Girl POWER

Rose Byrne and Cate Blanchett star as two women on opposite sides of the battle for equality in 1970s America

- STEVEN PERKINS

The debates and campaigns surrounding a landmark piece of legislation may not seem like the most gripping premise for a drama, but BBC2’s Mrs America has already been praised in the US for its ‘electric’ storyline and ‘stunning performances’.

Set in the 1970s, the drama – which kicks off with a double bill – revolves around the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA), which promised to prevent discrimination against women under US law.

It was expected that the new amendment would be ratified by individual states – but its progress was unexpectedly stymied by a conservative women’s movement who believed it would lead to, among other things, young women being drafted into the Vietnam War, and the elimination of single-sex toilets.

A DIFFERENT MINDSET

Created by former Mad Men writer Dahvi Waller and starring Cate Blanchett and Tracey Ullman, the nine-parter charts the choppy history of the ERA.

‘Every writer who writes a period drama of any kind grapples with how to remove that modern-day lens we automatically have,’ says