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Sydney Morning Herald
22-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Sydney Morning Herald
The wild true story of the infamous Mitford sisters comes to life
Mitford fans recognise each other; they're the people in any bookshop hovering by the M shelf, picking up anything new about the endlessly fascinating Mitford sisters. A rabble of uneducated but dazzlingly posh girls, the six Mitford sisters (and their one brother) grew up between the wars in a succession of English country houses, raising bizarre animals, swapping cutting witticisms in languages they invented and pursuing whatever interests they could drum up in the absence of schooling. They were also scandalous. A century later, their fans remain legion. Twenty-five years ago, scriptwriter and Mitford fan Sarah Williams read a new biography of the family by Mary Lovell, The Mitford Girls. Episodic television was entering its golden phase. This was surely perfect material: extraordinary, racy and real. 'Then she wrote a pitch and had no luck whatsoever,' says Matthew Mosley, executive producer of new series Outrageous. 'We met her, three or four years ago, and said, 'We'd love to work with you; what story do you want to tell?'' The true story of the Mitfords, of course. Outrageous covers the sisters' volcanic lives up to 1937. Two of them – Diana and Unity – became prominent Fascists. Diana, having been known in the social pages as the most beautiful woman in England, was renamed 'the most hated woman in England' after she left her wealthy husband for Oswald Mosley, leader of the Blackshirts. Unity persuaded her parents to send her to finishing school in Munich, where she made it her business to find and befriend the Fuhrer. Jessica became a Communist and eventually a prominent journalist in the United States. Pamela became a gentlewoman farmer; Deborah married well and was known henceforth as the Duchess of Devonshire. Nancy, the eldest, turned their lives into comic novels – Love in a Cold Climate and The Pursuit of Love are the classics – that have never been out of print. What is remarkable is they were raised under one roof and were fiercely devoted to each other – mostly, anyway – but headed in such different directions. Loading 'They were so isolated. They were so isolated,' reflects Bessie Carter, who plays Nancy. She is not only the leading character, but provides snatches of wry voiceover tying the drama together; we see their world through her eyes. 'They were like this tribe in the countryside who weren't allowed to go to school and weren't really allowed to socialise, so they were really sort of starved of social connection. They only had each other and I suppose if you have siblings, if one sibling goes one way you probably want to go the other way just to spite them. There's that kind of dynamic, which I think then played out on a global scale.' Coincidentally, Carter has history with Nancy Mitford; a few years ago, she was chosen to read The Pursuit of Love as an audiobook. Television viewers may know her as Prudence Featherington in Bridgerton; she has a voice and face that fit easily into past times. One of the great things about Outrageous, she says, is that she didn't have to wear a corset. 'We were very much in an era where women could wear trousers. And I was lucky with Nancy; she was a lot more Bohemian in what she wore when juxtaposed with Diana, who is … like a steely swan.' Joanna Vanderham, who plays Diana, is often seen in evening dress. 'I was so uncomfortable. I had to have help going to the bathroom,' she says. Producer Matthew Mosley has history of a different kind with this material. He is Oswald Mosley's great-grandson, descended from the British Union of Fascists leader's first marriage. Mosley never met his great-grandfather – he died before he was born – but grew up with that knowledge. 'I've always been honest about it, because it's important to acknowledge things that happened and that are still happening,' he says. Loading Even so, it was a shock to find himself working on a series in which his disgraced ancestor was a major character. 'There was a moment of thinking, 'Oh goodness this is a very strange scenario,'' he says. 'But I loved working with Sarah, I loved her writing and her take on the story, I found it so immersive.' The situation came to feel normal, with only odd moments making him gasp. 'Seeing the amazing Joshua Sasse step out on set in all his hair and make-up as Oswald Mosley and give that performance: it was surreal to be in that position,' he remembers. Sasse threw himself into research, collecting scrapbooks of images and nuggets of history that Mosley knew nothing about. 'Joshua showed me a letter to Mosley from his mother where she compares him to the Messiah,' he told Time magazine. 