# Gentleman Jack (TV series)
Created by [Sally Wainwright](https://www.edgepedia.org/sally-wainwright) for television, **Gentleman Jack** is a British drama that debuted in April 2019 on both [BBC One](https://www.edgepedia.org/bbc-one) and HBO and draws on the diaries of [Anne Lister](https://www.edgepedia.org/anne-lister) (1791–1840), the 19th-century Yorkshire landowner, industrialist, and diarist.[1](https://lgbthistoryuk.org/wiki/Gentleman_Jack) • [2](https://rts.org.uk/article/sally-wainwright-discusses-making-gentleman-jack) Suranne Jones plays Lister, with Sophie Rundle as her partner Ann Walker; the title is the mocking nickname Halifax locals gave Lister for her masculine appearance and demeanor[3](https://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/arts-and-culture/film-and-tv/yorkshire-drama-gentleman-jack-watched-by-600000-in-region-says-bbc-479153) • [4](https://ijoc.org/index.php/ijoc/article/download/17218/3448).
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Broadcast | BBC One and HBO, first aired April 2019; a BBC/HBO co-production[1](https://lgbthistoryuk.org/wiki/Gentleman_Jack) • [2](https://rts.org.uk/article/sally-wainwright-discusses-making-gentleman-jack) |
| Source material | The diaries of Anne Lister, partly written in code for intimate passages; one account puts them at 4 million words, later accounts at more than 5 million[2](https://rts.org.uk/article/sally-wainwright-discusses-making-gentleman-jack) • [5](https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2022/apr/10/gentleman-jack-series-two-review-one-of-the-greatest-british-period-dramas-of-our-time?fr=operanews) |
| Lead cast | Suranne Jones as Anne Lister; Sophie Rundle as Ann Walker[3](https://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/arts-and-culture/film-and-tv/yorkshire-drama-gentleman-jack-watched-by-600000-in-region-says-bbc-479153) |
| Setting | Halifax, West Yorkshire, from 1832 in series one and 1834 in series two, centered on Lister's estate, Shibden Hall[6](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/gentleman_jack/s01) • [5](https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2022/apr/10/gentleman-jack-series-two-review-one-of-the-greatest-british-period-dramas-of-our-time?fr=operanews) |
| Development | About 20 years in the making; originally rejected by every broadcaster Wainwright took it to[7](https://rts.org.uk/article/how-sally-wainwright-brought-her-heroine-life-gentleman-jack) |
| Series one audience | Nearly six million viewers a week nationwide, with an average of nearly 600,000 in Yorkshire and Lincolnshire[3](https://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/arts-and-culture/film-and-tv/yorkshire-drama-gentleman-jack-watched-by-600000-in-region-says-bbc-479153) |
| Critical scores | Season 1: 90% Tomatometer (52 reviews) and 92% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes; Metascore 78 on Metacritic[6](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/gentleman_jack/s01) • [8](https://www.metacritic.com/tv/gentleman-jack/critic-reviews/) |
## Subject and source material
The drama follows Anne Lister, a Halifax landowner and industrialist who returned in 1832 to her family seat, Shibden Hall, after a love affair with a married companion ended when the woman accepted a man's proposal[9](https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2019/may/19/gentleman-jack-review-suranne-jones-bbc). Lister sets out to reopen the estate's coal mines, collect rents, and find a wife, pursuing her neighbor, the heiress Ann Walker[6](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/gentleman_jack/s01) • [9](https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2019/may/19/gentleman-jack-review-suranne-jones-bbc). Lister is often described as the "first modern lesbian" because of the freedom with which she pursued love affairs with women, a reputation established when her encoded diary entries were deciphered[10](https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2019/may/17/sally-wainwright-gentleman-jack-happy-valley-last-tango-in-halifax).
The series draws directly on Lister's diaries, which record the most intimate details of her life, partly in code[2](https://rts.org.uk/article/sally-wainwright-discusses-making-gentleman-jack) • [6](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/gentleman_jack/s01). Wainwright worked with historical records and academic research and brought on Lister scholars as consultants, including series consultant Anne Choma[4](https://ijoc.org/index.php/ijoc/article/download/17218/3448) • [2](https://rts.org.uk/article/sally-wainwright-discusses-making-gentleman-jack).
