A Very British Scandal continued with episode two tonight (Monday December 27 2021) – but what happened in the dramatic instalment?
The second episode left us with plenty of questions about the Duchess of Argyll and her extremely volatile husband, the Duke.
Here are the urgent questions we want answering after watching the second part of period drama A Very British Scandal on BBC One.
***Warning: spoilers from episode two ahead***
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A Very British Scandal episode two: What does V mean in Margaret’s diary?
During episode two of A Very British Scandal, viewers see Margaret have a violent flashback to when she suffered a horrific fall.
Margaret had 30 stitches in her head in 1943, after she fell 40ft down a lift-shaft.
Her olfactory nerve was damaged and she lost all sense of taste and smell.
But immediately after the flashback, Margaret picks up her diary and writes a small V in one entry.
In later scenes, her husband Ian breaks into her desk and finds her diary.
He sees several V’s jotted down in her diary – but what did it mean?
Would she be silly enough to take a note of illicit encounters or when she was unfaithful to her husband?
It is now popularly accepted as gospel that Margaret rated her supposed lovers’ performance in those diaries.
Or could the supposed confessional diaries simply be appointment books where she would list the name and time she was meeting someone for lunch, tea, drinks, or dinner?
Who was in the Polaroid photos?
Of course, Ian also found some very incriminating photos while ransacking his wife’s desk.
He famously found Polaroid’s of Margaret performing fellatio on another man.
In the snap, she’s seen wearing nothing else apart from a string of pearls at her Mayfair flat.
The photos were eventually used in evidence against Margaret during the divorce proceedings with her husband, the Duke.
At the time, the identity of the so-called Headless Man was never revealed – although it was suspected to be a prominent politician.
It is now widely accepted that the man was Bill Lyons, the sales director of Pan American Airlines and the descendant of a wealthy family.
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A Very British Scandal episode two: Why on EARTH did Margaret keep the Polaroids?
It’s baffling to think that Margaret kept the Polaroid photos.
Why would you keep such incriminating evidence when you had so much to lose?
We get that she liked looking at them, and wanted a memento of her sex act, but couldn’t she have chosen a better hiding place?
Especially knowing how temperamental and paranoid her husband was.
The Polaroids were her downfall, but they needn’t have been!
Of course, Ian Campbell – aka the Duke – probably cheated on Margaret too, but he wasn’t foolish enough to leave evidence lying around!
Was Ian Campbell just a gold-digger?
While Margaret does appear to love Ian just a little bit – well, she did care for him when he was detoxing – the same cannot be said of the Duke.
In fact, he appears to ONLY be interested in Margaret’s money.
Or rather, Margaret’s dad’s money.
Early in episode two, Ian’s ex-wife Janet warns Margaret that he’ll chew her up and spit her out.
As a friendly warning, she says: “Ian took everything I had and then he left me for Oui Oui and took everything she had.
“And when the money runs out, which it will, he’ll do the same to you.”
When Ian asks Margaret for more money, and she says no, he becomes crazed and tries to throttle her.
Obviously his addiction to drugs and alcohol didn’t help matters, either.
A Very British Scandal episode two: Would she really buy a baby?
During episode two of A Very British Scandal, Margaret asks her friend if she can “buy her a baby boy”.
You’d think it was a joke, but Margaret was dead serious.
After her doctor (played by comedian Miles Jupp) told her it’s unlikely she’ll bear more children, Margaret became desperate to provide Ian a heir (and, in turn, her claim to Inveraray Castle).
The scene once again proved that the Duchess is used to getting what she wants – by whatever means necessary.
And while we’re on the subject, where the HELL are her two children from her first marriage?
They haven’t been seen or spoken of since episode one!
In reality, Margaret had three children with Charles Francis Sweeny.
Tragically, she had a daughter, who was stillborn at eight month.
She also suffered eight miscarriages.
Actress Claire Foy portrays the Duchess brilliantly in this three-part adaptation.
A Very British Scandal episode two: Why did Margaret’s father marry again without telling his daughter?
As we piece together more and more about Margaret’s character and what made her tick, her father’s influence becomes apparent.
In episode one, we saw Margaret’s disabled mother being unnecessarily cruel to her daughter.
However, in episode two, her dad gets remarried just weeks after his wife’s death – and doesn’t invite his daughter!
That must have hurt immeasurably.
During their divorce proceedings, Margaret even accused the Duke of having an affair with her young stepmother.
However, she withdrew the claims.
Margaret’s stepmother Jane sued her for libel, slander and conspiracy to suborn perjury.
She accepting £25,000 in settlement, in spite of Margaret’s refusal to apologise, although she could have pushed for a jail sentence.
A Very British Scandal concludes on Tuesday December 28 2021 at 9pm on BBC One. Episode one and two are currently on BBC iPlayer.
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