''A Very English Scandal'' is a British television comedy-drama series. The three-part 2018 serial is based on John Preston's 2016 book of the same name. It is a dramatisation of the 1976–1979 Jeremy Thorpe scandal and more than 15 years of events leading up to it. The producers followed up ''A Very English Scandal'' in 2021 with the series ''

A Very British Scandal ''A Very British Scandal'' is a 2021 historical drama television miniseries, starring Claire Foy as Margaret Campbell, Duchess of Argyll and Paul Bettany as Ian Campbell, 11th Duke of Argyll. Its production company, Blueprint Pictures, previou ...

'', about the Argyll divorce case.

Plot

In 1965,

Jeremy Thorpe John Jeremy Thorpe (29 April 1929 – 4 December 2014) was a British politician who served as the Member of Parliament for North Devon from 1959 to 1979, and as leader of the Liberal Party from 1967 to 1976. In May 1979 he was tried at the ...

, a

Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members o ...

, must contend with disgruntled ex-lover

Norman Josiffe Norman Josiffe (born 12 February 1940), better known in the media as Norman Scott, is an English former dressage trainer and model who was a key figure in the Thorpe affair, a major British political scandal of the 1970s. The scandal revolved arou ...

, whom he met in 1961 and had a relationship with for several years. Thorpe had met Norman when the latter was a 21-year-old stable boy in Oxfordshire and wrote many letters to him, which Norman kept. Norman, who could never quite hold down a job, particularly not after having lost his National Insurance card, was unstable and had a penchant for drama and self-expression, both of which proved increasingly hard to deal with. When Thorpe grew tired of Norman and insisted that he leave the house he had arranged and paid for in London, the young man began to make threats. Thorpe fears exposure and the end of his political career. His fellow Liberal MP,

Peter Bessell Peter Joseph Bessell (24 August 1921 – 27 November 1985) was a British Liberal Party politician, and Member of Parliament for Bodmin in Cornwall from 1964 to 1970. Early life Bessell was educated at Lynwyd School, Bath, Somerset, and was a C ...

, keeps Norman silent for the time being with small amounts of money. Norman also requests a new National Insurance card from Thorpe but his request is denied since it would link Thorpe to Norman. By 1968, Thorpe has been elected as the Leader of the Liberal Party and is the youngest man to lead the party in a century. He marries naive young Caroline Allpass and they have a baby boy. Norman has become more unstable; going by the name Norman Scott, although he gets on well with horses and dogs, he fails to keep a job or relationship, drinks too much and uses drugs. He calls Caroline and tells her about his past romance with her husband. She is stunned by this revelation. Caroline dies in 1970, after swerving into on-coming traffic; Thorpe mourns her death. Bessell moves to the United States to escape his financial troubles. Norman continues trying to get a new National Insurance card and have his story be heard but with no success. Thorpe considers having him killed but the plans are repeatedly postponed. In 1973, Thorpe marries

Marion Stein Maria Donata Nanetta Paulina Gustava Erwina Wilhelmine Stein, CBE (18 October 19266 March 2014), known as Marion Stein, and subsequently by marriage as Marion Lascelles, Countess of Harewood, and later Marion Thorpe, was an Austrian-born British ...

, Countess of Harewood and continues to climb the political ladder. Unfortunately, Thorpe encounters Norman by chance, panics and tells David Holmes (an old friend from

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

) to arrange for Norman's murder. Andrew Newton is hired for £10,000. He tries and fails spectacularly, only killing Norman's dog. Norman immediately reports the crime to the police and is convinced it was ordered by Thorpe. This results in the 1976–1979

Thorpe affair The Thorpe affair of the 1970s was a British political and sex scandal that ended the career of Jeremy Thorpe, the leader of the Liberal Party and Member of Parliament (MP) for North Devon. The scandal arose from allegations by Norman Josiffe ( ...

