As the first episode of A Very British Scandal begins, we see a newspaper with the headline “Argyll Versus Argyll”. Journalists surround the vehicle with Margaret Campbell (Claire Foy) riding in the back. Some are there to taunt her and call her names such as scum and slut. It is the trial of Argyll Vs. Argyll Edinburgh Court of Session 1963. Once the car escapes the crowd of people, Margaret gets out with her black dog. Ian Campbell (Paul Bettany) greets her inside and warns her that she doesn’t have the guts for this. He offers to give her one more chance and says he’ll talk to his QC so there will be no need for her to be confronted by the evidence. He asks her to nod her head if she agrees, but she refuses and tells him he better take his seat. In court, Margaret the Duchess of Argyll is called to the stand. After the intro, we join Margaret on a train as she looks at pictures of herself in a magazine.

Ian begins talking to her about the time he saw her coming down the stairs with everyone looking at her. He calls her Mrs. Sweeny, but she says she won’t be Mrs. Sweeny for long since they’re in the middle of a divorce. Ian insists he wouldn’t let her out of his sight if she was his. She already knows who he is and would prefer to hear more about her and the staircase. Ian goes on to say she walked down the stairs and he was enchanted with her. He claims he told his wife, Janet, that Margaret was the girl he was going to marry. His first wife divorced him although he claims his second one never will regardless of how hard he tries. She encourages him to work harder and put his back into it before they begin talking about her diary. He tells her to put a thick line through her boring appointments and write going to Scotland with Captain Campbell. He offers to be a perfect gentleman if she joins him while he takes care of some family business. In that case, she says she’ll stay home.

She ends up going with him. When they reach their destination, Ian quickly introduces Margaret to his assistant Yvonne MacPherson (Amanda Drew) who he describes as a Godsend. She tells him they’re in the library. Ian encourages her to stay outside because the place is as cold as a morgue. He tells her to look around the grounds and they’ll go to dinner later. Once he leaves, Yvonne tells Margaret she has heard so much about her. Since she has been photographed so often, Yvonne feels like she knows her. Ian goes inside where he hears Niall Campbell (David Hargreaves) singing before they begin brainstorming ways to come up with the money needed to repair the castle. They’re not sure they’ll be able to do anything until the Duke is gone since he thinks it is an intrusion. Ian learns they’re going to give him 1,500 pounds a year from the estate. He complains he could make more selling his butthole down by the Glasgow docks although he knows he doesn’t have a choice.

He’ll get it when he inherits the Duchy of Argyll. He tells them to give the paperwork to MacPherson because he doesn’t have time for them. Meanwhile, Margaret walks around and looks at the castle from a distance. Once Ian joins her, Margaret says he didn’t tell her that it was so beautiful. He claims it is a pile, but she says it just needs love since it has been neglected. Then, we return to London where Margaret meets with Charles Sweeny (Matt Rippy) to finalize the divorce. When they sign the paperwork, we see the name Ethel Margaret Whigham for Margaret. Outside, she promises they’ll always be friends. She encourages Charles to write to the children so they’ll know he loves them since you can’t tell a child you love them too much. Later, Margaret tells her friend that Charles cried and cried. Diana (Camilla Rutherford) knows about her date with Ian and reveals he had it rough with the Nazis who locked him away in a prisoner of war camp. Margaret admits he never said anything like that.

Diana warns her that there are stories about Ian and women, but Margaret doesn’t mind since there are stories about her too. When Margaret says she liked his castle, she is reminded it doesn’t belong to him just yet. They arrive at the party where Maureen Guinness (Julia Davis) tells Margaret she specifically picked the guest to cheer her up. They drink and play with wind-up penises. Freddie (Freddie Lund) joins them as the fun continues. Later that night, Margaret has sex with a man. While he sleeps, Margaret wakes up and takes a piece of jewelry sitting on the table nearby. She takes it downstairs to her fancy desk and puts it in the main drawer. She hides the drawer key in a book sitting nearby before hiding it as well. In the morning, Maureen tells Margaret she thought of her the other day when she took someone to the zoo.