## Development and production
Wainwright decided to write a television series about Lister some twenty years before broadcast, but the project was rejected by every broadcaster she took it to; the story of an openly gay woman who farmed in 19th-century rural [Yorkshire](https://www.edgepedia.org/yorkshire) was considered a non-starter by networks[7](https://rts.org.uk/article/how-sally-wainwright-brought-her-heroine-life-gentleman-jack) • [11](https://www.televisionacademy.com/features/news/mix/you-dont-know-jack). The series was originally titled *Shibden Hall* after Lister's estate home and was announced in 2017, when the BBC commissioned the London-based production company Lookout Point to produce it, with HBO named as co-producer[4](https://ijoc.org/index.php/ijoc/article/download/17218/3448).
Filming took place at Shibden Hall itself, the house where the real Lister lived, beginning in mid-2018[10](https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2019/may/17/sally-wainwright-gentleman-jack-happy-valley-last-tango-in-halifax). The folk duo O'Hooley & Tidow wrote the drama's closing song, originally for their 2012 album *The Fragile*, inspired by Lister; when the series aired, their website shop sold out of CDs[2](https://rts.org.uk/article/sally-wainwright-discusses-making-gentleman-jack) • [12](https://rts.org.uk/sites/default/files/television_october_19_low-res_v6.pdf).
## Broadcast and reception
Series one aired on BBC One from April 2019 in a Sunday primetime slot, with HBO screening it in the United States[1](https://lgbthistoryuk.org/wiki/Gentleman_Jack) • [7](https://rts.org.uk/article/how-sally-wainwright-brought-her-heroine-life-gentleman-jack). Ahead of the final episode, the BBC reported nearly six million viewers a week nationwide, including an average of nearly 600,000 in Yorkshire and [Lincolnshire](https://www.edgepedia.org/lincolnshire)[3](https://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/arts-and-culture/film-and-tv/yorkshire-drama-gentleman-jack-watched-by-600000-in-region-says-bbc-479153).
Critics responded strongly. Season one holds a 90% Tomatometer score from 52 reviews on Rotten Tomatoes, with a critics' consensus crediting [Suranne Jones](https://www.edgepedia.org/suranne-jones)'s charisma for bringing Lister to vivid life[6](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/gentleman_jack/s01). The series holds a Metascore of 78 on Metacritic, rated generally favorable[8](https://www.metacritic.com/tv/gentleman-jack/critic-reviews/). Reviewers noted the device of Lister's direct addresses to the camera, exteriorizing her inner monologue drawn from the diary, and the production's costumes, particularly Lister's top hats and black suits[13](https://www.the-independent.com/arts-entertainment/tv/reviews/gentleman-jack-review-anne-lister-suranne-jones-fleabag-a8918316.html). A Guardian review of series two, which premiered on BBC One in April 2022 after a three-year wait, called it "one of the greatest British period dramas of our time"[5](https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2022/apr/10/gentleman-jack-series-two-review-one-of-the-greatest-british-period-dramas-of-our-time?fr=operanews).
## The "Gentleman Jack effect"
The series produced measurable effects in [Calderdale](https://www.edgepedia.org/calderdale), the district containing Shibden Hall. Visitor numbers to Shibden Hall trebled while the drama was broadcasting, and Calderdale Council described the show as securing the area's place as a cultural, LGBTQ, and heritage destination[14](https://news.calderdale.gov.uk/the-gentleman-jack-effect/). A second series was confirmed during the first run, and the council cited plans to harness the show's long-term impact on tourism[3](https://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/arts-and-culture/film-and-tv/yorkshire-drama-gentleman-jack-watched-by-600000-in-region-says-bbc-479153).
