Channel 4 has renewed A Woman of Substance for an eight-part second series, with Brenda Blethyn and Jessica Reynolds returning as the older and younger versions of Emma Harte. Based on the best-selling novel by Barbara Taylor Bradford, the drama follows Emma’s rise from a penniless maid in early 20th-century Yorkshire to the powerful head of an international business empire in the 1970s.
Filming on the new episodes is due to begin in Yorkshire later this year.
After being betrayed by her aristocratic lover Edwin Fairley, played by Ewan Horrocks, and abandoned when she becomes pregnant, young Emma vows to build a better life and take revenge on the family who cast her aside. The first series followed Emma, played by Jessica Reynolds, as she left Fairley Hall and began building her future empire. Along the way, she faced war, loss and pressure from the Fairley family, while the older Emma, played by Brenda Blethyn, fought to protect everything she had built.
The series averaged approximately three million viewers per episode and became Channel 4 streaming’s most-watched drama in five years, since It’s a Sin. Its finale revealed that Emma’s granddaughter and chosen heir, Paula Amory, played by Mara Huf, had secretly married Jim Fairley, played by Toby Regbo. The marriage threatens to undo Emma’s lifelong revenge against the Fairleys and places the future of her company at risk.
Series 2 will rejoin the younger Emma as she emerges from the First World War and enters the rapidly changing world of the 1920s. Her ambition for the Harte name remains as strong as ever, but she will face further loss, unexpected betrayals and a complicated relationship with the charismatic Paul McGill. Casting for the role has not yet been announced.
In the 1970s storyline, the older Emma will continue her battle to regain control of her life’s work from Jim Fairley, as tensions within her family place everything she has built under further threat.
Katherine Jakeways will return to write the new series alongside Roanne Bardsley, with both also serving as executive producers. Richard Senior, who directed the final three episodes of Series 1, will return to direct the new instalment. Jakeways and Bardsley said that they were delighted to return to the character, teasing that “the higher she climbs, the greater the risks” as Emma’s story continues.
Gwawr Lloyd, Channel 4’s Interim Head of Drama, said the new series would continue Emma’s story with the “ambition, drama and family intrigue” that made the first run such a success.
For CultureCues, the renewal is hardly surprising after the response to the first series. Reynolds and Blethyn both brought different sides of Emma Harte to the screen, from the determined young maid beginning her rise to the formidable businesswoman fighting to protect her legacy. With family betrayal, a new romance and more revenge ahead, we will certainly be returning to the Harte empire for Series 2.
Series 1 of A Woman of Substance is available to stream on Channel 4. A release date for Series 2 has not yet been announced.
Nikki Murray is a UK-based writer, screenwriter and founder & editor of CultureCues, covering film, television, music and pop culture. Her work focuses on storytelling and the moments shaping modern entertainment.