Mrs. America: What the Must Watch reviewers think

Every week, the Must Watch podcasters review the biggest TV and streaming shows.

This week, Hayley Campbell and Scott Bryan share their thoughts on Mrs. America.

This series is based on a true story, and stars Cate Blanchett as political activist Phyllis Schlafly, who was a political activist who was vehemently opposed to the women’s liberation movement.

It's available now on BBC iPlayer.

Have you watched it? What did you think? Leave your comments below...

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Hayley says: "It does a lot to humanise her"

"It does a very good job of building up the character of this woman who was reviled as a sort of demon of anti-feminism. She’s much loved by the conservatives; she endorsed Trump and he spoke at her funeral.

"It does a lot to humanise her which they do by sort of down playing her racism and homophobia to make her more sympathetic. I do wonder how much she would agree with this image of herself as a sort of failed white liberal feminist who found power by working against her best interests, though.

"But it’s interesting to see the movement from the perspective of the conservative side, to see that she is struggling against the same things that the feminists are, but she’s working against that struggle as a way to gain power. I really thought it was great."

Scott says: 'I fell in love with this show the first moment I saw it'

"It’s absolutely a Must Watch. I didn’t know that much about this period of history and American life. It looks at the rise of the moral majority which was a Christian right political organisation associated with the Republican Party. It looks at the Equal Rights amendment of equal pay in the 1960s and the rise of feminism.

"At first I was thinking, as an American drama what relevance is there for British audiences and how will it cut through? But it just does it because it’s incredibly well acted.

"If you just like at the line up - Sarah Paulson, Elizabeth Banks, Tracey Ullman, Uzo Aduba and of course, Cate Blanchett. It’s like that Big Little Lies tactic of ‘get the best cast you possibly can, throw them all together and magical stuff happens.’

"That’s why I fell in love with this show the first moment I saw it."

Mrs. America is being shown on BBC Two every Wednesday at 21:00 and you can watch the whole series on BBC iPlayer.

Must Watch is available as a podcast every Monday evening from BBC Sounds, or through your podcast app.

In this week's episode, the team also review Penny Dreadful: City of Angels, and they speak to John Logan, Gary Kemp and Shaun Pye.

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