The show's reach extended beyond tourism. Commentators recorded a festival in Halifax, a statue of Lister, and legions of international fans, effects collectively dubbed the "Gentleman Jack effect"[5](https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2022/apr/10/gentleman-jack-series-two-review-one-of-the-greatest-british-period-dramas-of-our-time?fr=operanews). Scholarly analysis has examined how the series brought Lister to a mass audience, prompting plaques, statues, fan art, and charity fundraising in Ann Walker's name, and how fan debate over Lister's identity ranged from claiming her as a lesbian to reading her as gender-nonconforming or non-binary[15](https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/decoding-anne-lister/from-anne-lister-to-gentleman-jack-queer-temporality-fandom-and-the-gains-and-losses-of-adaptation/D3D25E7064916C3BDF7C86D6433788E9). The subject has since been adapted in other forms, including a Northern Ballet narrative ballet choreographed by Annabelle Lopez Ochoa, which premiered at Leeds Grand Theatre[16](https://theweek.com/culture-life/theatre/gentleman-jack-northern-ballet-show-is-sensuous-and-stylish).
## References
1. [Gentleman Jack, LGBT History Project](https://lgbthistoryuk.org/wiki/Gentleman_Jack)
2. [Sally Wainwright discusses the making of Gentleman Jack, Royal Television Society](https://rts.org.uk/article/sally-wainwright-discusses-making-gentleman-jack)
3. [Yorkshire drama Gentleman Jack watched by 600,000 in region, says BBC, Yorkshire Post](https://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/arts-and-culture/film-and-tv/yorkshire-drama-gentleman-jack-watched-by-600000-in-region-says-bbc-479153)
4. [The "Gentleman-like" Anne Lister on Gentleman Jack: Queerness, Class, and Prestige in "Quality" Period Dramas, Eve Ng, International Journal of Communication (2021)](https://ijoc.org/index.php/ijoc/article/download/17218/3448)
5. [Gentleman Jack series two review, Chitra Ramaswamy, The Guardian (2022)](https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2022/apr/10/gentleman-jack-series-two-review-one-of-the-greatest-british-period-dramas-of-our-time?fr=operanews)
6. [Gentleman Jack: Season 1, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/gentleman_jack/s01)
7. [How Sally Wainwright brought her heroine to life in Gentleman Jack, Caroline Frost, Royal Television Society (2019)](https://rts.org.uk/article/how-sally-wainwright-brought-her-heroine-life-gentleman-jack)
8. [Gentleman Jack critic reviews, Metacritic](https://www.metacritic.com/tv/gentleman-jack/critic-reviews/)
9. [Gentleman Jack review: Suranne Jones rocks Halifax as the first modern lesbian, Lucy Mangan, The Guardian (2019)](https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2019/may/19/gentleman-jack-review-suranne-jones-bbc)
10. [From The Archers to HBO: how Sally Wainwright conquered TV, The Guardian (2019)](https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2019/may/17/sally-wainwright-gentleman-jack-happy-valley-last-tango-in-halifax)
11. [You Don't Know Jack, Television Academy](https://www.televisionacademy.com/features/news/mix/you-dont-know-jack)
12. [Gentleman Jack: the song, RTS Television, October 2019](https://rts.org.uk/sites/default/files/television_october_19_low-res_v6.pdf)
13. [Gentleman Jack review: Fleabag in petticoats, Ed Cumming, The Independent (2019)](https://www.the-independent.com/arts-entertainment/tv/reviews/gentleman-jack-review-anne-lister-suranne-jones-fleabag-a8918316.html)
14. [The Gentleman Jack effect, Calderdale Council News Centre](https://news.calderdale.gov.uk/the-gentleman-jack-effect/)
15. [From Anne Lister to Gentleman Jack: Queer Temporality, Fandom and the Gains and Losses of Adaptation, Decoding Anne Lister, Cambridge University Press](https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/decoding-anne-lister/from-anne-lister-to-gentleman-jack-queer-temporality-fandom-and-the-gains-and-losses-of-adaptation/D3D25E7064916C3BDF7C86D6433788E9)
16. [Gentleman Jack: Northern Ballet show is 'sensuous' and stylish, The Week (2026)](https://theweek.com/culture-life/theatre/gentleman-jack-northern-ballet-show-is-sensuous-and-stylish)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Series and fictional screen worlds › Scripted television and comedy series › Genre and subject-scripted series › Period, historical, and costume drama series › Early modern and 19th-century costume drama*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license