As filming begins on Sally Wainwright's Gentleman Jack, here's a first look image of Suranne Jones as Anne Lister and Sophie Rundle as Ann Walker.
Filming has begun in and around West Yorkshire on the new eight-part series for BBC One written by the magnificent Sally Wainwright.
The drama will explore Anne Lister’s relationships at home with her family, her servants, her tenants and her industrial rivals, who will use any dirty tricks they can to bring her down. At its heart is Anne's relationship with her would-be wife, Ann Walker.
After years of exotic travel, Anne Lister returns to Halifax, West Yorkshire in 1832, determined to transform the fate of her faded ancestral home Shibden Hall.
Every part of her story is based in historical fact, recorded in the four million words of her diaries that contain the most intimate details of her life, once hidden in a secret code that is now broken. Many of the diary extracts have been decoded for the very first time for the series.
Gentleman Jack is a remarkable and unlikely love story, set in the complex, changing world of Halifax - the cradle of the industrial revolution.
Starring alongside Suranne and Sophie will be Gemma Whelan as Anne's sister Marian, Timothy West as their father Jeremy Lister and Gemma Jones as Aunt Anne Lister.
Also starring will be Stephanie Cole as Ann Walker’s Aunt, Peter Davison and Amelia Bullmore as William and Eliza Priestley, businessman and fierce rival to Anne Lister Christopher Rawson will be played by Vincent Franklin whilst his brother and business partner Jeremiah will be played by Shaun Dooley.
Casting also includes Joe Armstrong, Jodhi May, Rosie Cavaliero, Thomas Howes, Lydia Leonard, Jessica Baglow and newcomers Albane Courtois and Ben Hunter.