Tamal Kundu
‘A Very British Scandal’ season 2 has reportedly been confirmed and begins filming in September 2023 in London, England. It will potentially be the third entry in the ‘Scandal’ miniseries after 2018’s ‘A Very English Scandal’ and ‘A Very British Scandal.’ Written by Sarah Phelps (‘Dublin Murders’) and directed by Anne Sewitsky (‘Homesick’), the BBC One and Amazon Studios period drama series revolves around the tumultuous real-life marriage between Margaret Campbell, Duchess of Argyll, and Ian Campbell, 11th Duke of Argyll, depicting their eventually messy divorce and the media frenzy around it. The three-episode series originally aired between December 26 and December 28, 2021, on BBC One in the UK before it became available outside the country on April 22, 2022, on Prime Video.
Blueprint Pictures, the production house behind ‘A Very British Scandal,’ previously developed ‘A Very English Scandal,’ offering a dramatized rendition of the Thorpe affair. In January 2023, it was reported that BBC and Blueprint Pictures were developing another strand of ‘A Very English Scandal,’ and unlike the previous renditions, which were set in the 1960s and 1970s, this one would be a retelling of the “Wagatha Christie” events.
The unusual phrase is a portmanteau between WAG and the name of crime-fiction author Agatha Christie and a popularised term denoting the dispute between Rebekah Vardy, English media personality and wife of English football player Jamie Vardy, and Coleen Rooney, former television personality and wife of former English footballer Wayne Rooney. After Rooney accused Vardy of leaking Instagram posts from her private account to the British tabloid newspaper The Sun, the latter filed a 2022 libel case against her in the English High Court.
It is unclear whether this “Wagatha Christie” project is the second season of ‘A Very British Scandal’ or a separate continuation of the Claire Foy and Paul Bettany-starrer is in development. Screenwriter Rose Lewenstein (‘On the Edge’) is reportedly involved in the development of the “Wagatha Christie.” According to the reports, the yet-to-be-titled third entry in the ‘Scandal’ series was one of the several stories that were being considered for potential development and there was a possibility that the series would not get made. The reports mentioned that Amazon Studios, which was involved in the production of the first two limited series, wasn’t seemingly part of the development of the third one at the time.
The “Wagatha Christie” incident garnered widespread media attention and has previously been adapted for Channel 4’s ‘Vardy v Rooney: A Courtroom Drama,’ starring Natalia Tena as Vardy and Chanel Cresswell as Roony. There was also a West-End production, ‘Vardy v Rooney: The Wagatha Christie Trial,’ and a two-part TV documentary, ‘Vardy vs Rooney: The Wagatha Trial.’
As the casting is yet to be announced, it is not clear whether the actors’ and writers’ strikes in America will impact this predominantly British production. We can expect more updates on these matters in the coming months.
Read More: Where Was A Very British Scandal Filmed?
