BBC One Releases Trailer For ‘Gentleman Jack’

BBC One has released the first trailer for Gentleman Jack, Sally Wainwright’s new period drama starring Suranne Jones as the 19th-century landowner and diarist Anne Lister.

Set in 1832 in West Yorkshire, the eight-part series follows Lister as she returns to Halifax after years of travel, determined to transform the fortunes of her family and their faded ancestral home, Shibden Hall, and to find herself a wife.

Wainwright, the creator of Happy Valley and Last Tango in Halifax, wrote the series and directs several episodes. It draws on Lister’s extensive diaries, written partly in code, which record her life and relationships in remarkable detail and have led to her being described as the first modern lesbian.

Sophie Rundle plays Ann Walker, the wealthy heiress Lister sets her sights on marrying, with Gemma Whelan as Lister’s sister Marian and Timothy West as their father Jeremy. Gemma Jones, Stephanie Cole, Peter Davison, Amelia Bullmore, Katherine Kelly and Sofie Gråbøl also star.

The drama explores Lister’s relationships with her family, servants and tenants, and with the industrial rivals who will use any dirty trick to bring her down. Gentleman Jack is made by Lookout Point for BBC One and HBO and will air on BBC One this spring.