Ouida: A Little Scandal Is An Excellent Thing

A BBC adaptation of Ouida’s landmark novel, along with an original drama and a fascinating documentary exploring her colourful life

‘A little scandal is an excellent thing; nobody is ever brighter or happier of tongue than when he is making mischief of his neighbours.’ - Ouida

Ouida – the pseudonym of English novelist Maria Louise Ramé – wrote over 40 novels as well as children’s books, short stories and essays. One of the most popular authors of her day, she achieved fame and fortune with her ‘sensation novels’ which scandalised and intrigued Victorian readers, but her extravagant lifestyle resulted in her dying in poverty in 1908. This collection brings together her pioneering novel Moths with two engrossing biographical portraits of Ouida herself.

A Little Scandal Is an Excellent Thing – Romantic novelist Ouida’s life was as flamboyant as her fiction. Born in England with a French father, she lived in luxury at the Langham Hotel, throwing lavish literary soirées with guests including Oscar Wilde, but died alone and penniless in Italy. Cheryl Campbell stars in this moving drama by award-winning poet Chrys Salt.

Moths – First published in 1880, this riveting tale of romance and society in 19th-century Europe is widely held as the first novel to portray a divorced woman finding happiness and fulfilment. It tells the story of teenage Vere Herbert, forced by her superficial mother Lady Dolly to wed the brutish Prince Zoroff. Meanwhile, she has fallen in love with an Italian opera singer, Raphael de Correze. Trapped in an unhappy marriage, dare she leave her husband to be with him? Dramatised by Chrys Salt and starring Teresa Gallagher as Vere, with Nicola Pagett, Paul Rhys and Geoffrey Whitehead.

Sensational Women: Ouida – Maeve Binchy examines the life and books of Ouida, who never had a lover but caught the public’s imagination with the passionate stories she wrote.

Moths first published in 1880