‘A Very English Scandal’ is moving forward with Season 2 plans
The second season of A Very English Scandal has found its writer.
The BBC’s award-winning period drama premiered in summer 2018.
Season 1 told the incredible true story of politician Jeremy Thorpe’s attempts to silence ex-lover Norman Scott following the pair’s secret affair in the 1960s.
Written by Russell T Davies (Years and Years, The Grand), the darkly comic three-part mini-series featured Love Actually star Hugh Grant in his first TV role in 20 years, alongside Skyfall actor Ben Whishaw.
It was revealed last spring that the show’s creators were hoping to return with another real-life scandalous British tale.
Telling a brand new story, it’ll star a totally different cast, in the style of anthology series like American Crime Story.
Season 2 will focus on the 1963 sex scandal involving Margaret Campbell, Duchess of Argyll.
It’s now been announced that screenwriter Sarah Phelps is on board to write the new three-part mini-series.
She has previously adapted a number of Agatha Christie stories for the BBC, most recently their acclaimed adaptation of The Pale Horse.
Phelps joked: “I am writing a three-hour show about an extremely famous bl**job, because of course, what else would I do once I’ve finished killing people? I’m just filth, I’m in the gutter.”
Starring Victoria actor Rufus Sewell, The Pale Horse premiered on Amazon Prime in the US last week.
A Very English Scandal executive producer Dominic Treadwell-Collins previously explained their choice of subject matter for Season 2: “The Duchess of Argyll was the first woman to be publicly slut-shamed.”
He said: “We’re going to focus on the very public divorce from her second husband. He went through her private desk and found a list of all the men she’d slept with, as well as three Polaroid photos of her wearing only her pearls and giving a blow job to a man whose head was out of the picture.
“At the time, the news was in all the papers – people thought that it could have been a member of the royal family or the government or a Hollywood actor. No one still knows who it was.”
A Very English Scandal is available to watch on Amazon Prime.