Maureen complains about the monkeys with the pink bottoms that she describes as hideous. She goes on to say Margaret is similar to the bonobos because they are constantly having sex. Margaret admits she likes it very much and it isn’t her fault that Maureen isn’t good at it. She is adamant it isn’t her fault that she is extremely good at it. Then, we are taken to the Campbell residence in Biarritz, France. Ian returns home with a gift for his wife Louise. She complains it is too hot for mink although he says it is freezing in Scotland. Niall Campbell dies so Ian takes over as the 11th Duke of Argyll. Margaret immediately sends him a message congratulating him and asking him to come see her. Before long, they hang out on Ian’s speedboat. Once the boat stops, Ian admits he wasn’t brought up here and only inherited from a distant cousin. He says it is a bit desperate really.

She asks to drive fast again before it rains. Then, they end up in the castle together. He sneaks up behind her as she dries her hair and says he thought he’d made them tea. Instead, they make out until she stops. She says nobody ever sees the 30 stitches on the back of her head. They continue and eventually have sex. Once they’ve finished, Margaret tells Ian he is going to be the one to raise the shipwreck. She rephrases that and says we’re going to do it all. He pulls out a ring and throws it on the cover she has before asking her to be his Duchess. She makes him promise that they’ll never bore one another. He agrees and says nothing they’ll do will be boring. She accepts his proposal and slides the ring onto her finger. She says it is time for him to meet her father. They have sex again before meeting George Whigham (Richard McCabe). They tell him about the Argyll’s salvage rights, the gold, and crown they could obtain.

George argues it’d be hard to raise it since that is wild water out there. Then, George says his daughter has been talking about Inveraray Castle and has fallen in love with it. Ian says the castle has fallen in love with her and he can’t bear to be without her. She leaves them to talk while she goes to talk to her mother Helen (Phoebe Nicholls). Margaret shows her mother the Argyll family heirloom. Helen might be trapped in her chair, but she hears things and knows he is a married man. She doesn’t like that her daughter is an adulteress, but Margaret says otherwise because the marriage is unhappy. They continue arguing as her mother says she is getting a few wrinkles. Margaret denies it while explaining she has been using the creams and doing the exercises like her mother taught her. Margaret nearly sobs as she says she doesn’t know why she always has to be like this. She wishes her mother would just say something nice for a change.

Helen looks at her and confesses she is so lonely. She suspects George has a mistress because he goes out at night and leaves her alone. She wants her daughter to tell him to stay home although Margaret says he needs company. She doesn’t believe he has a mistress because he would never do that to her. Meanwhile, Ian scores points with George and also convinces him to help with his expired memberships. Before Margaret leaves, her father says she did him so proud. Margaret and Ian continue hanging out. Ian’s wife Louise (Sophia Myles) complains to Janet (Sophie Ward) about his affair and the newspaper articles covering it. They talk about Margaret’s many relationships and engagements before Janet says she is rather fond of her. When Janet recommends divorcing him, Louise says Ian always gets what he wants.

Daddy’s millions mean Margaret will get what she wants. Louise writes her a letter discussing the fallout of their marriage and telling her she won. While Ian meets George at the club, Louise admits she’d fight harder and delay the divorce if she didn’t love her son so much. She doesn’t want to drag it out so she is letting Margaret win and get her divorce. Ian and Margaret send the divers out to inspect the shipwreck and get the treasure. She hopes her pain makes her happy and she hopes she never has to go through having her private life laid bare for all to see. Margaret reads the letter and laughs at Louise, but she didn’t expect better from someone who calls themselves “Oui Oui”. After that, Ian and Margaret take photographs as they prepare for their upcoming wedding. It is 1951. When they return to the castle, Ian is adamant that he wants to carry her across the threshold.

She gets upset and pleads with him to put her down. He curses at her, puts her down, and asks if she is happy. She thanks everyone and invites them inside for champagne and cake. As they begin living together, the castle is repaired. An artist paints Margaret’s portrait while Ian walks alone. Later, Margaret is introduced to two of Ian’s children, Ian Jr and Colin. Ian quickly decides to go for a walk so Margaret can get to know the boys who seem to have little interest in that. When Ian doesn’t return before dark, Ian Jr (Daniel Burt) and Colin (Lawrence Oswald) wonder if he had an accident. Margaret is confident he has only lost track of time. She knows how difficult it can be to share your dad. The boys quickly correct her by saying they call him father. Margaret explains her father gave her two puppies because she was lonely as a child so she offers to do the same for them.

