Belle is based on the real life story of Dido Elizabeth Belle, the illegitimate mixed race daughter of a Royal Navy admiral and a slave called Maria Belle, raised by her aristocratic great uncle Lord Mansfield, best known as the Lord Chief Justice who ruled slavery illegal in England. Belle negotiates coming of age as an aristocratic woman of colour in Georgian England as another of her uncle’s important anti-slavery cases playing out in the background.

Show notes:

• Belle (2013) - IMDb
• TV Mastermind Jane Espenson From Ellen to Buffy to Evil Queens | Advocate.com
• Did 'Belle' Really Help End Slavery in England? - The Root
• Interview: Amma Asante, Director Of 'Belle' : NPR
• The story behind Dido Belle - the bi-racial Londoner who helped end slavery in Britain - London Life - Life & Style - London Evening Standard