Lady & The Vamps

- Judy Evens, Richard McClure

Samantha Morton and Lesley Manville’s warring brothel-keepers return for fresh battles this week when the dark side of 18th-century London is unveiled once again in the second series of Harlots.

The first series of the gritty period drama (available now on starzplay) focused on the rivalry between Lydia Quigley (Manville), Ruthless owner of an exclusive brothel for the upper classes, and Margaret Wells (Morton), who runs a more working-class house.

As the series resumes, both women are in trouble for different reasons.

Margaret’s marriage is crumbling and her daughter, Lucy (Eloise Smyth), gets closer to the evil lord Fallon (Ben Lambert), while Lydia falls foul of the puritanical Justice Josiah hunt (Sebastian Armesto), who’s determined to shut down all of London's brothels and has Lydia thrown into prison.