'That started with a bang in every sense!': BBC viewers are stunned by raunchy new drama Harlots about brothels in 18th century London - featuring sex in broad daylight and Fleabag's Hugh Skinner in a VERY racy role
- BBC2 re-aired bawdy drama which originally broadcast in 2017 on ITV encore
- Featured scenes of topless women wandering London and racy sex sequences
- Stars Jessica Brown Findlay, Eloise Smyth, Samantha Morton and Hugh Skinner
- Viewers praised the drama racy drama for its humour and sex scenes, but some said it wasn't historically accurate as the actors were all well kept
Viewers have praised raunchy new BBC2 drama Harlots, which details the booming sex industry of 18th century London.
The first episode of the bawdy show, which originally aired on ITV Empire in 2017, followed the lives of feuding madams Margaret Wells (Samantha Morton) and Lydia Quigley (Lesley Manville), and the prostitutes who live in their brothels.
It saw brothel owner Margaret on the threshold of moving into a more up-market house in Soho when her premises was raided by the night-watchmen, forcing her to sell her daughter's virginity in order to pay her fine.
The show opened with a very raunchy scene, showing a compilation of the 'Harlots' having sex with customers.
And viewers were quick to take to Twitter, with one writing: 'This started off with a bang in every sense of the word'.
Viewers have praised raunchy new BBC2 drama Harlots, which details the booming sex industry of 18th century London. The first episode of the bawdy show, which originally aired on ITV Empire in 2017, showed Fleabag's Hugh Skinner (pictured) in a very raunchy role as he pursued prostitute Charlotte (Jessica Brown-Findlay), pictured
The show opened with a very raunchy scene, showing a compilation of the 'Harlots' having sex with customers (pictured)
Taking to Twitter, one person wrote: 'This started with a bang in every sense of the word' (pictured)
Meanwhile, a second added: 'Spanking, nipples and bare bottoms so far on #harlots.'
The series, which was influenced by 1700s prostitution guidebook Harris's List Of Covent Garden Ladies, started with Margaret's daughter Lucy (Eloise Smyth), reading out reviews of the brothel's residents.Viewers were introduced to Nancy Birch (Kate Fleetwood) - a longtime friend and neighbour of Margaret who specialises in domination - and sex workers Betsey Fletcher (Alexa Davies) and Fanny Lambert (Bronwyn James).
Those who tuned in also met impulsive sex worker Emily Lacey (Holli Dempsey), who deserted Margaret to work for Lydia, but soon found her stay in the elite brothel nowhere near as luxurious as she once imagined.
Margaret's oldest daughter Charlotte (Jessica Brown-Findlay) lives as the city's most coveted courtesan and is pursued by Sir George Howard (Hugh Skinner)
Viewers were stunned with what they witnessed in the BBC Two period drama
Margaret made clear her ambitions to move to the more elite Greek Street in Soho, but her plans were foiled when Quigley orchestrated a raid of the area with the help of Florence Scanwell (Dorothy Atkinson ) - a religious zealot who opposes sex work and becomes a pawn for Quigley.
The raid left her unable to pay a £100 court fine, and, unable to pay the forthcoming payment on her Greek Street home, she was forced to sell her youngest daughter's virginity.
She set up a plan to sell to the highest bidder, after previously refusing one of the brothel's client's offers of £50 to have sex with her daughter.
Meanwhile, Margaret's oldest daughter Charlotte (Jessica Brown-Findlay), who lives as the city's most coveted courtesan, was expected by Sir George Howard (Hugh Skinner), an aspiring Member of Parliament, to sign a contract to formally become his 'keeper'.
Viewers have praised raunchy new BBC2 drama Harlots, which details the booming sex industry of 18th century London. Pictured, Eloise Smyth as Lucy Wells
The bawdy show, which originally aired on ITV Empire in 2017, follows the lives of feuding madams. Pictured, Sir George Howard (Hugh Skinner)
The guide to London's sex workers that inspired Harlots
By Hallie Rubenhold for The Mail On Sunday
Harlot was inspired by the real people and events depicted in Hallie Rubenhold's book, The Covent Garden Ladies, which details the story behind one of history's most notorious publications, The Harris's List Of Covent Garden Ladies.
At the beginning of Harlots, there is a flurry of excitement as the latest edition of The Harris's List, a guide to the capital's sex workers, arrives from the bookseller.
All of the 'ladies of pleasure' are eager to hear what has been written about them, anxious that whatever is said will make or break their careers in the sex trade. Scenes like this would have unfolded every Christmas between 1757 and 1795 when the guide rolled off the presses.
The Lists were more than just a dry catalogue of names and addresses, but a wittily written chronicle of London's sex trade. Each edition contained information about the women who worked in it, providing details of their ages, physical appearance and sexual specialities as well as stories about these women's lives.
The thousands of women from all walks of life who featured in its pages include the likes of Miss Noble who was known for her 'skill in the reviving the dead' with her tongue of 'double charm', or Miss West 'who can pick her gallant's pocket very coolly' while in the act. Miss Love of 14 George Street is celebrated for her 'dark complexion'.
The lists are filled with others who led lives as actresses, servants, shopkeepers, nursemaids and even a number who were married women. They ran the gamut in terms of age and appearance, from those described as 'true beauties' to others referred to as 'veterans in the field of Venus'. Not all were confined to brothels.
The Harris's List show that women often shared accommodation with other sex workers or lodged with ordinary families, such as green grocers and cabinet makers. Although Covent Garden was the centre of sin, filled with theatres, taverns, coffee houses and bath houses, there was no designated red-light district, and women lived in virtually every neighbourhood, from Fitzrovia to Mayfair, from Holborn to the City.
The Harris's List cost two shillings and sixpence, which pushed it far out of range of the ordinary working man. Those women who appeared on it catered almost exclusively to middle-class men and above, but the sex trade catered to every strata of society, from the Prince to the dock worker. By becoming her keeper, George would pay for her lavish lifestyle in return for Charlotte having sex with nobody else, and legally becoming his property.
In one amusing scene, the character was seen gifting the courtesan a pineapple, which he believed to be the finest luxury he could acquire - and later donned Charlotte's clothes as he waited for her to return home.
However, in a fit of jealousy, after discovering that Charlotte had not been 'living like a nun' as promised, he successfully bid for Lucy's virginity - and while the pair didn't have sex, he forced Lucy to say otherwise.
Viewers were captivated by Hugh's character, and laughed at the funny gesture of gifting a pineapple.
'No one wants a man who thinks she's a pineapple,' wrote one, while a second joked: '"You are the pineapple of Great Britain." Imagine interrupting sex to say that.'
A third commented: 'Just what every woman wants, a pineapple.'
Others loved the raunchiness of the show from the get go, but others commented that it isn't historically accurate for the sex workers to have 'perfect hair and teeth.'
Margaret Wells had ambitions to move to the more elite Greek Street, in Soho, but her plans were foiled when Quigley orchestrated a raid of the area. Pictured, Samantha Morton as Margaret
Lydia Quigley (Lesley Manville) owns an up market brothel and was the original madam of a 10-year-old Margaret
Also introduced was impulsive sex worker Emily Lacey (Holli Dempsey), who deserted Margaret to work for Lydia, but soon found her stay in the brothel was not as luxurious as she once imagined
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