A Very British Scandal (2021) User Reviews

Not a Patch on the Thorpe or Profumo Series

[derek-duerden · 5/10 · 16 March 2023]

... so if you want some good, entertaining, "scandalous" recent period drama - watch either of those rather than this.

Ultimately, it's mainly boring. As others have said, these both come across as pretty horrible people, so sympathy is in short supply, but it's perfectly possible to make engaging TV about nasty people. However, Bettany and Foy don't add any spark whatsoever and, whilst the lack of chemistry between them may have been true to life, for a couple supposedly having copious amount of extra-marital affairs there's no real sign of that either. All of the "partying" seems to be illustrated by drinking and dancing in cocktail bars - hardly the "scandalous" behaviour we've been led to expect. All in all, a very prudish approach to perhaps the only notable dimension of the story. The fact that my main abiding interest in the story is whether the treasure was ever there in the first place, or just remained unfound, says a lot about the failure of the emotional side of this drama, IMHO.

Don't waste your time.

Claire Foy stinks.

[courtjes · 1/10 · 29 May 2022]

Foy and the others give us one long cigarette commercial.

How about character development and plot instead of lighting up every two seconds? The smoking is so distracting it ruined the show.

I guess they get nice stipends to promote cigarettes.

Left after episode 1 of season 2

[uni-404-263652 · 3/10 · 23 April 2022]

Cheaply made background too dark and lacking drama despite excellent cast. Not worth more words. Have to say more: no dramatic effect painfully boring potential in story wasted.

Very gynocentric focused, but of course, its the BBC

[English-Bounder · 1/10 · 1 January 2022]

Written by a woman, directed by a woman, so immediately the Duke is portrayed as a debouched scoundrel whilst the Duchess is portrayed as the poor little innocent victim. It is so misandrist in its projection from start to finish, I stopped watching halfway through Part 2.

The higher the class the more sordid it gets.

[ikanboy · 5/10 · 28 April 2022]

As we see from this week's "revelations" in the Depp/Heard trial, the media love scandal, but only if it involves the rich and famous. The point of both the "Very British scandal" shows is the fact that, but for a slobbering public, and a media feeding it red meat, the story itself is quite mundane. A much more satisfying series would have focused just on the Duchess, and her fascinating life.

Left me angry

[jonathangoransson · 5/10 · 6 February 2022]

What an unsatisfying ending. Had I known how it would end, I wouldn't have watched it through, waste of time. Horrible people behaving horribly.

What a waste of time. Do not watch this.

Ho hum

[tknmzombie · 2/10 · 30 May 2022]

I popped into this show as I am an Amazon Prime subscriber, and as well a Paul Bettny fan. I watched 3 episodes in the hopes it would pick up steam, as sometimes dramas can fail to grab a person in the first few moments. But goodness, I just had to bail. The boredom levels were just awful.

I just couldn't continue. I'm not signing on for 2 seasons of this in the off chance it might get better, I'm sorry Paul.

Waste of time

[jd_bundy · 1/10 · 26 April 2022]

What a very boring scandal. It was a complete waste of time watching it. The characters were both horrible money hungry and narcissistic. Surely there are better scandals to make a series about.

Good Performances, Weak Direction and Editing

[splurben · 4/10 · 23 April 2022]

Although the performances are strong. There are very many holes in the storytelling particularly in the first and second episode where it is impossible to discern aspects of plot development without prior knowledge of the story which took place decades before the preponderance of the audience was born.

Remember How The 1st Season Blended Wit & Tragedy? All Gone Now.

[willwatch · 4/10 · 11 May 2022]

Just going to agree with the other reviewers on the same page: This season is such a downer vs. The Hugh Grant/ Ben Whishaw story of Season 1. While the acting is super strong, the "scandal" is flat, predictable and just sad. Basic. Boring. Don't bother.

Unlikeable

[considerthebirds · 4/10 · 5 January 2022]

Alan Bennett said that he chose things on the back of whether he would want to spend time with the characters. I didn't enjoy my three hours in the company of this drama, it felt like two parts would have sufficed, or one longer episode. There are far more engaging stories to be told, I'd much prefer the Christie adaptation or perhaps Dorothy L Sayers or Margery Allingham, rather than this kind of drama.

Absolutely no Entertainment Value Whatsoever

[crumpytv · 1/10 · 4 February 2022]

Why I persevered with this I do not know. Maybe it was it was only 3 episodes, but that was 3 episodes too many.

The account of two thoroughly obnoxious self-serving aristocrats was just tedious. They deserved each other. There was nobody at all to like or have any sympathy with.

The casting of Claire Foy was all wrong. She portrayed the Duchess in the same way as she had portrayed the Queen in The Crown; mannerisms, voice etc. It was the same character, but with different values.

It was impossibly to watch without making the comparison.

This was a really nasty retelling of events the upper classes would have not taken kindly to. A waste of 3 hours.

Dislikable characters

[cagedavid · 5/10 · 1 January 2022]

Quite dull and characters dislikable. Foy reminds me of her part in the Crown as the Queen. Watched two episodes and hoping the third is an improvement but not the BBC's best .

time I'll never get back...

[laineyd-15587 · 2/10 · 27 December 2021]

Well, that's time I won't ever get back - what a waste of time, that's the true 'scandal'.

Spoiled entitled rich people behaving badly - there, now you know all there is to know about this.

Good production values but uninteresting subject

[Catharina_Sweden · 5/10 · 21 February 2022]

There were many good things here: actors, environments, costumes, faithfulness to the time period, atmosphere etc.. Still, I all the time waited for some more interesting development.

