The Big Picture
A Very British Scandal
depicts the explosive marriage of Duke and Duchess of Argyll in a gripping miniseries.
Claire Foy and Paul Bettany deliver powerful performances in this psychological thriller based on a real scandal.
The miniseries explores themes like toxic relationships, gender inequality, and societal expectations.
Throughout the 1960s and 70s, Britain’s secret underworld of scandalous activity was slowly being revealed to the rest of the world. Naturally, there are a plethora of films, TV shows, and miniseries depicting these various transgressions. One of the earliest (and the biggest) modern British public scandals was the Profumo affair, depicted in The Trial of Christine Keeler, which brought down an entire government and opened the floodgates for other scandals. On its heels was the Robert Boothby scandal, about a Conservative party member of parliament who had numerous sexual affairs (including queer ones, and one with the wife of a fellow politician and future Prime Minister). Boothby’s scandal hasn’t attracted a major screen adaptation yet. However, a Boothby-like scandal, the Thorpe affair, which involved a murder conspiracy by the leader of the opposition party against his ex-boyfriend in the 1970s, was made into the BBC miniseries, A Very English Scandal.
It was then followed up by the similarly titled A Very British Scandal, but it involved neither the monarchy nor politicians in the traditional sense. It was about the British aristocracy in an intimate way never witnessed before. Starring Paul Bettany (Vision in the MCU) as the Duke and Claire Foy (The Crown) as the Duchess, the three-part miniseries follows the explosive marriage that culminated in a protracted divorce case between real-life Ian Campbell, 11th Duke of Argyll, and Margaret Campbell, the Duchess of Argyll.
A Very British Scandal
The story of events surrounding the notorious divorce of the Duke and Duchess of Argyll during the 1960s.
Release Date December 26, 2021
Creator Sarah Phelps
‘A Very British Scandal’ Is a Mash of Cruelty
Describing the BBC’s A Very British Scandal as a psychological thriller isn’t far-fetched, only that you already know the outcome because of the notoriety of the scandal it is based on. It’s a meeting of two horrible people, who are a match for each other both in their cruelty, and their infatuation. As the serial’s star Paul Bettany described it, A Very British Scandal is “a public train wreck with tea.” It is brutal, erotic, unforgiving, and thrilling, even if you know the story behind it.
The fact that it is a miniseries based on a true story, depicting events in a real marriage, is as astonishing now as it must have been for the audience following the scandal in the 1960s. While watching the series, you can’t help but keep asking yourself how these two hateful people were able to live for so long together. It seems that murder is just about the only means of suffering they haven’t subjected each other to. They even acknowledge it themselves when Ian tells Margaret that he could just shoot her in the head, to which Margaret replies that he can’t because that would be a dumb move that would land him in prison for murder. Ian is an aristocrat whose coffers have run dry. He “falls in love” with rich women who then finance his outrageous ways, up until when the money runs out, and he moves on to the next target. Margaret is an ambitious rich woman who craves recognition among the aristocratic class, which marriage to Ian brings. Yet, in their twisted parallel goals, they still have something that binds them together, and they believe it is love.
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Their relationship has all the elements of textbook toxicity. It is verbally abusive, physically abusive, and psychologically terrorizing. A twice-married Ian, who’s deep in alcoholism and experiencing post-war trauma, is not used to hearing “no.” But when he meets once-married Margaret, an outspoken rich woman in an unhappy marriage, he makes his move, and they get married. He soon realizes that, unlike the wives before her, she isn’t the doormat he was hoping for. Realizing his mistake, Ian resigns deeper into alcoholism and designs a road map to “put her in her place” in the typical “Ian style.” Margaret isn’t the flinching type. She fights back. After realizing that the aristocracy that she fought so hard for and financed wasn’t coming her way after all, as Ian had placed the inheritance under his sons (born of his second wife), she forges a letter that insinuates that Ian is not the legitimate father of the children. It is psychological warfare that eats up Ian until he unravels the truth that Margaret was the one behind it.
With their marriage practically over, Ian hires secret services to acquire evidence of Margaret’s infidelity for his divorce case (and the evidence is overwhelming given that Margaret has multiple affairs with other men). Before their notorious scandal, the UK media had not seen an interest in divorce cases. All this plays out publicly as both parties leak their side of the story to the press. To the media, this is delicious fodder, with headlines ranging from Ian’s romantic relationship with his mother-in-law (Margaret’s stepmother) to Margaret’s private photographs in compromising positions with other men. It is a case of physical (like when Ian and his daughter from his first marriage storm into Margaret’s bedroom in the wee hours to rob her of her diary) and psychological terror unleashed on each other.
The Themes Covered In ‘A Very British Scandal’ Are Still Relevant
While Claire Foy’s shouts for justice can be subtly heard in A Very British Scandal, her character is not necessarily depicted as a heroine, nor is the miniseries sympathetic to her. Perhaps considering the real-life relatives of the characters in the miniseries, creator Sarah Phelps’ treatment of the story provides an almost balanced portrayal of the two sides of the scandal. In the public domain, however, the culmination of the divorce case, with the judge terming Margaret as having “a debased sexual appetite,” and the press christening her “dirty duchess,” she was the worst hit by the scandal (via Time).
It is reported that she never recovered from it until her death, while Ian Campbell remarried barely four months after the divorce. A Very British Scandal shows the disparities between how society treats men and women, with women expected to be the sole custodians of the institution of marriage. Much like the Profumo affair in The Trial of Christine Keeler, Margaret’s sexuality in A Very British Scandal is on trial. Yes, she is adulterous, but the disproportionate passion and rage that her sexual encounters attract speaks volumes about gender inequality. The miniseries doesn’t absolve Margaret of her responsibility in the institution of marriage, but it does shed light on the historical, and still present, imbalance of this responsibility between men and women.
Paul Bettany and Claire Foy’s Pairing in ‘A Very British Scandal’ Is Refreshing
Image Via BBC
Foy and Bettany make for a perfect match in the most volatile way. A demotion from her queenly role in The Crown, Foy’s Margaret is a commoner who believes she deserves to be in the aristocratic class. She is a straight shooter and unafraid to speak her mind, a far cry from Ian’s expectations of a wife. Foy’s portrayal of this complex character is flawless. She can be loud when her madness encounters Ian’s, but is also as powerful in her quieter portrayals, like when she learns of the hard truth that her counter-divorce case based on Ian’s adultery stands no chance. This is not particularly new ground for Foy, who has played similarly complex roles, like in Women Talking and Steven Soderbergh’s Unsane.
Bettany’s interpretation and portrayal of Ian Campbell the Duke of Argyll is refreshing. We see his range away from his more muted character in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Here, Bettany’s Ian is dark, and it is hard to imagine anyone else playing the role. His assuring voice when his character is courting Foy’s character evokes confidence in the powerful societal figure he portrays, yet his shrieking when he phones Margaret for help as he wastes away in a hotel room shows a vulnerable man who cannot do it alone. It is Bettany’s interpretation of the man who is at both ends of the world that gives credence to the screen adaptation of the already notorious scandal. The two’s pairing is reminiscent of what The Crown could have been had Bettany bagged the role of Prince Phillip. Both actors hit a home run, representing opposite sides in a venomous battle. And A Very British Scandal is such a compelling watch because it doesn’t demand that you take sides in the central divide, but rather be an observer of one of the UK’s most intriguing scandals in modern history.
A Very British Scandal is available to watch on Prime Video.
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