Miss Scarlet and The Duke starts tonight at 9pm (Tuesday, March 31) on Alibi. The series stars Peaky Blinders’ Kate Phillips and Medici’s Stuart Martin in the titular roles but is the show based on a true story?
Is Miss Scarlet and the Duke based on a true story?
Miss Scarlet and the Duke on Alibi is not based on a single true story.
Both the characters and plot are entirely fictional, however, many of the themes in the series are based on facts, such as the inequality of men and women and the suffragette movement.
The series follows the first-ever female detective in Victorian London, Eliza Scarlet (played by Kate Phillips).
When Eliza’s father dies, he leaves behind almost no money for his daughter which puts her at risk of marrying simply for financial security.
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However, Eliza was raised to be independent and instead, takes over her father’s detective agency.
During her work as London’s first female detective, Eliza crosses path with a family friend, Detective Inspector William ‘Duke’ Wellington of Scotland Yard (played by Stuart Martin) who is not entirely pleased that a woman is helping solve crimes in late 19th century London.
Speaking exclusively to Express.co.uk, Rachael New explained that she was influenced by the work of Dickens and inspired by the historians in her family to create the ‘female Sherlock Holmes.’
New explained: “It’s not based on a true story, although it would have been fabulous to have a real female detective running her own business in the 19th century.
“Eliza Scarlet is a character I imagined. I wanted to create a female Sherlock Holmes – ‘She-lock’ if you will. I took elements from some of my favourite literary characters – Eliza Bennett and Scarlet O’Hara to name a couple – and combined them to create a 19th-century woman with a forensic mind and a determination to succeed in a man’s world.
She added: “In terms of research I’m afraid this might be a dull answer since I did the usual – books, documentaries, podcasts.
“I did have the added luxury of having in-laws that are both historians so that was definitely a bonus.”
Discussing the main character, Eliza Scarlet, New said she wanted to create a “likeable” female protagonist.
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She said: “You recognise her struggle, you want her to win, you want her to stay in the game. Also, she is a very remarkable woman.
“Her father was kind of ahead of his time in terms of how he brought her up. He brought her up on his own as her mother died when she was young.
“He taught her everything she knew. She is smart, she is impatient and she wants independence.”
New went on to describe Eliza as a “headstrong woman” who is “determined not to have to marry for financial security”, which was a very common practice in Edwardian and Victorian England.
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She added: “She wants to pay her own bills and do this in a job she knows she could be good at – being a private detective.
“To do this she has to take on the might of male-dominated Victorian London, so she has to be smart about her choices, opportunities and decisions.
“There is something fascinating about watching a woman trying to succeed but having to operate within the limits of her time.
“If Eliza Scarlet were alive today she would definitely be someone I’d like to sit next to at a dinner party.”
Miss Scarlet and The Duke starts tonight at 9pm on Alibi
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