A Very British Scandal Trailer: We Need A Crown Crossover

Claire Foy is back in another British period piece about an unhappy marriage, and I'm not talking about "The Crown." Your favorite young queen is once again diving into British history with her upcoming BBC/Amazon series "A Very British Scandal." I love a title that tells you everything about a project before you even press play, and the scandals and British-ness of this production are definitely off the charts. 

Between the affairs and the drinking and the excellent costumes, there's a lot to look forward to and think about here, and we're going to do it all right now together. It's cocktail hour, baby.

"A Very British Scandal" tells the story of England's infamous Argyll v. Argyll divorce case (which The Guardian delightfully refers to as "the only [case] any erstwhile law student ever remembers"), in which the Duke of Argyll (Paul Bettany) and the Duchess of Argyll (Foy) took it to the mat and were a part of one of the most notorious divorce cases in the country's history. The salacious case reached a fever pitch when the Duke produced photos of the Duchess engaging in sex acts with other men and accused her of sleeping with up to 88 men outside of their marriage.

Thankfully, it doesn't seem like "A Very British Scandal" ends its story there. Instead, the drama seems to focus on fleshing out the rot seeping into the foundation of the marriage, which didn't only include the Duchess's infidelity, but also the Duke's alcoholism and predilection for physical and emotional abuse. It might be a salacious tale, but it's also a deeply sad one, and if anyone is up to the task, it's Foy. 

Her role as the Duchess certainly mirrors her portrayal of the young Queen Elizabeth in "The Crown" — the two series even take place in the same timeframe (between 1947 and 1963ish). Thankfully, it doesn't seem like Foy is getting typecast here. While her portrayal of Queen Elizabeth was serious and unsure, the Duchess is a spitfire, the kind of person who does what she wants when she wants and makes plenty of mistakes along the way.

The more I think about it, the more I feel like I medically need a "Crown" and "British Scandal" crossover episode. I know we're way past this point in the Queen's life (in the show and IRL), but can you imagine Foy playing the Queen being at the same party as Foy playing the Duchess? I don't know if the two ever crossed paths from a historical perspective, but we all know there's plenty of historical fudging happening in these shows. Consider this an official plea to the BBC.

If you've also caught the British period piece affair bug (it's a very specific illness), take joy in knowing that the limited series will hit Amazon on April 22, 2022. The show first premiered on the BBC way back in December of 2021 (which is when we first wrote about the series), so beware of all of the spoilers. I always feel insane saying that about shows based on history. After all, can there really be spoilers for something that has already happened?

Regardless, we're putting on our pillbox hats, drinking a chilled gin martini, and going with it.