Mary & George is the latest star-studded historical romp to entertain and titillate fans with its raunchy sex scenes – but it’s also performing a service to history say its lead actors, Nicholas Galitzine and Julianne Moore.

The pair play scheming real-life mother and son duo Mary and George Villiers, whose cunning manoeuvres saw them rise through the ranks of King James I’s court in the early 17th century from rather humble origins.

Mary thrusts her son under the nose of the monarch, who was known for surrounding himself with attractive male favourites, and the lavish seven-part Sky period drama certainly enjoys flinging the curtain back to reveal the traffic through the king’s court – and bedroom.

James, who was also James VI of Scotland from 1567 until his death in 1625, is certainly thought by multiple historians to have enjoyed sexual relationships with his male courtiers, including George – who he made Duke of Buckingham – and Robert Carr, Earl of Somerset, a prior favourite and rival for James’s affections (played by Cats star Laurie Davidson).

In Mary & George’s first episode alone, there’s a multi-room training orgy for young George as he heads to France for, ahem, further education, while James is dismissively described as ‘c**k-struck’.

And that’s alongside blood, spit, vomit, hanging and George’s graphic entrance into the world – so the audience almost immediately knows the sort of ride we’re in for.

‘It was exciting to read the script – I mean, so much happened on the very first page for my character with the birth of George,’ Oscar-winner Moore tells Metro.co.uk. ‘She was so vivid, so compelling, so active and different than anything I’d seen.’

‘I think there’s nothing really like it on television,’ chimes in Red, White & Royal Blue star Galitzine, avoiding the perhaps obvious associations for fans with the likes of Bridgerton, Outlander or – if we’re adding its gorier graphic content into the mix too – HBO’s House of the Dragon or Rome.

‘The closest comparison I suppose you could give is [Yorgos] Lanthimos’ The Favourite in terms of that sort of feel. But the script immediately… you read the first few pages, and it just feels like such a unique tone,’ the actor enthuses.

But what of Mary & George’s lust for the raunchier, sexier side of life with all its group sex scenes and pointed finger sucking?

There seems to be much more of an appetite for this side of things in historical shows these days, which Galitzine sees as satisfying fans and historical enthusiasts alike..

‘I think we’re just revising history, in a way – it was completely blotted out of a lot of these stories. But we’d be so foolish to think that it did not exist in these periods of time.

‘So I think, within this context, people are really enjoying seeing it be introduced to period pieces.’

Although the stars play coy when asked if they think one scene in particular may spark frenzied discussion online, à la Barry Keoghan’s various X-rated frolics in Saltburn, Moore jokes that it’s probably Galitzine who has ‘the ones that will inspire the people!’ (although Mary certainly gets frisky too).