. Newton is put on trial and convicted of attempting to do harm to Norman. Soon afterwards, Norman requests from the police two letters from Thorpe he had given them in the 1960s. Thorpe decides to forestall Norman by publishing the letters himself with his own version of events and resigns as Leader of the Liberal Party in May 1976. He runs for re-election to Parliament but loses his North Devon seat to

Tony Speller Antony Kirby Speller (12 June 1929 – 15 February 2013) was a British Conservative politician. Speller was born in Exeter on 12 June 1929, the son of Captain John Speller, director of posts and telegraphs for India, who later returned to take o ...

of the

Conservatives Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...

. Thorpe, Holmes and two other accused co-conspirators are put on trial for conspiring to murder Norman. Thorpe hires George Carman, a combative lawyer, to defend him. In May 1979, the trial begins and the media reports its every detail. Norman testifies, explaining that what he mainly wants is his National Insurance card and to have his story acknowledged. Chief Justice Cantley is flagrantly biased and sides with Thorpe in his instructions to the jury, which finds Thorpe and his co-conspirators not guilty. The end credits note that Thorpe never held another public office. He and Marion remained married until her death in March 2014 and Thorpe died nine months later. Bessell remained in the United States until his death in 1985. Norman is still alive, owns 11 dogs and still does not have a National Insurance card.

Cast and characters

Hugh Grant Hugh John Mungo Grant (born 9 September 1960) is an English actor. He established himself early in his career as both a charming, and vulnerable romantic lead and has since transitioned into a dramatic character actor. Among his numerous a ...

Ben Whishaw Benjamin John Whishaw (born 14 October 1980) is an English actor and producer. After winning a British Independent Film Award for his performance in ''My Brother Tom'' (2001), he was nominated for an Olivier Award for his portrayal of the titl ...

as Norman Josiffe/Norman Scott *

Alex Jennings Alex Jennings (born 10 May 1957) is an English actor of the stage and screen, who worked extensively with the Royal Shakespeare Company and National Theatre. For his work on the London stage, Jennings received three Olivier Awards, winning for ...

Patricia Hodge Patricia Ann Hodge, OBE (born 29 September 1946) is an English actor. She is known on-screen for playing Phyllida Erskine-Brown in '' Rumpole of the Bailey'' (1978–1992), Jemima Shore in ''Jemima Shore Investigates'' (1983), Penny in '' Mira ...

as Ursula Thorpe *

Monica Dolan Monica Margaret Dolan (born 15 March 1969) is an English actress. She won the BAFTA TV Award for Best Supporting Actress for playing Rosemary West in '' Appropriate Adult'' (2011). Career Dolan was born in Middlesbrough and trained at the Gu ...

as Marion Thorpe * Paul Hilton as David Holmes *

Jonathan Hyde Jonathan Stephen Geoffrey King (born 21 May 1948), known professionally as Jonathan "Nash" Hyde, is an Australian-English actor. Hyde is perhaps best known for roles as Herbert Arthur Runcible Cadbury in the 1994 comedy film '' Richie Rich'', Sa ...

as David Napley *

Eve Myles Eve Myles (born 26 July 1978) is a Welsh actress. She is best known for her television roles portraying Ceri Lewis in the long-running BBC Wales drama series '' Belonging'' (2000–2009), Gwen Cooper in the BBC science-fiction series ''Torchw ...

as Gwen Parry-Jones *

David Bamber David James Bamber (born 19 September 1954) is an English actor. He has worked in television and theatre. He is an Associate of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. Early years Bamber was born in Walkden, Lancashire. By September 1973, he was ...

Arthur Gore, 8th Earl of Arran Arthur Kattendyke Strange David Archibald Gore, 8th Earl of Arran (5 July 1910 – 23 February 1983), styled Lord Arran, was a British columnist and politician who served as the Conservative whip in the House of Lords. He is known for leading ...

