For the 31-year-old actress Bessie Carter, playing the English writer Nancy Mitford in BritBox’s new historical drama, Outrageous, was like reconnecting with an old friend. While casting the show, premiering on Wednesday, few on the production team knew that Carter had already been on a long date with Mitford—seven hours and 38 minutes, to be exact—having narrated her most celebrated novel, The Pursuit of Love (1945), for Audible in 2021.
Born the eldest of seven (six girls) in an aristocratic family that can best be described as posh but not flush, Mitford wrote what she knew. Now she and her sisters—Pam, Diana, Unity (who is known for her infatuation with Adolf Hitler), Decca, and Deborah—are at the center of Outrageous. Set during the rise of Fascism in 1930s Europe, the show, written by Sarah Williams, follows them through their drama-filled escapades.