She agrees to look after the puppies when they’re not around and read them letters written by the boys too. They refuse with one of them arguing dogs are stupid. The boys want to be excused. Ian finally returns and tells them they should be in bed. Ian Jr denies he was worried that his father had fallen down a mountain. Later, Ian is shown storing a preserved butterfly. Margaret wants to talk, but she can’t get in because the door is locked. He drinks and ignores his wife as she knocks on the door and asks him to come to bed with her. When Margaret returns to her room alone, she writes one word in her diary, lonely. She finds an envelope and a letter written to the Duke of Argyll. Another contains a legal action notice. Later, she reminds Ian he said the Navy was supplying the divers for free because they were interested in the project.

The letter says he owes them 6,000 pounds. When he ridicules the navy, she asks him about the mink coat he bought from Worth. He admits he bought that for Oui Oui. Margaret says otherwise since he didn’t actually pay for it and they owe 10,000 pounds now. He doesn’t know why she is being such a wife. She tells him it is serious, but he doesn’t seem to think so. He claims he’ll kill himself and eliminate the problem when they come for him. Margaret agrees to pay the bills this time before saying she wants to clean out the library. Ian tells her not to move the papers because they belonged to his cousin Niall and they’re heirlooms. She calls them rubbish so he fires back and says she wouldn’t know academic work if it bit her on the fanny. He doesn’t think she has ever created anything in her entire life. She reminds him that she created two beautiful children although he calls them spoiled.

Ian mocks Margaret when she begins stuttering before telling her to pay the bills since that is what she is for. Another day, Margaret continues sitting for the artist who is painting her portrait. When the artist steps out of the room, Ian apologizes for being a bastard and suggests he’d be nothing without her. Margaret questions how many men she married because she wonders which Ian she is going to get every morning. In 1953, they celebrate the grand opening of the restored Inveraray Castle. Maureen meets her there and congratulates her on everything. Although Margaret didn’t think people were arriving yet, Maureen says they are and she saw a little someone she likely wasn’t expecting.

Margaret goes outside and finds Oui Oui wearing the mink coat she recently paid for. Ian rushes out, greets Louise, and kisses her on the cheek. She steps away. Ian is asked whether he invited her. He admits he needed her stamp of approval since she is the mother of his heir. Margaret can’t believe he didn’t consider whether it would upset her after she put so much work into it. Ian bluntly says he didn’t give her a second thought. She asks what he meant when he asked Louise if she could see herself there. Ian explains things will change when his son is Duke and it’ll be up to him. It is tradition to have your mother live with you. He admits Margaret’s future will depend on his son too, and that means she’ll have to make friends with Louise. Margaret believes she can win her over. The guests approach. Margaret is shown writing, cutting the letters out, and using them to compose a letter.

Margaret speaks to the audience while we see her creating a letter that looks like Louise wrote it. The letter talks about how happy she is that her sons are his and not Ian’s.

 

A Very British Scandal Review

A Very British Scandal covers the true events surrounding the divorce of The Duke of Argyll and the Duchess of Argyll in the 1960s. The series is modeled after A Very English Scandal and matches the quality so far. Claire Foy and Paul Bettany are good in their respective roles while the secondary actors and actresses did well in this episode too.

It is easy to have differing opinions for the characters at different points throughout the episode. At times, I found myself feeling sorry for Margaret, but that feeling wavered well before the episode was over. It wouldn’t surprise me if this was intentional. When taking these individuals at face value, it is an interesting story that is surprisingly common and easily relatable. The big difference is the fact that these individuals were incredibly flawed, famous, and wealthy.

Many viewers will have difficulty connecting with characters they can’t stand and characters that will never understand them. While the episode was entertaining, it was a bit too confusing at times. The writers obviously expect the viewer to know a lot about these characters, their histories, and their acquaintances.

As usual, it’ll get easier in subsequent episodes, but viewers may have trouble figuring out who is who early on. There were no effortless introductions so some might be confused by the characters. By solely judging the first episode, it seems to be a decent fact-based drama with good performances from the leads. Only time will tell how high the show can climb. The opening episode scores a 7 out of 10. Recaps of A Very British Scandal will be available on Reel Mockery here.