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BritBox‘s new series Outrageous delves into the dramatic lives of the Mitford sisters, six siblings who shaped culture and politics in 20th century Britain. While some of the sisters become infamous for their associations with fascists, others simply have tumultuous love lives worthy of making the gossip pages. Case in point: eldest sister Nancy’s (Bessie Carter) storyline. In just the first two episodes of Outrageous, we watch as the novelist tackles the all-too-relatable problem of unwittingly being madly in love with a gay man.
**Spoilers for Outrageous Episodes 1 and 2, now streaming on BritBox**
Almost as soon as we meet Nancy Mitford in Outrageous, we are also introduced to her long-time boyfriend Hamish Erskine (James Musgrave). The papers say they are unofficially engaged, but the family knows that the unemployed Hamish has been dragging his feet offering Nancy a proposal. What doesn’t occur to Nancy is the reality that Hamish is dodging commitment because he’s actually into men.
“Oh, bless. I know it’s like, if anyone grew up in the ’90s, like we think there’s only ever like one gay guy in our school, and that’s just not statistically correct,” Outrageous star Bessie Carter joked with DECIDER last week. “So of course we’ve all been in love with a gay man at some point in our lives.”
“I think what’s really sweet about it is that Nancy probably on some level does know that there’s something going on as to, you know, why the relationship isn’t progressing, but just does not want to see that. And there’s something quite British about that. Like, ‘Just carry on!‘” Carter playfully dotted with a deep, stereotypically British male’s accent.
Photo: BritBoxAt one point, Nancy’s best friend, Joss (Will Attenborough) urges her to at least consummate her relationship with Hamish. He suggests that she sneaks into Hamish’s room during an upcoming house party, pointing out that’s why the aristocracy invented them.
Nancy then hilariously joins the utterly befuddled Hamish in bed. He naturally freaks out.
“It was a very funny scene to shoot, that scene, because our intentions were so different,” Carter said. “I mean, I had to play it really truthfully. Like she really does want to try and it’s scary. I think she was quite…not a prude, but I think Nancy was quite sort of old fashioned in some ways. So I think she was quite nervous to make the first move.”
Hamish doesn’t just reject Nancy’s advances. He drops the “bombshell,” in Carter’s words, that he’s leaving the country forthwith.
“I think it was so embarrassing. It’s so embarrassing,” Carter emphasized. “Rejection is so embarrassing!”
“Hopefully that is, again, one of the elements that sort of people can, hopefully not, but they hopefully can relate to,” she said, laughing.
Photo: BritBoxNancy and Hamish might not be destined to be together forever, but in Outrageous Episode 2, she meets and swiftly marries the dashing Peter Rodd (Jamie Blackley). What ought to be Nancy’s happily ever after is soon punctured by reality. Outrageous depicts the Rodds’ wedding night as an awkward, uncomfortable affair. Outrageous fans probably don’t need to Google Nancy Mitford’s biography to intuit that this marriage isn’t going to end well.
“Christ, he doesn’t need any more airtime,” Carter joked when we asked about how Outrageous depicts Rodd.
The actress then went on to point out that despite their fraught, frigid marriage, Nancy still honored their union by calling herself “wife to Peter Rodd” on her gravestone.
“She was so respectful of marriage and of the commitment that she made,” Carter said. “I think there’s something really stoic about that and so I had to let go of my 21st century views of it and I had to go, ‘Right, this is the story and this is the person and she made this decision.’ It might be different to my decision but it’s important to be true to her decision.”
There was one relationship in Outragerous, however, where Carter was on the exact same page as Nancy. Bessie Carter and Will Attenborough, who plays Nancy’s bestie Joss, go way back in real life.
“Joss [Agnew], the director, texted me saying, ‘We’ve cast your Joss.’ and set up a WhatsApp group with me and Will. And I was like, ‘Hello, old friend!‘ He was like ‘Hello,'” she said. “So it was really easy. We already had that natural chemistry.”
“I think it’s really lovely to see a sort of a really lovely platonic friendship in a series. I think that’s really, really nice,” she added, explaining that the character of Joss is an amalgamation of several real friends Nancy Mitford had.
“Nancy had lots of Jewish friends and we thought he would be really important to have a Jewish presence in the show, especially when we’re looking at sort of where the sisters end up going,” she teased.
Outrageous — and the rest of the Mitford girls — will be back on BritBox next Wednesday, June 25 at 8 PM ET.
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