Although it is based on Mary S. Lovell's biography of the Mitford family, this new drama "could easily be mistaken for a work of fiction", said Megan Bull in the Radio Times. The aristocratic Mitford sisters (Nancy, Diana, Decca, Pamela, Deborah and Unity) were almost implausibly "outrageous", and their antics – political and romantic – enthralled the public in the 1930s.
Narrated by Nancy (Bessie Carter), the series traces the family's fortunes from the Wall Street crash to the eve of the Second World War, by which point Diana (Joanna Vanderham) had eloped with Oswald Mosley, while Unity (Shannon Watson) had become a devotee of Adolf Hitler. The series is full of "fun, fashion and froth", but it also poses a serious question: "Could you stand by your family, no matter what?"
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