\n<\/p>\n
O<\/span>utlander first sizzled our screens in 2014, with Vulture soon declaring that the period drama had \u201cthe best sex on television\u201d. Its tale of second world war nurse Claire (Caitriona Balfe) time-travelling to 18th-century Scotland and falling in love with clansman Jamie (Sam Heughan) certainly earned the accolade. The wedding night episode features Claire reaching such an explosive orgasm that it requires smelling salts for viewers to get through. There\u2019s a knee-trembling \u201ccastle cunnilingus\u201d scene and, at one point, the extraordinary moment when Claire saves Jamie\u2019s life by masturbating him. It has proved so\u00a0popular that in 2026 its eighth (and final) season will air.<\/p>\n In the last year we\u2019ve had shows such as Car\u00eame, about a Napoleonic-era celebrity chef who likes foreplay with a dollop of whipped cream, and orgy-filled Mary & George, about the lover of James\u00a0I of England\/James VI of Scotland. Outlander has even spawned a prequel, Blood of My Blood, about the entwining stories of Claire\u2019s and Jamie\u2019s parents, two\u00a0couples who also enjoy time travel and sex. Sure enough, there\u2019s\u00a0a romp against a table less than half an hour in, a dizzying amount of hand brushes and a sex\u00a0scene that clocks up nearly 10 long minutes. How did period dramas get so raunchy?<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Thirty years ago, things were much more chaste. The iconic moment of Andrew Davies\u2019s 1995 BBC adaptation of Jane Austen\u2019s Pride and Prejudice that shook up the genre didn\u2019t even involve nudity \u2013 just Colin Firth\u2019s Mr Darcy emerging from a lake in a soaking\u00a0white shirt.<\/p>\n Firth\u2019s chemistry with Jennifer Ehle, who played Elizabeth Bennet, was undeniable: the two started dating in real life during filming. No one has sex in the series, but Davies wrote in scenes to show the hormonal young characters\u2019 physicality and sexuality, and looked for \u201cany legitimate excuse to get some of that kit off\u201d. It certainly won over fans: last year, the shirt Firth wore sold at auction\u00a0for\u00a0\u00a325,000. One professor even told the BBC that the series has \u201calmost usurped the original novel in the minds of the public\u201d.<\/p>\n Seven years later, Davies shocked the nation by writing a drama that makes Pride and Prejudice look like CBeebies: an adaptation of Sarah Waters\u2019 Victorian-set lesbian novel Tipping the Velvet. Nan (Rachael Stirling) is an oyster girl who is enchanted by androgynous stage performer Kitty (Keeley Hawes). She joins her act in bohemian London and they start a sexual relationship. It divided critics, with one calling the first sex scenes \u201cdull\u201d. He should have stuck around for episode two.<\/p>\n Anna Chancellor enters as dominatrix aristocrat Lady Diana \u2013 the proud owner of a massive dildo. \u201cIt was leather, wasn\u2019t it?\u201d asks Chancellor when I remind her of it over video call. \u201cWas [its size] believable?\u201d She has never seen the series and says she would have to be \u201creally old\u201d to stomach watching herself in it. Filming was physically difficult as the camera went round and round while she rocked on Nan\u2019s lap. That said, she would \u201cquite like to play [Diana] again\u201d, and adds: \u201cIt gave me a big lesbian following, which I was thrilled with. It\u2019s a privilege.\u201d<\/p>\n The show was groundbreaking for queer sex on screen, but Chancellor makes the point that it was directed by a straight man (Geoffrey Sax). \u201cI think they wouldn\u2019t do that now,\u201d she ponders. Intimacy coordinators weren\u2019t a thing back then either. Even though she admits to some of their tasks being more cringey than actually shooting sex scenes (like softly touching each other\u2019s face and hair), she says a great one can help map out the characters\u2019 physical relationships more convincingly: \u201cIt\u2019s how you get there.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/span>No facts attached \u2026 Jonathan Rhys Meyers as Henry VIII) and Natalie Dormer as Anne Boleyn in The Tudors.<\/span> Photograph: BBC\/Sony<\/p>\n Bodice-and-breeches rippers soon took off. In 2007, all historical fact went out of the window when Jonathan Rhys Meyers played Henry VIII as a hunky, brunette sex god in The Tudors. Within four minutes of the opening episode, Henry and Catherine of Aragon (Maria Doyle Kennedy) were bonking. Hundreds of outraged fans complained it was too Americanised, dumbed down and hypersexual. \u201cThese people didn\u2019t have TVs, they didn\u2019t have cars, they didn\u2019t have iPods. They had sex. What else do you think they did?\u201d Meyers once said, clearly fed up of defending it on press tours.