'That's a strange little insight into his psychology that I won't forget.' As he points out, however, the main focus of the series is on the siblings. The Mitfords were aristocrats whose feet were firmly planted in another era; the paterfamilias, the second Baron Redesdale, was a huntin'-and-shootin' dictator notable for mismanaging the family finances so badly they were forced to keep renting out their country house and moving into ever smaller London flats. There would be no more money; Outrageous is, among other themes, about the dramatic decline of the landed gentry. A decision was made, however, to abandon the dialect of their class, long in vowels and clipped in consonants, which is – remarkably – now entirely obsolete. 'We wouldn't sound relatable if they spoke as they really did,' says Shannon Watson, who plays Unity. 'It was as if they had speech impediments.' A dialect coach brought them into line with each other. 'The point isn't how they spoke,' says Carter. 'The point is what they did in their lives.' This series finishes in 1937 – Mosley and Williams are hoping to make a second and possibly a third – when supposedly no one knew quite how monstrous the Nazi and Italian Fascist regimes were. News was filtering through, however, even to their country pile, thanks to Jessica's monitoring of radical literature. Their arguments are disquieting. 'I had lines where Diana said she was told about concentration camps, but it was Germany's business and she didn't intend to get embroiled in it,' says Vanderham. 'I found it very difficult to say those lines. I couldn't even learn them.' Loading This dark seam runs through their story; the family, split down the middle within their little bubble of privilege, is a microcosm of a divided society. 'I think at the heart of the series, it asks: can you love a family member and despise their politics?' says Carter. 'And I think that is the relevant point of the series. Here were six sisters who were repetitively told they weren't allowed to be educated, they had no role in society other than being a wife and mother and they said, 'I don't want that.' And I suppose, when you don't listen to people, you make them feel voiceless – and the voiceless will then go somewhere and scream louder.' Outrageous, as the name suggests, is as much froth as it is about trouble. The Mitfords were fascinating, surmises Mosley, as women 'who all, for better or worse, took their destinies into their hands and made their own fate'. But they were also funny. There are 17,000 letters written between them. 'If you read any of them, you get the sense immediately that humour was the lifeblood of this family, it's how they all related to each other.' Those intimate exchanges set the tone: there is the shadow of war, but there is also one sister kicking another under the dining table and giggling. 'And to me, that reflects life as it is,' says Moseley. 'It's never all one thing.'
The Age
22-07-2025
- Entertainment
- The Age
The wild true story of the infamous Mitford sisters comes to life
Mitford fans recognise each other; they're the people in any bookshop hovering by the M shelf, picking up anything new about the endlessly fascinating Mitford sisters. A rabble of uneducated but dazzlingly posh girls, the six Mitford sisters (and their one brother) grew up between the wars in a succession of English country houses, raising bizarre animals, swapping cutting witticisms in languages they invented and pursuing whatever interests they could drum up in the absence of schooling. They were also scandalous. A century later, their fans remain legion. Twenty-five years ago, scriptwriter and Mitford fan Sarah Williams read a new biography of the family by Mary Lovell, The Mitford Girls. Episodic television was entering its golden phase. This was surely perfect material: extraordinary, racy and real. 'Then she wrote a pitch and had no luck whatsoever,' says Matthew Mosley, executive producer of new series Outrageous. 'We met her, three or four years ago, and said, 'We'd love to work with you; what story do you want to tell?'' The true story of the Mitfords, of course. Outrageous covers the sisters' volcanic lives up to 1937. Two of them – Diana and Unity – became prominent Fascists. Diana, having been known in the social pages as the most beautiful woman in England, was renamed 'the most hated woman in England' after she left her wealthy husband for Oswald Mosley, leader of the Blackshirts. Unity persuaded her parents to send her to finishing school in Munich, where she made it her business to find and befriend the Fuhrer. Jessica became a Communist and eventually a prominent journalist in the United States. Pamela became a gentlewoman farmer; Deborah married well and was known henceforth as the Duchess of Devonshire. Nancy, the eldest, turned their lives into comic novels – Love in a Cold Climate and The Pursuit of Love are the classics – that have never been out of print. What is remarkable is they were raised under one roof and were fiercely devoted to each other – mostly, anyway – but headed in such different directions. Loading 'They were so isolated. They were so isolated,' reflects Bessie Carter, who plays Nancy. She is not only the leading character, but provides snatches of wry voiceover tying the drama together; we see their world through her eyes. 