Gentleman Jack is a British historical drama television series created by Sally Wainwright for BBC One and HBO. Set in the 1830s in Yorkshire, it stars Suranne Jones as landowner and industrialist Anne Lister, and Sophie Rundle as landowner Ann Walker. The series is based on Lister's collected diariesâÂÂwhich run to an estimated 5 million words with about a sixth in secret code,âÂÂdocumenting a lifetime of sapphic relationships. Helena Whitbread began decoding and transcribing the diaries in the 1980s. Other transcribers have carried on the work. The research carried out for Wainwright's Gentleman Jack amounts to hundreds of thousands of words of new transcription of the diary.
The series premiered on 22 April 2019 in the United States, and on 19 May 2019 in the United Kingdom. On 23 May 2019, It was renewed for a second series, which was shown on BBC One from 10 April to 29 May 2022 and on HBO from 25 April to 13 June 2022. In July 2022, co-production company HBO said it would not proceed with a third series. In July 2022, the BBC announced that they wanted to continue with the programme, but they need to find a production partner to replace HBO.
In 1832, Miss Anne Lister leaves Hastings brokenhearted and returns to the Shibden Hall estate she has inherited from her uncle in the lush landscape of Halifax, West Yorkshire, England. While restoring the estate she discovers that her neighbours, the Rawson brothers, are stealing coal from the beds beneath her land and embarks on a plan to reopen the estate's own long-closed mine. At the same time this unusual lady landowner starts to develop a potentially dangerous romance with Miss Ann Walker, wealthy owner of Crow Nest estate, all of which she records in a cryptic diary.
In November 2016, screenwriter Sally Wainwright was awarded a ã30,000 screenwriting fellowship grant from the charitable organisation the Wellcome Trust, in partnership with Film4 and the British Film Institute. Wainwright disclosed to the media that she was writing a drama series about the landowner, industrialist, and intellectual Anne Lister and would use the grant to further her research. In March 2017, it was announced that BBC One and American network HBO had commissioned the eight-part series, provisionally titled "Shibden Hall", after Lister's ancestral home of the same name. Wainwright was announced as the series' director, and executive producer together with Piers Wenger and Faith Penhale. A native of Yorkshire, Wainwright had grown up in the environs of Shibden Hall and had had ambitions to write a drama based on Anne Lister for over 20 years. She described Lister as "a gift to a dramatist" and "one of the most exuberant, thrilling and brilliant women in British history".
In July 2017, the series was renamed Gentleman Jack and Suranne Jones was announced in the protagonist role of Lister. Wainwright, who had previously worked with Jones in Scott & Bailey and Unforgiven, deemed her capable of embodying the "boldness, subtlety, energy and humour" required to depict Lister. In April 2018, Sophie Rundle joined the production as Ann Walker, Lister's intended spouse.
In November 2018, Katherine Kelly was cast in the role of Ann Walker's sister, Elizabeth Sutherland, Sofie GrÃÂ¥bøl as Queen Marie of Denmark and Tom Lewis as Thomas Sowden.
HBO cancelled the programme on 7 July 2022, after two series.
The theme music was composed by Murray Gold. The series' ending theme song is "Gentleman Jack", written and performed by Yorkshire folk music duo O'Hooley & Tidow and first released in 2012.
Location shooting took place in Yorkshire and surrounding areas, including Shibden Hall as Anne Lister's home and Sutton Park, Yorkshire as Ann Walker's home.
The final scenes of series one were shot in Goodramgate and Precentor's Court in York. Three other locations in York â Duncombe Place, Minster Yard and Holy Trinity Church â were used earlier in the series.
Production on series two, delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, resumed in October 2020. It then shut down again and resumed filming in the summer of 2021. Suranne Jones confirmed that filming for the second series had concluded on 4 October 2021. Scenes in episode six were filmed at one of the historic mines in the Shibden Valley, near the Bare Head Tunnel.
BBC One released a teaser trailer for series one on 8 March 2019, followed by the first official trailer on 18 March 2019. The first trailer from HBO was also released on 18 March 2019.
Gentleman Jack premiered first in the US on 22 April 2019; followed by the UK premiere on 19 May 2019. The first series premiered in Australia on Fox Showcase on 19 May 2019.
The Hollywood Reporter described Gentleman Jack as a "funny, smart, and touching story" which at times has the main character talk to the camera to explain her inner thoughts, allowing aspects of Lister's diary to be used. The Guardians review said "Suranne Jones rocks Halifax as the first modern lesbian...Anne Lister's diary [becomes] a thrilling coal-town romp that flirts with parody, so maybe it's Queer Brontë." Variety pointed up the drama's uniqueness: "Wainwright makes an intriguing choice that sets up a decidedly adult romance about devotion, trust and partnership that is rare for TV in general, let alone for lesbian characters in a period piece."
The second season also received critical acclaim. On Rotten Tomatoes, it has a rating of 95%, based on 21 critic reviews, with an average rating of 8.1/10. The site's consensus reads, "Blessed with Suranne Jones' exquisite performance and some of the crispest dialogue on television, Gentleman Jack remains a total ace." The Guardian gave a 5 out of 5 star review for season 2, writing: "It is a masterpiece... One of the greatest British period dramas of our time ⦠Suranne Jones is an alchemical force of nature in the gleeful, radical return of this rollicking, romantic and exquisitely scripted show." Radio Times wrote of season 2: "The show has lost none of its brilliance, nor has Wainwright dislodged its heart and soul â she has only added to it. Gentleman Jack remains a bold and transgressive figure not just for a period drama, but mainstream TV in general, and season 2 another emotional ride."
At the time of cancellation, it was noted that the second season registered amongst HBO's lowest-rated current original series by net viewership. Nonetheless, reports surfaced that the BBC may pursue production of a third season without HBO following the BBC's statement: "We are tremendously proud of Gentleman Jack, a show which has made a huge cultural impact, and we are in discussions with Sally about what's next." As of 2024, there have been no official announcements regarding the show's future.
After it was known that the programme would be discontinued after the second series, The Guardian published reactions by many people who described how it had powerfully affected their lives for the good.
The series tie-in paperback book was released on 25 April 2019 in the United Kingdom by BBC Books under the title Gentleman Jack: The Real Anne Lister, and on 4 June 2019 in the United States by Penguin Random House as Gentleman Jack: The Diaries of Anne Lister. The book was written by Anne Choma, the historical adviser for the series.
A ballet inspired by the series will be touring England and Finland starting in 2026. Sally Wainwright is a creative consultant on the project.