A VERY BRITISH SCANDAL: Meticulously Crafted and Brilliant

A Very British Scandal is a series portraying some of the most shocking scandals in British public life.

The first part, starring Hugh Grant, told the story of Jeremy Thorpe, the leader of the British Liberal Party, confronted by his homosexual lover. In the second season, Claire Foy (for whom British aristocracy seems to have become second nature) and Paul Bettany as the Duchess and Duke of Argyll go through an unpleasant divorce process.

The miniseries once again consists of three episodes. The viewer accompanies the Argylls during the passionate period of their first infatuation, the intense time of renovating the ancestral Argyll estate – Inveraray, the inevitable crisis, and finally, to put it mildly, an unseemly divorce. It seems that for such an eventful story, three episodes are a little too few.

Both Ian Douglas Campbell, the future Duke of Argyll, and his third wife, Ethel Margaret Whigham, were exceptionally colorful figures. He, a toxic alpha male with irresistible charm, exploited his successive wives, dreaming only of restoring Inveraray’s former glory. An alcoholic, drug addict, gambler, and despot, he could nonetheless easily wrap one woman after another around his finger.

Ethel was no saint either – during the divorce trial, her husband accused her of adultery with over 80 men, presenting undeniable evidence for a fraction of that number. It seems that Inveraray was the true object of affection in this marriage for both the Duke and his wife.

Sarah Phelps, the series’ screenwriter, did what she could to fit it all into the short time she was given. Fortunately, she had the help of a fantastic pair in Bettany and Foy. She didn’t have to elaborate much to show the Duke’s nature – Bettany, with just a look or a gesture, can make it clear what a scoundrel he really is. Nor did she have to describe Margaret’s successful career in the media – one glance at Foy’s immaculate appearance is enough to know that her makeup, hairstyles, and outfits, lavishly described in the newspapers, set the tone in society.

I hardly need to add that the chemistry between the two, both during the time of passionate infatuation and bitter war, is extraordinary. However, while the first season presented Thorpe’s story in sufficient detail, the second leaves a slight sense of insufficiency. The first two episodes rely largely on suggestions and allusions, yet – as I mentioned above – that is essentially enough.

Even the subject of the Duchess’s accident, though treated rather briefly, gives some idea of what happened. The small problem arises in the third episode, which deals with the conflict itself. That was the moment when the scandal erupted, the moment when what had been safely hidden under the covers came to light. Dedicating only one episode to the trial, which today would be described as slut shaming, though necessary, is painful.

Many important details are missing, and above all, this part stands in too sharp a contrast to the carefree tone of the first two episodes, which depict more than frivolous parties among the aristocracy and ladies casually tossing out lines like Then divorce him! This dissonance between the attitude of the women in the first part of the story and Margaret’s later treatment during the divorce is summarized only in a brief car scene after the Duchess’s father’s funeral.

There, one of her recent companions tries to prevent the public airing of dirty laundry, warning Margaret that if she doesn’t agree to a divorce behind closed doors – and Argyll’s terms were strict – she will be cast out of society. Margaret Campbell, Duchess of Argyll, with Claire Foy’s perfectly painted lips, boldly replies that no one will tell her what to do. And although she will never again see her beloved Inveraray, she triumphs.

She goes through a disgusting process that placed all the blame for the marriage’s breakdown squarely on her shoulders, and she emerges from it with her head held high, showing a strength no one expected. That was something A Very British Scandal lacked a little. It begged for something more than a short scene with the real Margaret at the end of the finale.

The humiliation of this woman was something unprecedented in British society, and it is a pity there wasn’t enough time to show how she rose above it. A Very British Scandal is another meticulously crafted installment in a remarkably interesting series. Considering the style in which it is made, I cannot wait for the next one.