1963 was an epochal year in various ways. The modern conspiracy-theory industry gave birth when JFK was felled either by bullets from a grassy knoll or from inside a book depository or even from the sky by CIA aliens, while Doctor Who first hopped on board his Time And Relative Dimension In Space and Beatlemania truly reached decibel-worrying status. Buried deep towards the edges of that year's news cycle, a scandal which embroiled the Duke and Duchess Of Argyll shattered Britain's upper-class genteel façade and, as the epilogue of this three-parter notes, heralded the moment when a woman was first shamed in public by a media circus.

At first glance, the travails between Ian Campbell, the 11th Duke Of Argyll, and his third wife, the fur-donning socialite Margaret Whigham, seems nothing more than an episode of toffs at war. But for Sarah Phelps, the creator of A Very British Scandal who has dominated the BBC's festive schedule for a number of years with her stylish and moreish adaptations of Agatha Christie whodunits, this was another almighty win for the patriarchy. Whigham was scorned, spat on and vilified root and branch for one thing: daring to be a fan of sex. As she tells a sort-of friend who accuses her of being too charitable with her bodily favours, 'I like sex and am extremely good at it'.

Claire Foy slips with ease into the role of the Duchess, having previously portrayed other regal types such as Anne Boleyn (Wolf Hall) and Queen Elizabeth (The Crown) while Paul Bettany plays a little more against type as the gaslighting, manipulative and physically abusive Duke. It may be a stretch to describe the Duchess as a feminist, but she was certainly fiercely loyal to her true friends, some of whom were gay men listed among those she was alleged to have had sexual affairs with. To save herself she could have thrown them to the same wolves that were frenziedly baying at her.

Unlike most of Sarah Phelps' festive three-part dramas, there's not a corpse in sight whose death needs a good old-fashioned investigation thrust at it. But the Duchess Of Argyll's story is one that has been repeated ad nauseam in the intervening years, foreshadowing the patriarchy's perpetual double standards and a press pack that has gone out of its way to destroy everyone from Diana Spencer to Caroline Flack. If A Very British Scandal makes even one media baron sit up, take notice and feel a little queasy at their own past behaviour (OK, fantasy stuff for sure), it will have been well worth doing.

A Very British Scandal airs on BBC One, Sunday 26–Tuesday 28 December, 9pm.