Harlots goes straight to series 2 double bill

The first series of period drama Harlots came to an end last week – but the good news is that BBC2 is going straight into the second season with another double bill.

Just in case you haven’t seen the previous episodes, Harlots follows brothel owner Margaret Wells (Samantha Morton) as she and her family try to move up in 18th-century London society – and deal with ruthless rival madam Lydia Quigley (Lesley Manville).

The characters may be fictional, but the world they move in is very real, as Manville discovered when she began researching her role.

The actress, whose previous credits include the acclaimed sitcom Mum and an Oscar-nominated performance in Phantom Thread, explains: “I started to read up on the period.

“There are some fantastic books about Georgian England, prostitution and what the impact of it was on that period. So much of London was built on the profits of prostitution. One in five women were prostitutes during that time.

“That was an amazing statistic, and it was happening at all levels of society.”

However, Manville can understand why that’s not an aspect of Georgian life that many other dramas have chosen to dwell on.

She says: “Maybe as time has gone on, their stories are probably not ones you want to advertise particularly. And history does have a way of trying to eliminate negative stories.

“That’s been the case in all echelons of society. The stuff you would like to be forgotten.”

However, she points out that whether we like it or not, it did shape the city of London: “You really can’t ignore what an industry this was – it was huge. Streets like Greek Street in Soho were built so they could be brothel houses until the builders would find somebody to sell them on to and make huge profits.”

It wasn’t just the opportunity to delve into an underexplored area of history that drew Manville to the role of Lydia Quigley. She says: “Lydia has a strange dual personality. Alongside all of the horrendous things she does, she is a great wit and entertainer.

“Very quick and also evil. It’s been a delight to play her, in that it’s quite theatrical, there’s a theatricality about Lydia, and hopefully I’ve hit the right level with it. Because some of it demanded a theatricality.”

She adds: “Lydia is a formidable force of nature. I have genuinely adored playing her.

“Although some scenes have been rather unpleasant to play. But the scenes I’ve loved remind me of being in a restoration play at the National Theatre.”

Lydia will certainly have to put on an award-winning performance in the opener when she finds herself in court facing the newly appointed Justice Hunt. She shouldn’t expect much support from Margaret and Nancy, who are busy trying to find people to give evidence against her.

But Margaret does have problems of her own as her marriage crumbles and she grows suspicious of Harriet.

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