Anyone who tuned in to Harlots thinking it was about sex will have been disappointed. As a dramatisation of social history however, it is first class.
-- In Georgian times, syphilis was effectively incurable. The 'mercury cure' lessened some symptoms for some patients. It was expensive and it was not a cure.
For the harlots- women forced into prostitution by economic necessity- it was a death sentence. The horrible symptoms, which include madness, are dramatically presented.
For high-class gentlemen it was vital to dodge the pox. To lessen their chances they could pay to rape a virgin. One high-class madam, played convincingly by Lesley Manville, arranges this.
It is fiction but based on the factual book 'The Covent Garden Ladies’ by Hallie Rubenhold.
It is grotesque but worth watching as a record of how the rich treat the poor. Some things haven't changed.
But they will. 
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