The 'Dope Girls' Trailer Brings the Dark Side of Post-War Soho to Life

Too often, when we think of women in period dramas, we think of shows like Downton Abbey or Bridgerton, shows that put their female characters in elaborate dresses and send them off for tea or balls. It seems safe to say that the BBC's upcoming period drama Dope Girls is not that sort of show.

At least visually speaking, Dope Girls feels like it belongs in the Peaky Blinders universe, and that's probably on purpose. Sure, this show is set in post-World War I London rather than the Birmingham of Knight's popular gangland drama, but the gritty aesthetic, morally gray characters, and the end of the fighting's impact on a rapidly changing society are all the same.

Inspired by Marek Kohn’s nonfiction book Dope Girls: The Birth of the British Drug Underground, the series is set just after the war ended in 1918 when a generation of newly empowered women were reluctant to give up the financial independence and professional opportunities they'd gained during the war years. This was a time when female gangs were openly running the clubs in London's Soho neighborhood: Dealing drugs, selling moonshine, and essentially pioneering what would eventually become the modern nightclub industry.