'They were like this tribe in the countryside who weren't allowed to go to school and weren't really allowed to socialise, so they were really sort of starved of social connection. They only had each other and I suppose if you have siblings, if one sibling goes one way you probably want to go the other way just to spite them. There's that kind of dynamic, which I think then played out on a global scale.' Coincidentally, Carter has history with Nancy Mitford; a few years ago, she was chosen to read The Pursuit of Love as an audiobook. Television viewers may know her as Prudence Featherington in Bridgerton; she has a voice and face that fit easily into past times. One of the great things about Outrageous, she says, is that she didn't have to wear a corset. 'We were very much in an era where women could wear trousers. And I was lucky with Nancy; she was a lot more Bohemian in what she wore when juxtaposed with Diana, who is … like a steely swan.' Joanna Vanderham, who plays Diana, is often seen in evening dress. 'I was so uncomfortable. I had to have help going to the bathroom,' she says. Producer Matthew Mosley has history of a different kind with this material. He is Oswald Mosley's great-grandson, descended from the British Union of Fascists leader's first marriage. Mosley never met his great-grandfather – he died before he was born – but grew up with that knowledge. 'I've always been honest about it, because it's important to acknowledge things that happened and that are still happening,' he says. Loading Even so, it was a shock to find himself working on a series in which his disgraced ancestor was a major character. 'There was a moment of thinking, 'Oh goodness this is a very strange scenario,'' he says. 'But I loved working with Sarah, I loved her writing and her take on the story, I found it so immersive.' The situation came to feel normal, with only odd moments making him gasp. 'Seeing the amazing Joshua Sasse step out on set in all his hair and make-up as Oswald Mosley and give that performance: it was surreal to be in that position,' he remembers. Sasse threw himself into research, collecting scrapbooks of images and nuggets of history that Mosley knew nothing about. 'Joshua showed me a letter to Mosley from his mother where she compares him to the Messiah,' he told Time magazine. 'That's a strange little insight into his psychology that I won't forget.' As he points out, however, the main focus of the series is on the siblings. The Mitfords were aristocrats whose feet were firmly planted in another era; the paterfamilias, the second Baron Redesdale, was a huntin'-and-shootin' dictator notable for mismanaging the family finances so badly they were forced to keep renting out their country house and moving into ever smaller London flats. There would be no more money; Outrageous is, among other themes, about the dramatic decline of the landed gentry. A decision was made, however, to abandon the dialect of their class, long in vowels and clipped in consonants, which is – remarkably – now entirely obsolete. 'We wouldn't sound relatable if they spoke as they really did,' says Shannon Watson, who plays Unity. 'It was as if they had speech impediments.' A dialect coach brought them into line with each other. 'The point isn't how they spoke,' says Carter. 'The point is what they did in their lives.' This series finishes in 1937 – Mosley and Williams are hoping to make a second and possibly a third – when supposedly no one knew quite how monstrous the Nazi and Italian Fascist regimes were. News was filtering through, however, even to their country pile, thanks to Jessica's monitoring of radical literature. Their arguments are disquieting. 'I had lines where Diana said she was told about concentration camps, but it was Germany's business and she didn't intend to get embroiled in it,' says Vanderham. 'I found it very difficult to say those lines. I couldn't even learn them.' Loading This dark seam runs through their story; the family, split down the middle within their little bubble of privilege, is a microcosm of a divided society. 'I think at the heart of the series, it asks: can you love a family member and despise their politics?' says Carter. 'And I think that is the relevant point of the series. Here were six sisters who were repetitively told they weren't allowed to be educated, they had no role in society other than being a wife and mother and they said, 'I don't want that.' And I suppose, when you don't listen to people, you make them feel voiceless – and the voiceless will then go somewhere and scream louder.' Outrageous, as the name suggests, is as much froth as it is about trouble. The Mitfords were fascinating, surmises Mosley, as women 'who all, for better or worse, took their destinies into their hands and made their own fate'. But they were also funny. There are 17,000 letters written between them. 'If you read any of them, you get the sense immediately that humour was the lifeblood of this family, it's how they all related to each other.' Those intimate exchanges set the tone: there is the shadow of war, but there is also one sister kicking another under the dining table and giggling. 'And to me, that reflects life as it is,' says Moseley. 'It's never all one thing.'
