Meet the Mitfords – an Outrageous sisterhood

They say that you can’t choose your family and that couldn’t be truer for the Mitford sisters – six women whose only common characteristic was their shared surname. Whether they were clashing over polarising politics or at the centre of a high society scandal, the Mitfords were a subject on everyone’s lips amid a changing tide of British social upheaval in the first half of the 20th century.

Now, nearly 100 years on from the height of their fame, their astonishing tale is being brought to the small screen. Seen through the eyes of eldest sister Nancy (Bessie Carter), Outrageous is a six-part period drama that details the lives of Nancy, Diana (Joanna Vanderham), Pamela (Isobel Jesper Jones), Unity (Shannon Watson), Jessica (Zoe Brough) and Deborah (Orla Hill), and their story far exceeds one of ordinary sisterly quarrels.

As extreme politics, jealousy, romance and heartache hurtle through an increasingly fragmented Mitford household, trying to make sense of it all are sole heir and brother Tom (Toby Regbo, Platform 7) and bewildered parents “Muv” (Anna Chancellor, My Lady Jane) and “Farve” (James Purefoy, Malpractice). But the sisters’ radical behaviour isn’t the family’s only worry as they struggle with failing finances, a crumbling British aristocracy and the approach of the Second World War.

And the Mitfords didn’t only attract the attention of the press. An array of romantic interests, from magnetic politician Oswald Mosley (Joshua Sasse, Monarch) and bohemian film-maker Peter Rodd (Jamie Blackley, Becoming Elizabeth) to wealthy brewing heir Bryan Guinness (Calam Lynch, Sweetpea) and Jewish family friend Joss (Will Attenborough, Our Girl), also find themselves swept up in the saga.

Adapted from Mary S Lovell’s book The Mitford Girls, the script for Outrageous is by Sarah Williams, who co-wrote 2007 Jane Austen biopic Becoming Jane as well as The Long Song and Flesh And Blood. And as with most period dramas, there’s no shortage of inspiration material: as executive producer Matthew Mosley remarks, “This is a very layered world, with a big weight of family history. They were all trapped in this big old house in the middle of nowhere with only their imaginations to entertain each other. It’s this hothouse environment that made these women such extraordinary characters.”

You can watch Outrageous from 9pm on Thursday 19 June on U&Drama HD (CH 116). In the meantime, get to know the Mitford sisters with our interactive biographies below. Just click on the flip cards below to reveal which actor will be starring as which sister, and read on to find out what made this family such a sensational tabloid staple in 1930s Britain.

Played by: Bessie Carter (Bridgerton)

Nicknames: Naunce, Naunceling

Most likely to… write a tell-all book about her scandalous family.

Who was Nancy? The eldest of the Mitford children, Nancy was arguably the most famous sister in their time as a well-established writer, gaining a reputation for lifting the gilded curtain to reveal what life was like in upper-class England and France. Nancy published several biographies and novels including The Pursuit Of Love, and was also an established member of London’s Bright Young Things social scene in the Roaring Twenties.

Played by: Joanna Vanderham (The Control Room)

Nicknames: Nard, Honks

Most likely to… wear a diamond-encrusted swastika pin when leaving prison.

Who was Diana? Known as the family beauty, Diana left broken hearts in her wake when she married her first husband Bryan Guinness – a scion of of the Guinness brewing dynasty. However, a chance meeting with the founder of the British Union of Fascists, Oswald Mosley, altered the course of her life forever and the two were secretly wed in Nazi Germany. The Mosleys were imprisoned during the Second World War and eventually left the UK to live in self-imposed exile in France.

Played by: Isobel Jesper Jones (The Serpent Queen)

Nicknames: Woman, Woo

Most likely to… act as the family peacekeeper.

Who was Pamela? She preferred life’s simplicities rather than the trimmings of the aristocracy, choosing to avoid the limelight and her family’s political sparring in favour of rural life. Therefore, her unlikely marriage to divorced millionaire Derek Jackson – who was reportedly bisexual and would go on to marry four more times – came as a huge surprise to her family and friends. The two later divorced and Pamela’s own sexuality came into question when she spent the next 20 years as the companion of Italian horsewoman Giuditta Tommasi.

Played by: Shannon Watson (The Jetty)

Nicknames: Bobo, Boud

Most likely to… fall in love with a dictator and cause a national scandal.

Who was Unity? Um… Unfortunately, this Mitford found herself very much on the wrong side of history. While Unity wasn’t the only Nazi sympathiser in her family, she took her devotion to the next level when she became infatuated with Adolf Hitler (yes, really). As part of the Führer’s inner circle, she was devastated when Germany declared war on Britain and one self-inflicted gunshot wound with a pearl-handled pistol later, she returned home to public outcry and lived out her final days at the Mitford family estate.

Played by: Zoe Brough (Casualty)

Nicknames: Decca, Little D, Boud

Most likely to… lead a revolution against the upper class.

Who was Jessica? Where two of the Mitford sisters became staunch fascists, Jessica abandoned her aristocratic background to become an active member of the Communist Party, which earned her the title of the “red sheep” of the family. After her husband (Esmond Romilly, also her cousin and Winston Churchill’s nephew) died in action in 1941, she moved to the US and married civil rights lawyer Robert Treuhaft, becoming a well-known left-wing activist and writer.

Played by: Orla Hill (A Good Girl’s Guide To Murder)

Nicknames: Debo, Stubbs, Stubblow

Most likely to… turn a stately home into one of the most popular tourist attractions ever.

Who was Deborah? The youngest of the Mitford sisters, Deborah wasn’t eclipsed by her elder sisters’ reputations and became a celebrated socialite in her own right. Although she was reportedly devastated by Pamela’s engagement to Jackson, she later married Lord Andrew Cavendish, the Duke of Devonshire, and became the public face of the Cavendishes’ ancestral home, Chatsworth House – which is said to have inspired Pemberley in Austen’s Pride & Prejudice (and featured in the 2005 film).

Outrageous begins on Thursday 19 June at 9pm on U&Drama HD (CH 116). You can watch new episodes every Thursday. Alternatively, stream the whole series in On Demand > U&Drama or Apps > U.