ell NOW it’s Christmas. Sarah Phelps has delivered. Not an Agatha Christie adaptation this time but an original drama, A Very British Scandal , about the notorious case of Argyll v Argyll – the only one any erstwhile law student ever remembers .
The Argyll case of course provoked a media storm. A Very British Scandal opens in 1963 with the Duchess facing the screaming abuse of a crowd as she enters Edinburgh’s court of session to open divorce proceedings. Inside, the Duke of Argyll offers her one last chance to end things quietly “Because I’m an honourable man. You’ve played a spirited game but we both know you haven’t the stomach for this.” The look on the duchess’s face suggests we should all buckle up to enjoy the coming ride.
At first it seems a good match, if only in the sense that they are as monstrous and self-involved as each other. Campbell’s father dies, they become the Duke and Duchess, move to the family pile in Inverary and she pays for everything from the restoration of the castle to the final bills for Louise’s fur coats.