Jason Watkins Jason Watkins (born 28 October 1962) is an English stage, film and television actor. He played the lead role in the two-part drama ''The Lost Honour of Christopher Jefferies'', for which he won the BAFTA TV Award for Best Actor. He has also ...

Emlyn Hooson Hugh Emlyn Hooson, Baron Hooson, (26 March 1925 – 21 February 2012) was a Welsh Liberal and then Liberal Democrat politician. He was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Montgomeryshire from 1962 until 1979. Early life Hooson was born at Colom ...

Blake Harrison Blake Harrison is an English actor, comedian and dancer. He is best known for playing Neil Sutherland in the BAFTA-winning E4 comedy ''The Inbetweeners'' and more recently as 'Medium' Dan, in the ITV sitcom Kate & Koji since 2020. Career H ...

as Andrew Newton * Adrian Scarborough as George Carman *

Michele Dotrice Michele Dotrice (born 27 September 1948) is an English actress. She portrayed Betty Spencer, the long-suffering wife of Frank Spencer, portrayed by Michael Crawford, in the BBC sitcom ''Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em'', which ran from 1973 to 1978, ...

as Edna Friendship *

Alice Orr-Ewing Alice Josephine Orr-Ewing (born 7 July 1989) is a British actress who starred in the 2012 British film '' The Scapegoat'', an adaptation of the 1957 novel of the same name by Daphne du Maurier. Early life Orr-Ewing was born in Hammersmith, Lon ...

as Caroline Allpass *

Michael Culkin Michael Culkin (born 2 July 1954) is an English theatre, film, and television actor probably best known for his role as Judge Buller in the BBC drama ''Garrow's Law''. He appeared as Rab Butler in the first two seasons of ''The Crown'', in '' ...

as Reggie Maudling *

Susan Wooldridge Susan Wooldridge (born 31 July 1950) is a British actress. She won the BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role for '' Hope and Glory'' (1987). Her television credits include '' Jewel in the Crown'', (1984), ''All Quiet on the Preston ...

Fiona Gore Fiona Bryde Gore, Countess of Arran (née Colquhoun; 20 July 191816 May 2013) was a Scottish powerboating racer who was awarded the 1980 Segrave Trophy. She held the record for the fastest woman on water. World Record In 1980 she became the faste ...

, Countess of Arran * Anthony O'Donnell as

Leo Abse Leopold Abse (22 April 1917 – 19 August 2008) was a Welsh lawyer and politician. He was a Welsh Labour MP for nearly 30 years, noted for promoting private member's bills to decriminalise male homosexual relations and liberalise the divorce l ...

* Naomi Battrick as Diana Stainton *

Dyfan Dwyfor is a Welsh actor, from . Early life He attended and before going on to . He graduated from the Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama in 2007. Career He began acting in the drama series on S4C. His first appearance in film was in ("''Age o ...

as George Deakin

Episodes

Production

Development

The first series was written by

Russell T Davies Stephen Russell Davies (born 27 April 1963), better known as Russell T Davies, is a Welsh screenwriter and television producer whose works include ''Queer as Folk'', '' The Second Coming'', ''Casanova'', the 2005 revival of the BBC One scien ...

and directed by

Stephen Frears Stephen Arthur Frears (born 20 June 1941) is an English director and producer of film and television often depicting real life stories as well as projects that explore social class through sharply drawn characters. He's received numerous accola ...

, with

starring as Thorpe and

as Scott. The

BBC television drama BBC television dramas have been produced and broadcast since even before the public service company had an officially established television broadcasting network in the United Kingdom. As with any major broadcast network, drama forms an importa ...

was first announced on 4 May 2017, with Grant already cast as Thorpe. Ben Whishaw was announced to join the cast in August, and the rest of the cast was announced in October. Along with the further casting announcement,

Amazon Amazon most often refers to: * Amazons, a tribe of female warriors in Greek mythology * Amazon rainforest, a rainforest covering most of the Amazon basin * Amazon River, in South America * Amazon (company), an American multinational technolog ...

took the US rights for the show.

