THE SCREENING ROOM
BAWD MEETING: Daniel Sapani with Samantha Morton as Margaret Wells, a brothel-keeper in Georgian London.
FROM LEFT: MONUMENTAL PICTURES; MATHIAS VOELZKE
HARLOTS
, ITV and Hulu’s co-produced series about life in two brothels in 18th-century London, is not really a costume drama, it’s more a take-of-yourcostume drama. The first five minutes pass in a blur of dirty satin hems dragged through puddles, blond ringlets lying and naked breasts quivering, all to a headache-inducing soundtrack of rock and hip-hop. Within 10 minutes, we’re treated to sex in the street using (almost) every position imaginable. This is the TV equivalent of what English people of a certain age like to refer to as a “marmalade dropper”: a story so shocking that you spill jam of your toast.