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BritBox’s latest series, Outrageous, delves into the lives of Britain’s most controversial sisters, the Mitfords. From the 1930s onward, the Mitford siblings captured the public’s attention in the UK through their divisive politics, startling beliefs, and connections to high society. The peculiar aspect about the Mitfords is that individuals, especially Americans, tend to either be very familiar with them or not know them at all.
“I believe people are split into two groups: those who know a lot about them and those who know nothing. Embarrassingly, I was in the latter group,” shared Outrageous star Joanna Vanderham with DECIDER. “Getting involved in the show allowed me to thoroughly explore their story through research.”
Outrageous draws inspiration from Mary Lovell’s book, The Mitford Sisters, which aims to explore the personalities beyond their notorious labels: “Diana the Fascist, Jessica the Communist, Unity the Hitler-lover; Nancy the Novelist; Deborah the Duchess and Pamela the unobtrusive poultry connoisseur,” as described by Ben Macintyre in his 2008 review of a recent collection of their letters.
Both the new BritBox show and Lovell’s book attempt to explore how the Mitfords could all have the same upper class upbringing and come out so differently. It’s not just that these siblings disagreed on foreign policy; they were figureheads for their causes, even if it pitted them against one another in dangerous, deadly ways.
“I mean like when you read Mary Lovell’s book, you’re like, ‘What the hell?’” Outrageous star Bessie Carter said, before spilling some major life events for the sisters that the BritBox show’s first season doesn’t come close to covering.
“There’s so much,” she said. “So hopefully none of that is spoilers because it’s all like in the internet.”
Details of the Mitford siblings’ lives and deaths are indeed all over the internet, but we’re willing to bet you don’t want to go on a scholastic deep dive while trying to enjoy Outrageous. You’re just going to want help keeping all of these British siblings straight.
To that end, we’ve pulled together a cast guide for the Mitford siblings in BritBox’s Outrageous. We’ve done our best to include their silly nicknames, where they land in the family’s birth order, and where you have or haven’t seen the actors playing them before. We even dropped a bit of historical context for what the siblings are most famous or infamous for. (Minor spoilers for history, but we think it helps keep them straight!)
Here’s your guide to who’s who in the cast of Outrageous…
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Bessie Carter as Nancy Mitford
Photo: BritBox Nicknames: Nonce
(In)Famous For: Nancy Mitford was a witty novelist, known for her ability to skewer her own class.
Birth Order: Nancy was the eldest Mitford
Where You’ve Seen Bessie Carter Before: Bessie Carter is best-known for playing the eldest Featherington sister, Prudence, in Bridgerton. She’s currently co-starring opposite her real life mother, Imelda Staunton, in Mrs. Warren’s Profession on the West End. You can follow her on Instagram @missbessb.
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Isobel Jesper Jones as Pamela Mitford
Photo: BritBox Nicknames: Woman, Womb
(In)Famous For: Being the “farmer” of the family, interested in keeping the country part of the country estate going.
Birth Order: Second oldest
Where You’ve Seen Isobel Jesper Jones Before: Isobel Jesper Jones recently went toe-to-toe with Samantha Morton’s Catherine de Medici in The Serpent Queen Season 2 and was the mean rich girl who fixed the Hunger Games so that Rachel Zegler’s Lucy Gray Baird was sent to the Capitol in The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes. You can follow her on Instagram @jesperjones.
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Toby Regbo as Thomas Mitford
Photo: BritBox Nicknames: Tom
(In)Famous For: Being the lone boy amongst the siblings
Birth Order: Thirdborn child, only boy, barely matters. (We kid, but do we?)
Where You’ve Seen Toby Regbo Before: Toby Regbo is something of a period drama favorite, having starred in Reign, The Last Kingdom, and Belgravia: The Next Chapter. You can follow him on Instagram @tobyregbo.
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Joanna Vanderham as Diana Mitford
Photo: BritBox Nicknames: Nod, Honks (“And I’m like what did she do to get called ‘Honks’?” — Joanna Vanderham to DECIDER.)
(In)Famous For: Diana blew up her respectable marriage to Sir Bryan Guinness to carry on an affair with the head of the British fascists, Oswald Mosley.
Birth Order: Diana is the middle child, born after brother Tom.
Where You’ve Seen Joanna Vanderham Before: Joanna Vanderham played country girl Denise Lovett in PBS’s The Paradise, the 2013 Masterpiece show about the first British department store. More recently, she starred in the MAX show, Warrior. You can follow her on Instagram @joannavanderhamofficial.
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Shannon Watson as Unity Mitford
Photo: BritBox Nicknames: Bobo, Boud ( “I mean ours was ‘Boud,’ but it was because of Boudledidge, which was our secret language.” — Zoe Brough to DECIDER on Unity and Decca’s shared nickname.)
(In)Famous For: Like, Diana, Unity became obsessed with fascism. However, where Diana was in love with a British fascist, Unity was fixated on Hitler and Nazi Germany. If there’s a weirdo on this show railing about Hitler, that’s Unity!
Birth Order: Fifth of the seven children.
Where You’ve Seen Shannon Watson Before: Outrageous marks recent drama school grad Shannon Watson’s first major TV turn. (She has a blink and you’ll miss it part in last fall’s FX drama Say Nothing.) You can follow her on Instagram @coloursinsea.
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Zoe Brough as Jessica Mitford
Photo: BritBox Nicknames: Decca, Boud
(In)Famous For: Jessica was the most liberal member of the family, an avowed Communist, and investigative journalist. She coincidentally shared a room with the family Nazi as a girl.
Birth Order: Second youngest, born in between Unity and Deborah.
Where You’ve Seen Zoe Brough Before: Zoe Brough has been working in London theater since childhood, appearing in The Nether and Bugsy Malone. She also just finished a guest stint on Casualty and starred in the short film, Porcelain. You can follow her on Instagram @zoeeebrough.
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Orla Hill as Deborah Mitford
Photo: BritBox Nicknames: Debo
(In)Famous For: Her story doesn’t really kickstart until far after the events of Outrageous Season 1. She will eventually become the Duchess of Devonshire, taking on the restoration of Chatsworth House (aka Pemberley in 2005’s Pride & Prejudice).
Birth Order: Youngest Mitford sibling
Where You’ve Seen Orla Hill Before: Orla Hill has appeared in Swallows and Amazons, Stonehouse, and A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder. You can follow her on Instagram @orlamfhill.
