination to get right. Logan's Cora Felton could have gone either way. A crossword setter known as The Puzzle Lady, Cora has come to the small town of Bakerbury with her niece, Sherry (Charlotte Hope), hoping for a quieter life. As per, all is not as it seems, starting with Cora. When a woman is found dead with what looks like a crossword clue in her pocket, the local plod ask for Cora's help. Before you can say a four-letter word for unbelievable, the victims are piling up and Cora has turned into a full-blown sleuth. The oft-married, loves-a-tipple Cora is a likeable sort given added heft by Logan. There's a scene at the start, when Cora is interviewing the parents of a young woman who died in an accident, that could have gone horribly wrong if not for Logan bringing her acting chops to bear. Cora/Logan is also a highly convincing dropper of the F-bomb, a power she uses seldom but well, ditto her Scottish sarkiness. 'Isn't the internet a marvel,' she says while picking a lock. 'All these instructional videos by cheerful men, helping burglars.' The rest is strictly Scooby-Doo, and I'd still rather have a series with Logan as a crime clan matriarch, but I might be tempted back to see how Cora is getting on. Outrageous U&Drama (free to air) *** WHAT ho folks, it's a thoroughly spiffing drama about those game gels, the Mitford sisters. You know the ones: Nancy the novelist, Diana the beauty, the one who went full blown Nazi … There ought to be a verse, like the one for Henry VIII's wives. Published, divorced, fascist … Written by Sarah Williams, Outrageous wisely gives the job of narrator to Nancy the novelist (played by Bessie Carter). It is Nancy who introduces us to the six sisters and one brother. Since he's the lucky chap who will inherit everything, it's up to the rest of them to marry well, a rule swiftly ignored like all the rest. Outrageous is handsomely shot and convincingly shabby in its depiction of the times. A few clunky moments of exposition aside ('Mrs Guinness? Oswald Mosley'), it rolls along like a game of croquet on a well-tended lawn. The first episode - one of six - is a warm-up for what comes next, but Anna Chancellor is already a standout as the mother desperate to get the gels off her hands. Careful what you wish for, 'Muv'. Next week: Diana invites Unity to join her on a trip to Germany.
Daily Mirror
19 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Daily Mirror
Outrageous star had ‘mental block' delivering her ‘offensive' dialogue
Actress Joanna Vanderham admits she had difficulty wrapping her head around her character's fascist views in the new period drama, Outrageous Outrageous star Joanna Vanderham admits she was uncomfortable with some of the dialogue she had to say as historical fascist figure Diana Mitford in the new series. U and U&Drama's six-part period drama reveals more about the life of iconic author Nancy Mitford (played by Bessie Carter) and her five sisters. In the 1930s, with war looming and women struggling to find a place in society outside the home, the Mitfords stood out as rebels and pioneers amongst their aristocratic peers. However, their rise to notoriety threatened to fracture the family as both Diana and their younger sister Unity (Shannon Watson) began to associate with British Fascists and Nazis. Reach caught up with Vanderham at Outrageous' London premiere and asked if she found the role of a notable Nazi sympathiser challenging. 'Absolutely,' she said. 'Diana has a couple of lines that refer to what was happening at the time, and I personally found them quite difficult to deliver. 'I'm usually really quick to learn lines, they go in in an instant. But, for some reason, there was like a mental block of, 'I don't want to say this!' 'So some of those political lines, those were hard to say.' Written by Sarah Williams, this new period drama is a must-watch for fans of Downton Abbey, but be warned - it's a historical series like no other. Outrageous takes an unflinching look at the role of British aristocrats in the years leading up to the Second World War, proving not everyone was on the right side of history. Viewers will also get to know one of the most infamous wealthy families of the 20th Century better than ever before. 'What's so remarkable about Sarah's writing is so much of it is about what's between the lines and what's unsaid, the subtext of it,' Vanderham added. 'Which a) I think is really British, but b) when you have a family, you can have those silent communications and the little nods that's sort of like, 'Go on, do it', 'Go on, say it', 'Oh my God! You're not going to say that!' And it's just all silent. 'That's what lends itself to the fact that this was a real family and we were just really lucky to get to spend time together beforehand to really create that camaraderie.' The riveting new series is now streaming completely for free, so there's no excuse not to get totally scandalised by this shocking corner of history. Outrageous is available to stream on U, U&Drama and Britbox.