The Herald Scotland
03-06-2025
- Politics
- The Herald Scotland
Holyrood's elite has created conditions for rise of great Reform con
Among those who rushed to condemn her for belonging to a church that believes marriage is a sacrament reserved for a man and a woman was John Swinney, her SNP colleague of long standing. Yet Mr Swinney is happy to bring up his children in the Catholic tradition, having had his first marriage annulled so that he could marry again in the Catholic Church. I have questions. Doesn't Mr Swinney know that the Catholic Church also teaches that marriage is reserved for the union of a man and a woman? Feminists who, in the course of many decades, had fought for women's rights, found that they too were branded Fascists and bigots because they opposed biological men gaining access to their private spaces. The five Supreme Court judges who have now clarified this position in law are also bigots, according to Holyrood's Deputy Convenor of its Equalities committee, as is the European Human Rights Commission who endorsed the judges' ruling. She remains in her post. Read more It's not enough now merely to disagree or criticise: only Fascism will do. For, once you've been so labelled it becomes easier to remove you from your post if you work in Scotland's public omni-sector. For the record, I don't believe anyone in Scottish public life is a Fascist. I don't see people who believe in a one-party state or who are in favour of establishing a quasi-military police force reinforced by extra-judicial powers. What I have seen in the devolved era is a civic belief system that's been established by stealth and carefully nurtured by special interest groups which work against the interests and traditions of a majority of Scottish people, especially those belonging to working-class communities. I believe also that the SNP, Scotland's eternal party of government, has been gate-crashed by groups and individuals who care little for independence, except as providing cover for their own illiberal agendas. These range from the policy of placing violent men in women's prisons and imposing pronouns in the workplace to backing the NATO military alliance whose ruinous diplomacy has brought us to the brink of war with Russia. It includes indulging the Scottish Greens, whose clumsy attempts to impose climatism on the population has cost us many millions of pounds and speak of an underlying loathing for working class people who insist on clinging to their old, unsustainable ways. What's much more worrying is what has emerged in the course of devolved era. This is the emergence of a sprawling, a-political class who proceed on a gaseous and shape-shifting suite of values and ethics. They swirl and churn endlessly in a vortex of slogans, mission statements and labels, but never land. Kate Forbes received criticism for her deeply-held religious views (Image: Jeff J Mitchell) They don't believe in anything substantial beyond a collective credo of no-belief and no-value. The Scottish National Party no longer believes in independence; the Scottish Greens have subordinated stewardship of the natural environment to identity politics; the Labour Party are softening up the populace to prepare for global war by spending billions on more weapons of mass destruction and the Liberal Democrats have a leader who was last seen getting heated about Holyrood's toilet arrangements. Devolution has delivered a class of politicians who, quite literally, stand for nothing more than getting elected again. For an all-consuming void like this to have settled on the highest offices in the land, two major mechanisms are required. One is the establishment of a system of patronage so vast that its machinery reaches in to every public office in the land. It's why a country with a population of 5.5m is governed by an administration employing almost 30 ministers with a portfolio of 32 local authorities. We have become a panjandrum nation. These are reinforced by a vast lobbying sector that didn't exist before 1999. Their task has been to create a civic/entrepreneurial organism kept alive by fat public contracts. Experience, skill and cost-effectiveness count for little in this sector unless you agree to sign up to Holyrood's cultural agenda. Even so, this in itself wouldn't be sufficient for such a metastasis to have occurred. For that, you require slowly to eliminate dissenting voices and monitor the smart people and their smart thoughts. For 20 years or so, this