Is A Very British Scandal based on a true story?
IN the new BBC One drama A Very British Scandal, the split between the Duke and Duchess of Argyll in 1963 fixated the nation.
Based on a true story, here’s everything you need to know.
Is A Very British Scandal based on a true story?
A Very British Scandal is based on the true story of the Duchess of Argyll, who was accused by her husband of cheating on him with 88 different men in 1963.
The divorce transfixed Britain and is the centre of BBC One’s new drama.
The series is a study of entrenched misogyny in the 1960s British press and judicial system.
When evidence for the Duke’s claims surfaced, he produced a series of photographs showing the duchess performing sexual acts on an unidentified man.
He stole the Polaroid from her desk, and the media became obsessed with figuring out the identity of the man she was with. He became known as the “headless man”.
What is A Very British Scandal about?
A Very British Scandal turns the scandal of the Duchess of Argyll (Claire Foy) inside out in order to explore the social and political climate of post-war Britain.
It looks at attitudes towards women, and asks whether institutional misogyny was widespread at the time.
Sarah Phelps, the screenwriter of the BBC’s new series, said: “This is a story about a woman who refused to be slut shamed, who refused to go quietly and refused to do as she was told. She set fire to the expectation of her class, gender and her sex.
"She put the private lives of the wealthy, the landed and the titled all over the front pages, not the untouchable great and good but bare forked animals.
The duchess died aged 80 in 1993, and never revealed who the "headless man" was.
When is A Very British Scandal on TV?
A Very British Scandal will start on Boxing Day on BBC One at 9pm.
The second part will air on December 27, and the final part on the following day at both at 9pm.