Vogue
21 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Vogue
Fact v. Fiction: Just How Accurate Is Outrageous as a Portrait of the Mitford Sisters?
The brand-new BritBox series Outrageous is funny, fast-paced, and—to borrow a phrase from our compatriots across the pond—a cracking good time. But just how well does it hold up as a recounting of the lives of the Mitford sisters? Diana, Jessica, Unity, Nancy, Deborah, and Pamela Mitford were six of the most talked-about women of their time, so it's natural to wonder whether all of the stories in Sarah Williams's screenplay—based on Mary S. Lovell's 2001 book The Mitford Girls—are actually taken from real life. Well, fear not; we're here to sort out all the fact vs. fiction so that you can enjoy your viewing of the first two episodes of Outrageous without constantly pulling up Wikipedia to verify just how big of a fascist Diana Mitford actually was. (Spoiler: A really big one.) Find everything you need to know about the real-life history behind Outrageous below: Was Diana Mitford really married to one of the richest men in London? Well, yes! Before Diana wed Oswald Mosley, leader of the British Union of Fascists, her first husband was Bryan Guinness, heir to the barony of Moyne and the Guinness family brewing fortune. Guinness was one of London's 'Bright Young Things,' a group of aristocrats and socialites given that name by the tabloids because of their penchant for partying, drinking, and drug use; and the Guinness family's net worth would have been around $983 million today, making Diana's first husband undoubtedly one of the richest and most eligible men in her peer group at the time they met. Was Nancy Mitford's fiancé Hamish Erskine really gay? Erskine was, indeed, as 'out' as it was possible to be in pre-WWII England, even engaging in an affair with Nancy's brother, Tom Mitford, while at Eton College. Still, he captured Nancy's heart; the male lead in Nancy's first novel, Highland Fling, is based on Erskine. 'Hamish was a perfectly ghastly character,' art historian and The Horror of Love author Lisa Hilton told the New Zealand Herald recently. 'But Nancy was still quite prim and spinsterish and I do wonder if there wasn't some sort of subliminal self-protection, because she spent so long with him. By not getting married, as her contemporaries did, very early in their 20s, she sort of preserved herself. She did have many more suitable men who wanted to marry her but she carried on with the giggling Hamish. I think that says a lot about her own sexual issues ... perhaps she didn't want to get married.' Did hunger marchers really come to the Mitfords' doorstep? There's no specific evidence to suggest that hunger marchers actually protested outside the Mitfords' family home (as they're seen doing in Outrageous), but known pacifist Jessica Mitford developed her keen sense of social justice early in her life, and in her 1960 autobiography Hons and Rebels, she describes the political landscape of London thusly: 'Hunger marches, at first small demonstrations, later involving populations of whole areas, were reported in the papers…Old concepts of patriotism, flag-waving, jingoism were under violent attack by the younger writers. The creed of pacifism, born of a determination to escape the horrors of a new world war, swept the youth. I responded, like many another of my generation, by becoming first a convinced pacifist, then quickly graduating to socialist ideas.' Were Unity and Jessica Mitford really close? It might seem surprising that Unity and Jessica were so close, given the extreme divergence in their politics, but the way they're depicted shopping, strolling, and debating serious ideas together on Outrageous is grounded in real life. Born three years apart (Unity in 1914, Jessica in 1917), the two shared a bedroom growing up, with Jessica's side decorated with hammer and sickles and pictures of Vladimir Lenin and Unity's decorated with swastikas and pictures of Adolf Hitler. However, their relationship would also be marked by periods of estrangement. Did Unity Mitford really have a pet rat? Apparently so, according to Lauren Young's 2022 book Hitler's Girl: The British Aristocracy and the Third Reich on the Eve of WWII, which notes that Unity 'attended balls with her pet snake, Enid, around her neck and let loose her rat, Ratular, when things got boring, which they invariably did.'
