BritBox has become a hot spot for unique British comedies, and there’s none more unique than Outrageous, as it tells the jaw-dropping true story of the Mitford sisters. This is an incredibly well-cast, no-holds-barred show that takes “based on a true story” to another level.

Leading the way is Bessie Carter, who stars as Nancy Mitford, and who spoke to TVBrittanyF.com about how she approached such a surprising character. Plus, she explains what this role does (and does not) have in common with her fan-favorite part as Prudence Fetherington in the Netflix hit Bridgerton.

Brittany Frederick: The gist of the show is right there in the title; this is an outrageous story by the standards of 1930s Britain. How do you lean into that, but also not go too far so that Nancy doesn’t become a caricature?

Bessie Carter: The script is the answer. That’s the thing you start with and you end with. And the script so brilliantly tread a line… We didn’t need to play them being rebellious and outrageous. They just were. What they say and what they do is that element. You don’t need to act that.

The situations they were in, the ways in which they held themselves, that was all thankfully written down for us in a beautiful script. So it was just really studying that, studying all of the resources that were at our fingertips, and then letting all of that go and just trying to be truthful in the moment and trying to make it incredibly human. Because we don’t need to act those things. The circumstances did that.

Mary Lovell’s biography of the Mitford sisters is the basis for Outrageous, but you also have all of the information that’s readily available about them. How much do you rely on the historial or the source material, versus what’s presented to you in the scripts?

I do a lot of research, [and] then I trust that; I just let it go. So I did find it really useful to read Mary Lovell’s books. It’s based off of all of the letters that the sisters wrote between each other. I would listen to 1930s music. Me and the guy who plays Peter Rodd [actor Jamie Blackley], we went to Nancy and Peter Rodd’s house at Chiswick and visited it. I love to immerse myself in all of that.

And then, like you correctly say, you look at the script and you go, right, let all of that go and trust it’s in my body. Trust that I can smell what Chiswick smelt like, and I can hear what Nancy’s voice was like in that letter to Unity. And then I look at that, and that then becomes my Bible.

The cast for Outrageous is full of great actors like Anna Chancellor and James Purefoy. How would you describe the filming experience?

I think everyone in this show is phenomenal. I actually, genuinely think the acting is brilliant, and I think the casting director has done a phenomenal job. It was electric. The first read-through was electric, because you obviously have just read your part, and you are imagining what everyone will be like. But then you hear it all together, and everyone was so good. It just elevated the whole thing, and [I] just thought okay, we might be on something special here.

I’d worked with Anna Chancellor before. I knew Calam Lynch, who plays Bryan Guinness, and Will Attenborough, who plays Joss. I was friends with them, which adds to the relaxation, which is really important. And I think James Purefoy loved having six daughters. I think we broke his heart. (laughs) I think he softened into a big, cuddly teddy bear. He will kill me when he reads that. But I think it’s true!

With all of the shenanigans that ensue across the series, did you have favorite scenes that were a particular joy for you to film?

The last scene… I was really scared of it, because it’s the big finale, and we were filming on a really hot day and it was meant to be the middle of winter. It was meant to be December, so we were all wearing layers and coats and scarves and hats and gloves in 30-degree heat. I was scared of it, and I didn’t know how it was coming across. I was just trying and trying, and Sarah Williams, our writer, gave me a really good thought with how to do it.

I watched it through fingers when I watched the episode, and I was like, oh no, this is okay. I think this is really good. And I don’t mean that about just me. I think the way that the scene is shot, the way that everyone is in the scene, and the way that Ellie Heydon—our amazing director from the last block—directed all of us was really stylish and nuanced and clever, and really satisfying. So I was really pleased with that, because I was scared of it.

Then the swimming pool scene from Episode 1. I got to lie on a sun lounger for a whole day. whilst my sisters were jumping in and out of a swimming pool all day long. So that was like a “pinch me” moment. (laughs) Am I really living right now? That was great.

Viewers will recognize you from Bridgerton, which is obviously another period TV show centered on strong female characters. But Outrageous has a very different tone and tackles different subjects. Were you able to bring anything you learned on Bridgerton to this show?

Absolutely not. It was a completely different experience—and thankfully, every job you want to be a different experience.

One of the things I’m grateful to Bridgerton for is, we were filming nine months a series, and I was filming on and off for like five years of my life, and I learned a lot about working with a camera. I learned a lot about how to work with a wide shot, then you’re coming in for a close shot. I know how it all works, and I do think that really helped me with leading this show. I feel very relaxed in front of a camera, and I do think that helps.

But it couldn’t be more far from [that]. Bridgerton is like the hyper-real fairy tale wedding cake explosion of love and joy and sex and fairy tale endings that’s still very funny… Prudence was a funny character, and I’m glad to be playing another funny person, because I think they’re great. I like comedy.

But also what’s great is the authenticity of Outrageous. I think it’s it’s punky, it’s fresh, it’s got a modern lens, but we are telling a really authentic story, authentic to the time, which I think impactfully shows us what we could be doing differently today… It’s a show with six women at the helm, which I think is the coolest thing in the world, and I think we need more of that.

Outrageous streams Wednesdays on BritBox. Episodes 1-3 are available now, with subsequent episodes available each Wednesday. Photo Credit: Courtesy of BritBox.

Article content is (c)2020-2025 Brittany Frederick and may not be excerpted or reproduced without express written permission by the author. Follow me on Twitter at @BFTVTwtr and on Instagram at @BFTVGram. For story pitches, contact me at tvbrittanyf@yahoo.com.