The historical summer series uncovers the controversial Mitford sisters

BarcelonaAristocratic and controversial. These two words could define the Mitford sisters, six women who shattered all the conventions of the mid-20th century, both for better and for worse. The miniseries Scandalous, which premieres this Saturday on Movistar Plus+ and consists of six episodes, takes full advantage of the intense lives of England's most extravagant sisters, daughters of the second Baron Redesdale and Sydney Bowles. The production, which moves in the realm of tragicomedy, is the standout historical series of the summer and is a good alternative for those who have already devoured all the chapters ofThe Durrells, which is broadcast this summer on TV3 (the public television's holiday programming has a marked English accent this year thanks to this series, Downton Abbey, All the beasts small and large and Doctor Martin).

The best known of the Mitford sisters is Nancy, the eldest daughter and the novelist of the family, famous for semi-autobiographical books such as The adventure of love (Asteroid Books), of which a television adaptation was recently made. She is, in fact, the narrator ofScandalous and the one in charge of guiding the viewer through the dark side of her sisters' lives during the years leading up to World War II. It's a cocktail of heartbreak, political extremism, and public scandal. As the eldest daughter, Nancy was the one who tried to keep the family together, especially since her parents often delegated that responsibility to her.

After Nancy came Pamela, the most rural of all the sisters. For years she ran a farm and, after divorcing billionaire Derek Jackson, spent two decades with the horsewoman Giuditta Tommasi. The next sister was Diana, who left her husband for Oswald Mosley, leader of British fascism, a cause also championed by the only boy in the Mitford family, Tom. Unity was also a fascist, having been a friend of Adolf Hitler and attempted suicide when England declared war on Germany. Curiously, the sister Unity got along best with as a teenager was the anti-fascist of the family, Jessica, who after serving in Spain during the Civil War moved to the United States to become an investigative journalist. The youngest of the clan was Deborah, who lived a more aristocratic life following her marriage to the Duke of Devonshire. There was a sixteen-year age difference between Nancy and Deborah.

A predestined project

Bessie Carter, the lead actress ofScandalous, is a well-known face in English historical series, as well as being the daughter of two of the country's great actors, Imelda Staunton and Jim Carter (Mr. Carson of Downton Abbey). Known thanks to The Bridgertons, where she plays Prudence Featherington, says she had intended to stay away from period productions until her agent approached her about the possibility of auditioning for the biopic about the Mitfords. "I read the script and I knew so much about Nancy Mitford, because I have a bit of a strange connection with her. Five years ago I narrated the audiobook version of The adventure of love"I went to the same school as her. And I lived very close to where she and her husband, Peter Rodd, lived," the actress explains. All these connections, she assures, meant that "I knew exactly how to do it." "It was a project that almost seemed like something that was meant to be," she notes.

Although Scandalous It's a period drama, with a comic edge, fostered by the madness and eccentricity of the six sisters. "It's punky, fast-paced, and fun," Carter says of the series. "And there's an energy to the way it's shot, which I think is our tempo, which was their tempo. I mean, they were eccentric," she notes.