was easily concealed and public trust was maintained. In the Sturgeon/Swinney era though, there's been a quickening, so that cabinet posts are now occupied by a cohort of barely-literate fools promoted well beyond their paltry abilities on the proviso that they keep their mouths and their minds shut. Read more The great Holyrood toilet debate was one of those rare occasions when we got to glimpse the full reality. This is what happens when you pursue an internal policy of forcibly removing talent and replacing them with mediocrity. It's the political equivalent of consanguinity. Most recently it's been evident in a multi-million-pound recovery mega-structure formed by a handful of superannuated public agencies. Their task has been to sell the lie that the political elites give a single flying toss about poor people dying in their thousands, not of addiction, but raw, grinding poverty. For the first time, I sense that this is cutting through to the Scottish public, a development that the political elite have worked hard to prevent. When this happens it's inevitable that a party proclaiming fake everyman values such as Reform would come to exploit the situation. No matter what happens at the Hamilton, Stonehouse and Larkhall by-election on Thursday, Scotland will be the losers. Kevin McKenna is a Herald writer and columnist and Scottish Feature Writer of the Year.
New York Post
25-04-2025
- New York Post
‘Delulu for Lulu': Inside the circus at Luigi Mangione's court hearing — where supporters want to be heard, but not seen
The Luigi Mangione fangirls started lining up Thursday night to secure a spot in the courtroom and see the deranged alleged murderer plead 'not guilty' in person Friday. Not that many of the 20 or so supporters would speak to the press. Most wore Covid masks, along with hoods and shades — anything to obscure their identities. A pair of young women, looking like radical-chic versions of Jackie O, donned printed silk scarves over their heads and oversized sunglasses. 9 The line of Luigi Mangione supporters outside of 40 Centre Street Friday. Some had camped out overnight. James Keivom One gal whined that she didn't want her employer to see her in any photos. When trying to engage with these people, I was met with death stares. The lone man in the gaggle told me to 'move on.' They want to be counted, but not identified. That's conviction for you. John McIntosh, who was fifth in line to get into the courthouse at 40 Centre Street, spent the night outside — hoping to sell his prime spot to a desperate Luigi fan for $350. No takers. 'I should have dropped the price to $50,' he said. 9 Chelsea Manning lined up with supporters of Luigi Mangione outside the federal courthouse in Manhattan. James Keivom 9 A fan of Luigi Mangione toted a sign but refused to give interviews about her support of the alleged murderer. James Keivom Chelsea Manning, who served time for giving classified US military documents to WikiLeaks, was on hand, wearing a pinstriped suit and tie and waiting patiently. Manning, who also showed up at a previous Mangione hearing, declined to give an interview and would only say, 'I'm here as a citizen … I'm here to observe court proceedings.' Then a protest, organized by the activist group People over Profit, broke out in opposition to prosecutors filing a notice Thursday night about seeking the death penalty in the case. A woman dressed like Luigi from 'Super Mario Brothers' paraded around smiling — until any journalist asked a question. 'No interviews!' she barked. 9 An artist who goes by Chaos V traveled from New Hampshire to perform her original song, 'Delulu for Lulu' last week. Kirsten Fleming/NY Post Nadine Seiler came from Maryland to hold a banner spray painted with the message 'Luigi before Fascists.' Yoel Friedman, an Orthodox Jewish man from Monroe, New York, wore a sign across his back that read 'Deny Delay Depose' and advertised his website. 'I support Luigi…He did the right thing. He opened the eyes of the people to talk about this,' Friedman said, meaning health insurance. When asked if the murder of United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson was justified, he said 'Yes.' Chilling words, even on a sunny spring day. Thompson was not only murdered in cold blood but, in death, the father of two is being vilified over and over like he was healthcare's Hitler, systematically and intentionally killing people from his corner office. 