This series has a lot going for it - chiefly the intriguing story of the shenanigans going on behind political and upper class circles of the 1960s that was the Profumo affair.
The setting is just when Britain was emerging from World War II and the stuffy, conservative 1950s.
The cast is brilliant, chiefly the crucial role of call girl and dancer Christine Keeler - brilliantly played by Sophie Cookson as a smart but very young woman who takes life as she finds it. She's not a floozy and not devious, and she has genuine joys and problems. Cookson does bring out the viewer's empathy. And James Norton has a cracker of a role in Stephen Ward - on the surface a distinguished young osteopath to society, but underneath a very out-there hedonist who doesn't realise how vulnerable he is, and was ultimately the fall guy when politician John Profumo was caught in a spy scandal with Keeler. I love the genuninely affectionate friendship between Keeler and Ward. And Keeler's friend, Mandy Rice-Davies, comes across as equally fun loving as Keeler, but with an unashamed shrewd eye on the money. These are not stupid girls. The cinematography is great, and I love how the series avoids the trap of padding it with pop songs. The only trouble I had with the series is that it's a little slow-moving. There are quite a few scenes that are interesting visually, but they don't propel the plot forward, and could have been cut.
The setting is just when Britain was emerging from World War II and the stuffy, conservative 1950s.
The cast is brilliant, chiefly the crucial role of call girl and dancer Christine Keeler - brilliantly played by Sophie Cookson as a smart but very young woman who takes life as she finds it. She's not a floozy and not devious, and she has genuine joys and problems. Cookson does bring out the viewer's empathy. And James Norton has a cracker of a role in Stephen Ward - on the surface a distinguished young osteopath to society, but underneath a very out-there hedonist who doesn't realise how vulnerable he is, and was ultimately the fall guy when politician John Profumo was caught in a spy scandal with Keeler. I love the genuninely affectionate friendship between Keeler and Ward. And Keeler's friend, Mandy Rice-Davies, comes across as equally fun loving as Keeler, but with an unashamed shrewd eye on the money. These are not stupid girls. The cinematography is great, and I love how the series avoids the trap of padding it with pop songs. The only trouble I had with the series is that it's a little slow-moving. There are quite a few scenes that are interesting visually, but they don't propel the plot forward, and could have been cut.