Gentleman Jack season 2 is heading to BBC1 and BBC iPlayer this spring, which means the wait for the next installment of Sally Wainwright’s period drama is almost over.
Following the huge success of Gentleman Jack season 1, the BBC has revealed some exciting first look images, showing Suranne Jones reprising her role as the remarkable Anne Lister alongside Sophie Rundle as Ann Walker... Anne's now wife.
Gemma Whelan (Marian Lister) and Lydia Leonard (Mariana Lawton) will also appear in the new season, while Joanna Scanlan joins Gentleman Jack in a guest role for series two as Anne Lister’s outrageous former lover Isabella ‘Tib’ Norcliffe.
The new series is set in 1834 and picks up shortly after the end of season 1 as Anne Lister and Ann Walker set up their home together at Yorkshire's Shibden Hall as wife and wife.
The pair are determined to combine their estates and become a power couple. Anne Lister’s entrepreneurial spirit frightens the locals as much as her unconventional love life and, with Halifax on the brink of revolution, her refusal to keep a low profile becomes provocative and dangerous.
Series two will again use the real-life diaries of Anne Lister — part of which were written in code — as its source, with every part of Lister’s story based on historical fact and the five million words she wrote in her journals.
The drama will be made up of eight episodes which are each one hour long and will also see Timothy West return to his role as Jeremy Lister, as well as Katherine Kelly as Elizabeth Sutherland, Jodhi May as Lady Vere Cameron, and Derek Riddell as Captain George Sutherland.
Writer Sally Wainwright has also teased that there are plenty of “big, bold stories” to tell about the newlyweds in series two.
On the news that the drama is returning, Sally said: “It's so exciting that so many people have had such a positive response to Suranne's exuberant performance as the brilliant, life-affirming Anne Lister and to Sophie's beautiful performance as her courageous partner, Ann Walker.
"I'm utterly delighted that we've been recommissioned because there are so many more big, bold stories to tell about Anne Lister and Ann Walker.”
Gentleman Jack season 2 airs on BBC1 and BBC iPlayer this spring.
