Gentleman Jack, a drama about a woman “who had a passion for life and a mind for business, and bucked society's expectations at every turn,” according to HBO, debuts on HBO Monday, April 22. Sally Wainwright created the show, which stars Suranne Jones.
There are eight episodes.
Gentleman Jack will air in the U.K. on BBC One this spring.
Set in 1832 in West Yorkshire, “the cradle of the evolving Industrial Revolution,” said HBO, Gentleman Jack focuses on landowner Anne Lister, who is determined to transform the fate of her faded ancestral home, Shibden Hall, by reopening the coal mines and marrying well. Lister, who dresses head-to-toe in black and charms her way into high society, has no intention of marrying a man. The series examines Lister’s relationships with her family, servants, tenants, industrial rivals and would-be wife. Based in historical fact, Lister’s story was recorded in the four million words of her diaries. The most intimate details of her life, once hidden in a secret code, have been decoded for the series.
Also in the cast are Sophie Rundle, Gemma Whelan and Timothy West.
The directors on Gentleman Jack are Wainwright, Sarah Harding and Jennifer Perrott. Lookout Point produces the show. The executive producers are Wainwright, Faith Penhale and Laura Lankester for Lookout Point and Ben Irving for BBC One.