9 Yoel Friedman traveled from Monroe, New York, to support Liugi Mangione. James Keivom 'These are good people, smart people,' said artist Jarva Land, who showed up to sketch Mangione's fans — and, hopefully, his eyebrows — in court. 'These are people you want participating in democracy and justice in our country. They're not crazy fangirls, and maybe they're going to change the world.' I believe they already have, by endorsing the execution of the powerful. Where does the justification stop? Last Friday, a handful of fans also showed up at the courthouse even though Mangione's appearance had been canceled. One, a New Hampshire resident who called herself Chaos V, put on an impromptu concert to perform her original song, 'Delulu for Lu Lu.' 9 Luigi Mangione, seen here in February, appeared in court Friday on federal charges in the murder of Brian Thompson. He also faces state charges. AP 'I hope he's locked up with me,' she sang. 'And they throw away the key.' It was written, she told me, while she laid in a hospital bed with an unspecified stomach issue. She believes women aren't treated well by the medical industry. 'Murder is not just, obviously, but I really can't feel that bad when you are killing that many people,' she said. She denied Mangione's looks inspired her techno masterpiece, but her friend interjected to add that other fans 'think he's hot. Just saying.' The accused's looks are a sensitive subject all around. I was approached by a 26-year-old California native, who was eager to speak but not on the record. She was disheartened by the media calling Mangione supporters love-struck ladies. 9 Nadine Seiler traveled from Maryland to support Luigi Mangione, saying, 'I don't condone him killig anybody but I do say what he did brought light to what is going on in the healthcare system.' James Keivom 9 Some supporters held signs featuring quotes from Mangione. James Keivom 'I'm a lesbian,' she said. 'I don't care about his looks.' It's his actions that have sparked an overdue conversation, she added. She asked if I felt that peaceful protest was the answer, and I said yes. Then she hit me with it: 'I've been a climate activist since I was 15, and nothing has changed.' That's the thing. A large portion of young Americans — through schools, social media and the celebrities they follow — have been fed a steady diet of injustice porn. And sold activism as salvation. They saw a young Greta Thunberg exalted. They were promised urgent results if only they spoke up and organized. 9 'I hope he's locked up with me,' Chaos V sang outside the courthouse last week. 'And they throw away the key.' Kirsten Fleming/NY Post While this girl was polite, curious and even sweet, I found her words as disturbing as Mr. Friedman's. Yes, there are real issues in the healthcare system that need to be addressed. But this is a dangerous mindset, to believe that, when people cannot be swayed with reason, pivoting to violence is not only justified — it's righteous. To believe that the powers that be will bend at the threat of bloodshed. That's not democracy, that's terrorism.
25-04-2025
1 killed and 2 injured as driver loses control during a parade in an Italian town
ROME -- A man was killed and two women injured when a driver lost control of his car in Italy's central town of Lanciano on Friday during celebrations for Italy's 80th Liberation Day, local media and rescuers said. The driver, an 80-year-old man, reportedly fell ill before hitting the crowd, firefighters said. An investigation was underway. An 81-year-old man died immediately after being hit by the car, while two women were injured and transferred to the hospital, local media reported. Italy celebrates its Liberation Day, known as 'Festa della Liberazione,' with a national public holiday on April 25. In addition to the closure of schools, public offices and most shops, the day is marked with parades and demonstrations across the country. The accident in Lanciano happened at the end of the local parade organized by ANPI, the Italian partisans' association that preserves the memory of the Resistance movement against the Fascists. The ceremonies are held in commemoration of the end of the Fascist rule and the Nazi occupation during World War II, as well as the victory of Italy's partisans movement. This year the 80th anniversary of the liberation coincides with the five-day period of national mourning for the death of Pope Francis, with the right-wing government urging organizers to carry out celebrations with due 'sobriety.'