<\/p>\n Anyway, Henry was left in the dust in 2015, when a topless Aidan Turner scythed his way on to prime\u00a0time in Poldark. It set pulses racing to such an extent that\u00a0Turner\u00a0came to resent it: \u201cIt\u00a0began to overshadow the show and that frustrated me. It just got boring,\u201d he admitted of a scene that would go on to be voted TV moment of the year.<\/p>\n <\/span>Fantasy \u2026 Aidan Turner getting ready for his topless scene in Poldark.<\/span> Composite: PA\/ BBC\/Everett\/Rex Features<\/p>\n But it wasn\u2019t the only scene to trigger debate. A scene in which Poldark forcefully kisses ex-lover Elizabeth (Heida Reed), who pushes him away and says \u201cno\u201d until finally conceding to sex was criticised as a \u201crape fantasy\u201d. Poldark isn\u2019t the only period drama to feature problematic sex scenes. Outlander is continually pressed on its repeated use of brutal rape as a narrative tool \u2013 which they put down to this being a reality that can\u2019t be totally ignored: rape only became a statutory offence in England and Wales in 1956 (and marital rape wasn\u2019t included until 1991). In Scotland, rape was an offence in common law only until 2009. Catriona Balfe also justifies it by saying: \u201cWe have a problem in our society with sexual assault, and it\u2019s reflected in our storytelling.\u201d<\/p>\n With TV audiences becoming less conservative and streaming networks offering new freedoms, period bonkbusters went wild in the early 2010s, from The Borgias (which featured an incest scene) to Versailles (\u201cfour racy scenes in just 17 minutes!\u201d cried the Daily Mail). Like most of the shows before them, they were largely written and directed by men. They also nearly always featured white leads; period drama has always had a problem with diversity. However, coinciding with the #MeToo movement, a spate of brilliant female storytellers were about to bring nuance and raise the bar once more.<\/p>\n <\/span>\u2018We never said titillating\u2019 \u2026 Jessica Brown Findlay as Charlotte (centre) in Harlots.<\/span> Photograph: Liam Daniel\/Hulu\/Everett Collection Inc\/Alamy<\/p>\n In 2017, Alison Newman and Moira Buffini co-created Harlots, a Georgian-set drama with a diverse cast, starring Lesley Manville and Samantha Morton as warring brothel owners (it has recently enjoyed a new lease of life in Netflix\u2019s Top 10 chart). Set in a time when sex work was incredibly valuable to the economy, it is, of course, stuffed with graphic scenes. But don\u2019t conflate sex with \u201csexy\u201d; Newman even bristles at the word when I mention it to her over the phone. It was unofficially banned from the writing room, and that wasn\u2019t all: \u201cWe never<\/em> said\u00a0titillating.\u201d<\/p>\n The show was made entirely by women from what Newman calls \u201cthe whore\u2019s eye view\u201d, following \u201ca sort of reverse Bechdel test\u201d with no more than two men in a room. Sex was a job for these women and it needed to feel real: it\u2019s often boring or humiliating, sometimes enjoyable and at times dangerous. There\u2019s also barely any nudity because undressing took too long.<\/p>\n Still, there are rare moments when sex is an act of love or passion, such as when Charlotte (Jessica Brown Findlay) sleeps with male sex worker Daniel Marney (Rory Fleck Byrne) after a season spent building a friendship. \u201cCharlotte obviously had a very complicated relationship with sex, so for her to let go like that or make herself vulnerable \u2013 it was a big moment.\u201d That is indeed what makes sex, well, sexy (sorry Newman!). \u201cThe drama is in the desire \u2013 and what happens before and after the act is most interesting \u2026 If it\u2019s just a couple of people shagging, then what\u2019s the point?\u201d<\/p>\n <\/span>Intimate moment \u2026 Sophie Rundle as Ann Walker and Suranne Jones as Anne Lister in Gentleman Jack.<\/span> Photograph: Aimee Spinks\/BBC\/Lookout Point\/HBO<\/p>\n Around the same time, Sally Wainwright was working on Gentleman Jack, a drama about 19th-century Yorkshire landowner Anne Lister (Suranne Jones) who is widely considered the first modern lesbian, and her relationship with Ann Walker (Sophie Rundle). Tabloids called the same-sex scenes \u201csteamy\u201d and \u201cshocking\u201d, but a lot of care was taken with them. \u201cWe used the camera to come in on us and find intimate moments,\u201d Jones said. \u201cBy the end, me and Sophie were like two nans with a cup of tea. Like, covers off, hanging out. And it was great.\u201d<\/p>\n Andrew Davies also created another barrier-breaking adaptation of Austen \u2013 her unfinished novel Sanditon. This time, he went as far as adding in sex scenes. <\/strong><\/em>\u201cI write something that I would like to watch,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd I suppose the sexing it up thing comes in fairly naturally.