Alone and against all advice, Mary set sail for West Africa — notorious in those days as the ‘White Man’s Graveyard’. It was a decision without parallel in Victorian times, when women could not vote and were considered helpless without a husband or home to shelter them. Theis docu-drama follows Mary’s extraordinary journey, with South African actress Jenny Stead in the role of Mary Kingsley.

Mary soon became a shining symbol of women’s emancipation across the British Empire and far beyond. To this day she is regarded as a role model for girls throughout England.

In the wilds of late 19th-century Africa, Mary had extraordinary encounters — with hippos while sitting in a boat in her underwear, with elephants, and with little-known peoples such as the Fang, who had a reputation for cannibalism. Her travel books remain among the most celebrated works of travel and adventure writing.

Even in the most dangerous and exhausting situations, Mary conducted herself as an impeccable Victorian gentlewoman — never without her black woollen dress, her underskirts and her corset, even while roaming the most remote African wilderness where no white person had ever set foot. Only once did her composure crack: spending the night in the hut of a Fang chief, she discovered what appeared to be fresh human remains.

British scholar Alison Blunt is the custodian of the artefacts Mary Kingsley brought back from her travels