WHEN songs by Marc Bolan and New Order turn up in a between-the-wars country house drama, it’s bound to set the purists’ teeth on edge.

So I guess I’m not a purist, as I loved the opening episode of BBC1’s new series The Pursuit of Love. My friend hated it and switched off half-way through, appalled at a flamboyant party scene that was just too modern for her traditional tastes.

Even Emily Mortimer, who wrote and directed the series, has joked that Nancy Mitford would be “turning in her grave” at this colourful adaptation of her 1945 novel.

While such heightened drama shouldn’t be taken too seriously, I reckon it’s not that far removed from reality when it comes to the eye-wateringly hedonistic, bonkers lives of toffs back then. A world that Mitford knew well.