It’s not every day that a period drama comes along promising scandal, political extremism, sisterly betrayal, and a whole lot of vintage glamour. But Outrageous, BritBox’s upcoming limited series based on Mary Lovell’s biography The Mitford Girls, isn’t your average period drama. This is high society with sharp edges, family bonds made for tabloid headlines, and a true story so wild it almost feels fictional.
Set against the backdrop of the 1930s—a decade teetering between the hedonism of the Roaring Twenties and the horrors to come—Outrageous follows the six Mitford sisters: Nancy, Pamela, Diana, Unity, Jessica, and Deborah. Each took a very different path through life, with choices ranging from the literary to the revolutionary to the downright terrifying. But together, they formed one of the most iconic and divisive families in British history.
The show promises to be “uncensored,” and that’s exactly what we want. No sugarcoating. No glossing over the ugly parts. Just the messy, glorious truth of women who refused to play by the rules—and made history because of it. Here’s everything we want to see when Outrageous hits BritBox.
1. Unapologetic Female Complexity
We’re in a golden age of TV that finally allows women to be more than just side characters in a man’s story—and Outrageous is the perfect opportunity to take that even further. The Mitford sisters weren’t “good girls.” They weren’t even good people, some of the time. They were passionate, ambitious, arrogant, brilliant, and occasionally deeply misguided. And that’s what makes them so compelling.
Too often, period dramas sand off the edges of their female characters to make them more “likable.” But the power of Outrageous lies in embracing the full complexity of these women—flaws, contradictions, and all. We want to see Diana’s icy charm, Unity’s frightening fanaticism, Jessica’s fiery idealism, and Nancy’s delicious wit. Not every character needs to be a role model—but they should all feel real.
Think of the nuance we saw in The Crown or Succession, but through a uniquely feminine and historical lens. These sisters lived their lives loudly. Let the show do the same.
2. The Full Scope of Their Politics—Even the Uncomfortable Bits
Let’s talk about the elephant (and the swastika) in the room. The Mitford sisters weren’t just eccentric debutantes—they were deeply enmeshed in the most extreme ideologies of their time. Unity Mitford was obsessed with Adolf Hitler and spent years in Nazi Germany as part of his inner circle. Diana left her first husband for British fascist leader Oswald Mosley, and was eventually imprisoned during WWII.
This isn’t the kind of story that should be glossed over with a few knowing glances and ambiguous references. Outrageous has a chance to do something bold here: to take a clear-eyed look at how privilege, power, and personal conviction can lead even intelligent people down terrifying paths.
We want the show to interrogate those choices. Not to excuse them, but to explore the psychology, social context, and interpersonal dynamics that led to such intense political radicalization within one family. We want to feel the tension at the dinner table. We want to see the letters they wrote in secret. We want to see the moral decay and the emotional devastation.
It won’t be comfortable. But it will be important—and unforgettable.
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3. Lavish 1930s Aesthetic With Grit Beneath the Glamour
If you’re giving us 1930s aristocracy, we expect to be visually fed. Silk gowns, impossibly high cheekbones, candlelit balls, vintage convertibles on winding country roads. We want to drown in the decadence—think The Great Gatsby meets Downton Abbey on a martini bender.
But more importantly, we want to see the cracks in that opulence. The world was falling apart—fascism was rising, war was looming, and the class system was crumbling under the weight of its own irrelevance. We want the show to lean into that contrast: the glamorous lives these women were born into versus the dangerous, often destructive futures they chose for themselves.
Give us the beautiful chaos of pre-war England, but don’t let us forget what’s coming. That’s where the emotional and historical weight lives—in the contrast between glittering surfaces and the darkness underneath.
4. The Bonds and Betrayals That Made Their Family Legendary
No one fights like family. And the Mitfords didn’t just fight—they made war on each other. There were public feuds, ideological standoffs, and personal betrayals that would break any normal sibling bond. And yet, there were also deep moments of affection, admiration, and heartbreak when those bonds couldn’t survive their differing beliefs.
We’re hoping Outrageous doesn’t just tell the story of each sister in isolation, but shows us the emotional engine of this saga: the relationships between them. The fierce loyalty and even fiercer rivalry. The way your sister can wound you more deeply than anyone else—and also be the only person who understands you completely.
We want scenes where love and rage coexist. Where one sister visits another in prison. Where letters cross oceans, full of unsaid things. Where silence cuts deeper than shouting.
Give us the emotion, BritBox. Let us cry at the things left unsaid and the family dinners that never happened again.
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5. Nancy Mitford Getting the Last Word
Let’s be honest—every great show needs a narrator, and there’s no better lens for this wild story than Nancy Mitford herself. As the eldest sister and the family’s unofficial chronicler, Nancy had a sharp tongue, a sharper pen, and a keen understanding of just how absurd—and fascinating—her sisters could be.
Her novels (The Pursuit of Love, Love in a Cold Climate) may have fictionalized the Mitford family, but they were clearly based in truth. Nancy could skewer a fascist and make you laugh doing it. She saw the tragedy in her family, but never let go of the comedy. Her perspective would bring both emotional depth and biting humor to the show.
We hope Outrageous gives Nancy the space to narrate—not necessarily literally, but thematically. Let her wit color the tone. Let her complexity shape the structure. And please, please, let her have the final say in a story her sisters never stopped giving her material for.
Outrageous isn’t just a period piece. It’s a story about what happens when privilege meets passion—and when sisters become each other’s greatest allies and fiercest enemies. It’s about political extremism, yes, but it’s also about love, grief, identity, and the impossibility of leaving your past behind.
We’re not expecting a sanitized costume drama. We’re hoping for something messier. Bolder. Realer. The Mitford sisters were many things, but they were never boring—and if Outrageousdoes its job, neither will this show.
BritBox, we’re ready. Make it outrageous.
Outrageous will stream exclusively on June 18 at 8 pm ET on BritBox.