\u201d Not only that, a scene showing the bums of two nude male characters going for a swim \u2013 which they would have done in those days \u2013 raised the issue of objectification. \u201cAre there different standards? So what if there are,\u201d star Kris Marshall said. \u201cIs it the objectification of men when we\u2019ve had the objectification of women for so long?\u201d (A 2016 report found that female nudity was almost three times as likely as male in Hollywood films.)<\/p>\n But raunch comes in all forms. For many viewers, one of the most erotic scenes on television in recent years was Andrew Scott in silk pyjamas dancing to T Rex\u2019s Dandy in the Underworld. He played Lord Merlin in Emily Mortimer\u2019s adaptation of Nancy Mitford\u2019s 1930s coming-of-age story The Pursuit of Love. It was a casting masterstroke. Merlin sticks his middle finger up, slinks around and \u2013 in a flooring moment \u2013 abruptly kisses one of the beautiful young things, wipes his mouth and spins her away. \u201cThat was all him, he just delivered,\u201d Mortimer tells me over a call. \u201cIt just came so easily, and he went for it. He has exactly the right amount of charm, fearlessness and a kind of twinkle.\u201d It was shot during lockdown and the first thing Scott said to her after filming that scene was: \u201cI just feel so lucky to be\u00a0at a party!\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n The reaction of Lily James\u2019s teenage character Linda, who is watching from the sidelines in a ballroom, mirrors our blushing at home: she is full of lust and longing for life to start, and finds Merlin\u2019s sexual liberation almost too painfully sexy to watch. \u201cLily did it so well,\u201d says Mortimer. \u201cIt\u2019s hilarious but also kind of heartbreaking and very recognisable.\u201d<\/p>\n Smaller moments really do have the power to fluster a nation. Regency-era Bridgerton is one of the biggest and raciest shows today \u2013 and a celebration of how far we have come regarding sex in period drama, with diverse characters having lots of sex that is both a hoot to watch and always female focused. It also gave life to the more X-rated spin-off Queen Charlotte (she did have 15 babies, after all). But, arguably, it is Reg\u00e9-Jean Page\u2019s Duke of Hastings simply licking a spoon that went viral and became Bridgerton\u2019s most definitive scene.<\/p>\n <\/span>A spot of spooning \u2026 Reg\u00e9-Jean Page as the Duke of Hastings in Bridgerton.<\/span> Photograph: PR<\/p>\n For now, though, it\u2019s full steam ahead in Blood of My Blood. Harriet Slater, who plays Jamie\u2019s mother Ellen, tells me the chemistry read with Jamie Roy (her onscreen forbidden lover Brian) was \u201cunlike any other\u201d. Roy says: \u201cThe sparks do fly.\u201d And there\u2019s that epic sex scene, whose shooting involved turning raunchiness into something as highly choreographed and rehearsed as a stunt or dance. Sometimes, though, you can have too much sexual tension. \u201cOn the very first take I burst out laughing! I got told off very swiftly,\u201d smiles Roy. \u201cIf you take it too seriously, you get too tired!\u201d adds Slater. But did they pull it off? \u201cSmashed it.\u201d<\/p>\n Outlander: Blood of My Blood is on MGM+ via Prime Video on 9 August.<\/em><\/p>\n This article was amended on 1 August 2025. An earlier version said that rape only became illegal in the UK in 1956. This is when it became a statutory offence in English and Welsh criminal law; it had long been a criminal offence in common law.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Outlander first sizzled our screens in 2014, with Vulture soon declaring that the period drama had \u201cthe best sex on television\u201d. Its tale of second world war nurse Claire (Caitriona Balfe) time-travelling to 18th-century Scotland and falling in love with clansman Jamie (Sam Heughan) certainly earned the accolade. The wedding night episode features Claire reaching<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":13769,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[54],"tags":[2222,5622,7447,2221,7449,7448,4113,1779],"class_list":{"0":"post-13768","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-entertainment","8":"tag-drama","9":"tag-marathon","10":"tag-orgies","11":"tag-period","12":"tag-raunchy","13":"tag-scenes","14":"tag-sex","15":"tag-television"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13768","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=13768"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13768\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/13769"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=13768"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=13768"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=13768"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}