Filming

Filming took place in London,

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

, Buckinghamshire,

Devon Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devo ...

, Hertfordshire and South Wales. Although scenes were filmed outside the

Houses of Parliament The Palace of Westminster serves as the meeting place for both the House of Commons and the House of Lords, the two houses of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Informally known as the Houses of Parliament, the Palace lies on the north ban ...

, the inner courts, interior hallways and staircase were represented by Manchester Town Hall, which is built in the same Gothic Revival style as the Palace of Westminster. The offices of Thorpe and other MPs were created at

Bulstrode Park Bulstrode is an English country house and its large park, located to the southwest of Gerrards Cross, Buckinghamshire. The estate spreads across Chalfont St Peter, Gerrards Cross and Fulmer, and predates the Norman conquest. Its name may ori ...

, a vacant country house in Buckinghamshire. The grounds of Bulstrode were also used for the night time assassination attempt scene set on

Exmoor Exmoor is loosely defined as an area of hilly open moorland in west Somerset and north Devon in South West England. It is named after the River Exe, the source of which is situated in the centre of the area, two miles north-west of Simonsbath ...

. The town of Hertford was used as a stand-in for 1970s Barnstaple, while

Saunton Sands Saunton Sands is a beach near the English village of Saunton on the North Devon coast near Braunton, popular for longboard surfing. Beyond its southern end, Crow Point, England is the mouth of the River Taw estuary. It is part of the Taw-Torrid ...

in North Devon stood in for the California beach where Peter Bessell (

) lives in a seaside shack.

Bridgend Bridgend (; cy, Pen-y-bont ar Ogwr or just , meaning "the end of the bridge on the Ogmore") is a town in Bridgend County Borough in Wales, west of Cardiff and east of Swansea. The town is named after the medieval bridge over the River Og ...

in South Wales stood in for

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 c ...

, while Norman's period living in Wales was filmed in and around Monknash. The show was able to film in the lobby and exterior of the Old Bailey in London, where the show's climactic scenes take place. ''A Very English Scandal'' was the first production ever to be granted permission to film in Court One of the Old Bailey but they had to decline because of tight time restrictions and filmed the court scenes at a courthouse in

Kingston upon Thames Kingston upon Thames (hyphenated until 1965, colloquially known as Kingston) is a town in the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames, southwest London, England. It is situated on the River Thames and southwest of Charing Cross. It is notable ...

Release

The series premiered on

BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, ...

on 20 May 2018 and on Amazon Prime on 29 June 2018. The DVD was released on 2 July 2018.

Critical reception

''A Very English Scandal'' received very positive reviews. On

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

, it holds an approval rating of 97% based on 68 reviews, with an average rating of 8.80/10. Rotten Tomatoes's critical consensus reads, "Hugh Grant and Ben Whishaw impress in ''A Very English Scandal'', an equally absorbing and appalling look at British politics and society".

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...

gives the miniseries a weighted average rating of 84 out of 100, based on 17 critics, indicating "universal acclaim". In 2019, the series was ranked 76th on ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

s list of the 100 best TV shows of the 21st century. The real Norman Scott spoke out about the show's characterisation of him and its portrayal of his life. He told the ''

Irish News Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

'' that "Artistic license is fine but this isn't my story. And there's nothing funny about someone trying to kill you...I'm portrayed as this poor, mincing, little gay person ... I also come across as a weakling and I've never been a weakling".

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Very English Scandal (Tv Series), A 2018 British television series debuts 2018 British television series endings 2010s British crime drama television series 2010s British LGBT-related television series 2010s British television miniseries 2010s British political television series 2010s British LGBT-related drama television series Amazon Prime Video original programming BBC television dramas English-language television shows Gay-related television shows Television shows based on British novels Television series by Sony Pictures Television Television series set in the 1960s Television series set in the 1970s Television shows filmed in the United Kingdom British political drama television series