harlots

Harlots: A Witty Blend of History and Fiction

Like all the best TV opening titles, Harlots’ comical, brazen credits sequence announces its personality in miniature. A collage-style animation set to modern music, it shows cut-out characters from William Hogarth’s 18th-century painting series A Harlot’s Progress clustered around a giant, luridly colored female nude. They tuck into her crevices, canoodle on her mountainous behind, nestle between her buttocks, and peep out over the top of two plump hillock breasts. In the shadow between her thighs, female prisoners toil (just another day at the mine), and finally, she’s on her back, legs spread wide as the show’s title appears dead centre: Harlots. Come on in.…
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Harlots to Air on BBC Two in the UK Later This Year

In an odd yet welcome turn of events, BBC Two has bought the rights to Harlots, Moira Buffini and Alison Newman’s excellent period drama set in the world of the 18th century London sex trade. But, you ask, didn’t Harlots come out years ago? On ITV? And wasn’t it just cancelled? Yes, yes and yes to that. Harlots originally aired in the UK on now-defunct digital channel ITV Encore. It was a US-UK co-production between ITV Studios and streaming service Hulu in the US (home of The Handmaid’s Tale, the Veronica Mars remake, Runaways and more). When ITV Encore closed,…
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