Metro
a day ago
- Entertainment
- Metro
You can now watch all 6 episodes of 'brilliantly seductive' period drama free
If you're in search of some period drama escapism with a splash of sauciness to it, six new episodes are waiting for you on a free streaming service. The appropriately-named drama Outrageous is based on the true story of the Mitford sisters, as told in Mary S Lovell's bestselling biography. This adaptation – available on U&Drama – sees the six sisters in 1930s London, as the storm clouds of war gather and the pillars of aristocracy start to crack. The sib at the centre of this drama is Diana, played by Scottish actress Joanna Vanderham, who kicks things off with a very public and very scandalous divorce. She trades in her husband for fascist leader Oswald Mosley (Joshua Sasse), which earned the real Diana the questionable honour of being dubbed 'the most hated woman in Britain'. In between the champagne and country estates, there's political intrigue in the mix as, elsewhere among the sibs, Jessica (Zoe Brough) pursues an interest in communism, while Unity (Shannon Watson) gets into fascism (what a thing to say – the real Unity mixed in Nazi circles), leaving their parents perhaps understandably bewildered. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video Meanwhile, we also have Nancy, played by Bridgerton star Bessie Carter, who's unlucky in love but tremendously good with a pen. On the whole, the Mitfords can't keep out of the gossipy headlines – they're the Kardashians of the 1930s – while their mother (Anna Chancellor) and House of Lords cardholder father (James Purefoy) try to make sense of what their daughters are up to. The best-known statement from the Mitford sisters' long-suffering mother, according to the New York Times, was: 'Whenever I see the words 'Peer's Daughter' in a headline, I know it's going to be something about one of you children.' Celebrated and sometimes scandalous, The Times once summarised the sisters as follows: 'Diana the fascist; Jessica the communist; Unity the Hitler-lover; Nancy the novelist; Deborah the Duchess and Pamela the unobtrusive poultry connoisseur'. Catchy. The six sisters gained much attention for their stylish and – if it wasn't clear already – occasionally controversial lives in high society. Their heyday marked a high-water-mark of the British upper class. Much of what we know about the sisters, and that is dramatised in the show, is because they were prolific letter-writers. They would have probably crushed on social media. If any of that sounds familiar, it might be because you watched the 2021 drama The Pursuit of Love, starring Lily James, which was based on the real Nancy Mitford's novel of the same name, which in turn drew heavily on her sisters' lives. Outrageous has already garnered glowing reviews, with a five-star write-up from Digital Spy, labelling it 'brilliantly seductive television'. Meanwhile, the Radio Times awarded the show four stars, hailing it as 'scandalous' and 'stylish', before adding: 'A series which beggars belief, Sarah Williams's six-part drama could easily be mistaken for a work of fiction, and understandably so.' More Trending The show's writer Sarah Williams said she was drawn to the subject material two decades ago, after a friend told her to read Lovell's biography of the sisters. U&Drama is part of the U on-demand service, which is a free British TV streamer. You can access U&Drama through the U app on your TV or phone, as well as through their website. On the website, you can sign up here for a free account and start streaming all the shows they have on offer – including Outrageous. 'I was completely blown away,' Williams told Vanity Fair, 'because here was everything. Love, death, passion, elopements, imprisonment, suicide.' She added: 'They had passionate opinions, and were prepared to go to jail for what they believed in, were prepared to kill themselves for what they believed in. They were not playing about.' View More » Outrageous is available to stream on U&Drama. Got a story? If you've got a celebrity story, video or pictures get in touch with the entertainment team by emailing us celebtips@ calling 020 3615 2145 or by visiting our Submit Stuff page – we'd love to hear from you. MORE: This 'hidden gem' period drama took me by surprise – I'm now obsessed MORE: Bridgerton star was cut from Brad Pitt's new F1 movie, says director MORE: My date said I had one drink to impress him – so I downed it