I cannot really see, why a divorce that took place 60 years ago, to people who are not to this day famous for anything else, would suddenly be of interest for a three-parts television series today..? Without there being something more to it.

It Really Wasn't Very Interesting

[martimusross · 5/10 · 16 October 2022]

This drama showed a real scandal that occurred in the 50's/60's, the problem was that to modern eyes it just wasn't shocking at all. The drama was constructed from the trial transcripts and a biography and with all that some questions were just never answered satisfactorily.

The acting grated throughout and largely it just wasn't convincing, it just lacked any warmth and seemed fixated on projecting just the surface and the clothes.

Overall it was dry and boring and really the story was so small it really didn't need to be made at all.

I giving this a 5 outta 10, meaning it was no one's finest and I should have watched something else instead.

It's so very hard to care any less

[spam-730 · 3/10 · 13 January 2022]

Perhaps the title is revealing the limitations of this mini series. Perhaps all of this is interesting, revealing or entertaining if you've grown up with British culture and its obsession with moldy old castles and their backwards inhabitants.

Not having done that and never having cared about aristocrats, this however went nowhere at all. It was pretty to look at, the acting was good and i liked the soundtrack. But the story, oh my, the story.

People I don't care the least about do pointless things for no discernible reason. Then other people I don't care about got worked up about that.

And the script fails to make any of it interesting or likable, or even understandable. In fact, the first episode started so weirdly that i paused and checked whether i had accidentally picked the second episode. Or perhaps that this was a sequel to something else. No. These people really did unexplained things for no reason.

The only takeaway from it? 1960s Britain apparently was very mysogynistic and prude. Big deal.

Has a scandal ever been more boring?

[Laight · 3/10 · 10 May 2022]

After the excellent A Very English Scandal hopes were high for a repeat. Nope. This show has got nothing that the former had: it's flat, it's dull, it's empty. It's only virtue is the acting: both Foy and Bettany do excellent jobs. If only they had an excellent script to work with. Yawn.

Dreadful

[jaycharland · 2/10 · 6 May 2022]

This has been one of the worst British productions I've ever seen. It is an utterly pointless exploration of what happens when two dysfunctional adults with money get together. There is nothing else to see.

Like an extended Daily Mail article...

[backofthevan · 5/10 · 28 December 2021]

It was difficult to get into this story as the two main characters are such flawed, selfish, and downright nasty people. It's easy to say they deserved each other and got what they each deserved, and I can't quite figure out why anyone thought this sordid story about flawed people was worthy of a big production like this one.

I did watch all three episodes or I wouldn't feel qualified to comment. "Marry in haste, be damn sorry for years after" would have been good advice for the pair of them. It's obvious why the Duke married Margaret: her chequebook. Lord only knows why she married him, except perhaps the "lure" of being the Duchess of Argyll. Big deal. Heaven forbid he should actually work for a living, far easier to get another rich wife to add to his collection and pay his bills. A pair of self-centred, entitled twits does not an interesting mini-series make.

This left me feeling somewhat queasy, like I'd somehow read a sleazy tale in the Daily Mail by mistake. Yuck.

Why exactly should i watch this?

[ozdemirv · 2/10 · 3 January 2022]

This is a relationship between a horrible person and a more horrible person spending their and each other's lives away. Why exactly should I watch it I could not figure out.

Enjoyable watch

[underthebridge-23360 · 10/10 · 15 January 2024]

I never knew anything about the real life story behind this and only started researching after I watched it. A scandal indeed! Claire Foy is magnificent and if you've seen The Crown, it's almost like she's swapped parts with her sister Princess Margaret! Really good attention to detail and they did a great job of capturing the high society world on England during the 50s and 60s. You also can't help thinking of the changes to society since then and how it would be handled today, specifically society's treatment of women and sex. Sad ending for the real life woman involved and leaves you thinking about it afterward,

Dull Drama about ill suited aristocratic couple

[malcolmgsw · 5/10 · 29 December 2021]

I vaguely remember this scandal though it created nothing like the shock waves of the Profumo Affair. The couple were ill suited.it was a marriage of convenience. He wanted her money,she wanted his title and castle. Both were as bad as ech other.

There is little mystery about the headless man. It was either Douglas Fairbanks Junior or Duncan sandys. However what is not explained is why she left such incriminating photos and letters in her Mayfair home. Also why was she allowed to go into court when she could not give a clear explanation of what the letter V stood for?

I stuck with the 3 episodes probably because at Christmas there is little to engage on terrestial tv. At times i found it dull and tedious,only alieviated by the trial scene with the Judge more than anyone else making a fool of himself. Remindd me of the Monty Python sketch of the 2 judges.

Was it really love?

[resa-09454 · 10/10 · 30 June 2022]

Was Jeremy just stupid or in love with Norman? Why did he not just give him the darn National card. Geez! If the setting had been today I still don't see Jeremy being with Norman. He had no ambitions and was too needy and Jeremy saw red flags everywhere and knew it would not work. I would say Norman was simple but he wasn't too simple to save those letters...hehe. I throughly enjoyed this short mini-series and would highly recommend.

Inaccuracy in case name

[robindavis-21735 · 26 December 2021]

In the opening scenes of episode one, the court case is called out by the court clerk who announces the case as Argyle versus Argyle. The court would never have announced case in this way. It would most certainly have been announced as Argyle and Argyle or, possibly, Argyle against Argyle. But certainly not Argyle versus Argyle.