The 'Outrageous' Premiere Introduces the Mitford Sisters

Most American viewers are probably not very familiar with England's Mitford sisters. The family, which comprised individuals ranging from Nazis and communists to journalists and satirists, was essentially the tabloid stars of their day. The headline-grabbing antics of the six Mitford sisters have since spawned a range of media, including documentaries, biographies, and even a stage musical. BritBox's latest period drama, Outrageous, aims to bring their often stranger-than-fiction family saga to life. Although the series' initial episodes are slower going than one might expect given the outlandish nature of its subject matter, it's still a fascinating dive into a group of women who, almost uniformly, chose to reject the idea that they owed the world anything other than being fully and simply themselves. (For good or very ill, as the case may be.)

Eldest sister Nancy (Bessie Carter) is the primary narrator of our story. This makes sense, in a way, given that she herself was an author and adept at telling stories. (Not to mention the fact that at least two of her books, The Pursuit of Love and Love in a Cold Climate, were semi-autobiographical works based on her family's exploits.) Perhaps this is why we learn so little about Nancy's interior or emotional state, despite hearing her voice most frequently throughout these episodes.

Instead, the bulk of the series' first episode is devoted to table-setting, introducing us to the sisters and their places within the family and the world at large. If it occasionally feels like this premiere is doing little more than proceeding down a checklist of necessary exposition topics, well, that's because it is. But thankfully, things pick up significantly in its second hour, which likely explains why BritBox chose to release the first two installments as a block. (Though you'll still likely find yourself more interested in Nancy's sisters than our narrator.)

A rapid-fire rundown of the family opens the show, with Nancy wryly introducing viewers to her siblings. Diana (Joanna Vanderham) is the beauty of the family, with a will of iron. Tom (Toby Regbo) is the only boy and heir to the family fortune (something Nancy herself views as unfair). Pamela (Isobel Jesper Jones) is the quiet one, but according to her elder sister, still waters run deep. The final three Mitford girls — Unity (Shannon Watson), Jessica (Zoe Bough), and Deborah (Orla Hill) — are initially lumped together, as the story insists that they are more than their girlish antics. (Though even after two episodes, Pamela and Deborah remain virtual nonentities.)

Events pick up in late 1931, a mere handful of years away from the start of World War II. Fallout from the stock market crash in the United States has made its way across the pond. Known as the "Great Slump," it was Britain's largest and most profound economic depression of the 20th century, during which the country's world trade plummeted by half, and heavy industry fell by a third. 

At the country's lowest point, in the summer of 1932, the number of registered unemployed individuals reached nearly 4 million, and many more had only part-time work. The country's general atmosphere was one of unrest, with regular clashes between the police and unemployed protestors. Even the Mitfords are not immune to this financial downturn. The family drastically downsizes its lifestyle and expenditures, save for the events surrounding Unity's debut into society. After all, the biggest gift "Muv" (Anna Chancellor) can give her girls is to help them find a husband who can provide for them, whether they're ready to get married or not. 

Middle daughter Diana has already made a brilliant match with the colossally wealthy (and seemingly very sweet) Brian Guinness (Calam Lynch). (Yes, he's heir to the beer family fortune.) They have two children together, and by all accounts, should be ridiculously happy. Yet, apparently, having loads of money, no worries when the rest of the country is struggling, and a position at the pinnacle of British Society — very recognizable and powerful people come to her house parties! — Diana is somehow still searching for something beyond the life she's living. 

She finds it in a man named Oswald Mosley (Joshua Sasse), whose name is likely familiar to anyone who knows the details of Adolf Hitler's rise to power in Europe (or who has watched the series Peaky Blinders). 

At this point in time, Mosley is a former Member of Parliament, having resigned his seat over disagreements about the government's unemployment policies before transforming his "New Party" into the British Union of Fascists in 1932. Diana hears him speak at a political event she gets dragged to by her husband, and she is fascinated by Mosley's ideas about how Britain needs to change. It's unclear whether Diana has ever displayed any interest in politics before this moment or whether it's a new hobby she's taken up because she's bored and generally uninterested in parenting. 

Either way, attraction crackles between them, and she's suddenly coming up with reasons to attend events where Mosley might be present, having lunch on her own with him, and generally stirring up enough gossip that Brian finds out about her extracurricular activities. He forbids her from seeing Mosley on her own again, which she agrees to, even if it couldn't be more obvious she has no intention of keeping her word.

Outrageous, probably smartly, doesn't get specific about the odious nature of Mosley's views, particularly his strident antisemitism or the violence his followers often engaged in, but it also isn't specific about what Diana sees in him as a romantic partner, beyond he seems willing to take her political thoughts seriously in a way her husband and family do not. If anything, the show suggests that she's bored with the lavish lifestyle that has afforded her so much, and that's what seems to be a primary driver behind her decision to divorce her husband to be with Mosley, even though he is currently married and a divorce will ruin her reputation and good name. If only that were as bad as it is going to get for her. 

(Luckily for Diana, Mosley's wife kicks it shortly after their affair becomes public knowledge.)

Elsewhere, the fourth Mitford child, Unity, makes her society debut and hates every second of it, from the awkward men she's forced to dance with to her mother's lectures about putting away childish things to become the wife and mother her peers expect her to be. She leaps at Diana's offer to introduce her to Mosley, but where her elder sister is drawn to him for more than just his political views, Unity becomes immediately obsessed with the idea of fascism and joins the ladies' wing of his Blackshirts. She and Diana even travel to Germany to attend one of Hitler's cult-liker Nuremberg rallies in 1933, where she stares, star-struck, at the leader she fervently hopes her own country will emulate one day. If only this were as bad as it's going to get for her. 

Next to the stories of her sisters—a scandalous divorce, flirtations with fascism, and open Hitler fangirling—it's probably inevitable that Nancy's arc in these first two episodes should feel a bit slight and shallow in comparison. Consumed by ideas that she's pushing thirty and about to be an old maid forever, she's still reluctant to dump her longtime boyfriend Hamish (James Musgrove), even though he consistently drags his feet about proposing. Whether this is because he's, as the show delicately puts it, a "fan of Oscar Wilde," or whether he's trying to hold out for someone with more money, it's clear that it doesn't work out. He eventually gets engaged to someone else, and Nancy is heartbroken. 

She ends up marrying a man named Peter Rodd (Jamie Blackley) on the rebound after a meet-cute at a bar in which he introduces himself by faux proposing. It's evident that he has few prospects, and they're probably going to be unhappy (Nancy herself has doubts on her wedding day). Still, given what's coming for several of her sisters, an unhappy marriage is, sadly, sort of a win. 

If these first two episodes have a significant flaw, it's that things happen largely because history says they have to happen, rather than because any of the characters in this episode would realistically make the choices they do. The story is briskly paced and entertainingly framed (the colorfully snarky title cards are excellent). But half of the sisters are thus far little more than ciphers — if you're generally unaware Pamela exists, I can't blame you — and for all that Nancy is meant to be our sort of Virgil into the crazy, scandalous world of her family, she's also (at least in these two episodes) one of its least interesting members. But, with plenty of scandal and intrigue on the horizon for several Mitfords, here's hoping that all changes in the next installment.

Outrageous continues with new episodes every Wednesday on BritBox through the end of July 2025.