UKTV tells Outrageous tale

FIRST LOOK: Bessie Carter, Joanna Vanderham, Isobel Jesper Jones and Shannon Watson star in Outrageous, a dramatisation of the story of the Mitford sisters due to air in 2025.

Based on Mary Lovell’s biography, Outrageous is the story of six aristocratic sisters who refused to play by the rules, their often-scandalous lives making headlines around the world.

Set against the gathering storm clouds of the 1930s, masked by the decadence, frivolity and lavishness of British high society, Outrageous will bring the full, uncensored story of the Mitford sisters to the screen for the first time – a story of family bonds and betrayals, public scandal, political extremism, love, heartache and even imprisonment.

The show explores how and why these women, unwilling to conform, were so ahead of their time – and what drove them to take their very different, complex and often dangerous paths.

Commissioned by UKTV for its U&Drama channel and streamer U, the series is created and written by Sarah Williams (Small Island), and produced by Firebird Pictures. It is co-commissioned by Britbox International.

Carter (Bridgerton) stars as Nancy Mitford, alongside Vanderham (Crime) as Diana Mitford, Isobel Jesper Jones (The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes) as Pamela Mitford and introducing Watson (The Jetty) as Unity Mitford, Zoe Brough (Casualty) as Jessica Mitford and Orla Hill (Stonehouse) as Deborah Mitford.

Their brother Tom will be played by Toby Regbo (Belgravia: The Next Chapter), with Anna Chancellor (My Lady Jane) and James Purefoy (The Veil) at the top of the family tree as Muv and Farve.

Other cast will include Joshua Sasse (Love is in the Air) as Oswald Mosley, Jamie Blackley (Becoming Elizabeth) as Peter Rodd, James Musgrave (Einstein and the Bomb) as Hamish Erskine, Calam Lynch (Bridgerton) as Bryan Guinness and Will Attenborough (Our Girl) as Joss.

The series is produced by Firebird Pictures and the executive producers are Elizabeth Kilgarriff, Matthew Mosley and Craig Holleworth. Directors for the series are Joss Agnew (The Man Who Fell to Earth) and Ellie Heydon (Trying), with Natasha Romaniuk (The Suspect) as producer.

BBC Studios is handling additional global distribution. Filming is currently taking place in and around Buckinghamshire.

tagged in: BritBox International, Firebird Pictures, Outrageous, U, U&Drama, UKTV