Men with power, girls with money. Tale as old as time, etc, but never too old to be given a 21st century feminist gussying up.This expensive-looking adaptation of Edith Wharton’s unfinished final novel, which follows the fortunes of a group of young, rich, ambitious American women in the 1870s as they navigate the piranha-infested waters of the English upper classes, has been described already as “Bridgerton-esque” (as is henceforth to be the fate of any lavish, diversely cast period drama) and it certainly owes some of its spirit to that behemoth. The series’ creator and showrunner, Katherine Jakeways, has her origins in comedy, and she fronts an all-female creative team, including BAFTA–winning director Susanna White (Jane Eyre, Andor) and producer Beth Willis (Help, Ashes to Ashes).
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NewsTranscript
00:00 Girls, here is to marriages, men, parties.
00:04 Not particularly in that order.
00:06 Oh!
00:07 But darlings, we always converse.
00:09 [MUSIC - "LONDON, LONDON"]
00:12 For certain girls of refinement,
00:14 New York has become too limited.
00:16 I quite agree.
00:17 I insist that I invite you and your daughters to London.
00:21 London.
00:23 London, London.
00:24 For the debutante's ball.
00:25 [MUSIC - "LONDON, LONDON"]
00:28 For Americans, they're all new money.
00:30 And I'm quite sure they'll be frightful.
00:32 We must just grit our teeth and think
00:34 of the bucket loads of cash.
00:36 Here is to a new world.
00:39 Shoulders back, head high.
00:41 Be fearless.
00:43 Sorry.
00:43 Sorry.
00:44 I'm Nan.
00:45 Welcome, fresh from New York.
00:47 Imagine a whirlwind romance with a handsome English lord.
00:51 Of course you have no interest at all in being admired.
00:54 I can admire myself, can't I?
00:56 [MUSIC - "LONDON, LONDON"]
01:02 They're like cattle.
01:03 Rather harsh.
01:04 I think they're all lovely.
01:05 Yes, they are lovely.
01:06 But they're also human beings who are funny and smart.
01:09 Girls I generally meet don't think or talk so freely.
01:11 Or so passionately.
01:14 Imagine not realizing you're in the presence of a duke.
01:18 Is this-- are you--
01:19 What?
01:20 [MUSIC - "LONDON, LONDON"]
01:24 Give me one good reason why you couldn't be a duchess.
01:26 I can't possibly--
01:27 What actually is a duchess?
01:28 [MUSIC - "LONDON, LONDON"]
01:31 This is Guy Flaught, my oldest friend.
01:33 You've met Nan?
01:35 Yes.
01:36 [MUSIC - "LONDON, LONDON"]
01:40 She moves in such an unexpected way.
01:43 Have you noticed?
01:44 Yeah.
01:45 [MUSIC - "LONDON, LONDON"]
01:50 Girls are taught that if a story isn't a love story,
01:53 it's a tragedy.
01:54 [MUSIC - "LONDON, LONDON"]
01:56 Well, we have us.
02:00 And what if this is our love story?
02:02 [MUSIC - "LONDON, LONDON"]
02:08 Goodness, what a lady you are.
02:09 All I've ever wanted to be.
02:11 [MUSIC - "LONDON, LONDON"]
02:14 [BLANK_AUDIO]