Suranne Jones and Sophie Rundle star in Gentleman Jack
(Picture: BBC)After making a splash with its debut season, BBC drama Gentleman Jack is back – and looks better than ever.
Starring Suranne Jones as the titular Jack, the series follows the real-life exploits of Yorkshire landowner Anne Lister, a 19th century heiress and lesbian in a time when it was strictly taboo.
The official synopsis for the second season hints that all might not be well at Anne’s home of Shibden Hall.
"Yorkshire, 1834,” it says. “All eyes are on Anne Lister and Ann Walker as they set up home together at Shibden Hall as wife and wife, 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."
The trailer itself shows returning star Sophie Rundle, who plays Anne’s love interest and “wife” Ann Walker, sharing a passionate kiss with Jones as Walker and Lister cement their relationship.
However, it also teases the scandalised reaction of local Halifax society about the decision, putting the couple under pressure to conform.
The show also looks to take its cast across Europe, with snapshots showing Walker and Lister trekking across mountains and in Paris – where Lister meets old flame Isabella Norcliffe and old secrets come to light.
As the trailer reaches its conclusion, it seems as though tensions will come to a head.
“I fear you have built me up in your mind to be all manner of things I am not,” Lister says towards the end of the trailer. “And some that I am.”
Described as the world’s first “modern lesbian”, Lister kept heavily coded diaries detailing her life and many relationships with women.
Though this code – made up of a combination of the Greek alphabet, zodiac symbols and mathematics – kept many from finding out about her exploits, it was initially discovered by one of her descendants, John Lister, who almost burned them.
Instead, he hid them away, and they were ultimately re-decoded, and Anne’s story brought to light, in 1982 when teacher Helena Whitbread tackled the diaries.
It is these diaries that the hit BBC show is based on.
Gentleman Jack will air on the BBC from April 10
