HBO/BBC drama series Gentleman Jack Created, written and co-directed by Sally Wainwright (Happy Valley) and starring BAFTA Award winner Suranne Jones (Doctor Foster), begins its eight-episode season on Sunday, May 19 at 7.30pm AEST, streaming on Foxtel Now and screening on FOX SHOWCASE.
The show is set in the complex, changing world of 1832 in Halifax, West Yorkshire and is based on the true story of Anne Lister, a controversial woman who had a passion for life, a mind for business and bucked society’s expectations at every turn, most notably by taking a wife.
The story examines Lister’s (Foster) relationships with her family, servants, tenants and industrial rivals and, most importantly, would-be wife. Based in historical fact, the real-life Anne Lister’s story was recorded in the four million words of her diaries, and the most intimate details of her life, once hidden in a secret code, have been decoded and revealed for the series.
Gentleman Jack co-stars: Sophie Rundle (Bodyguard, Peaky Blinders) as Ann Walker, the wealthy heiress on whom Anne Lister sets her sights as a prospective wife; Gemma Whelan (Game of Thrones) as Anne Lister’s sister, Marian; Timothy West (Last Tango in Halifax) as Jeremy Lister, the sisters’ father; and Gemma Jones (Bridget Jones’s Diary) as Aunt Anne Lister.
Gentleman Jack is directed by Sally Wainwright, Sarah Harding (Vikings, Queer as Folk) and Jennifer Perrott (Doctor Who); produced by Lookout Point for HBO and BBC One; executive producers, Sally Wainwright, Faith Penhale and Laura Lankester for Lookout Point and Ben Irving for BBC One; producer, Phil Collinson.