Sally Wainwright penned period drama will be back for more after getting big ratings, the BBC has announced
Gentleman Jack, starring Surrane Jones, may have only been on once so far, but the Beeb has already commissioned a second series.
Often broadcasters wait until the end of a run until making a decision about a show’s future, however, the BBC has clearly been impressed with the period drama’s ratings and wants more.
The first episode, which saw Suranne star as Anne Lister, attracted an impressive 5.1 million viewers when it debuted last Sunday.
On hearing the news that Gentleman Jack will be back, ex Coronation Street star Suranne said: “I’m so thrilled that I will be joining Sally Wainwright on the second part of Anne’s journey. We always dreamed there would be more and now we get to play it all out.
“A huge thank you to the BBC, HBO and Lookout Point for giving us our second series. It’s such amazing and positive news. I love working with the brilliant and talented Sophie Rundle [who plays Lister’s lover Ann Walker] and can’t wait to create some more Lister and Walker moments with her too.”
More: Suranne Jones on Anne Lister - "There's a joyfulness about her love of women"
Writer Sally Wainwright added: “It's so exciting that so many people have had such a positive response to Suranne's exuberant performance as the brilliant, life-affirming Anne Lister and to Sophie's beautiful performance as her courageous partner, Ann Walker. I'm utterly delighted that we've been recommissioned, because there are so many more big, bold stories to tell about Anne Lister and Ann Walker.”
More: Sally Wainwright talks about her time as a writer on Corrie
The eight-part second series will once again see Sally seek inspiration from Anne Lister’s real life diaries, which were partly written in code and ran to five million words.
Gentleman Jack continues with it second episode this Sunday at 9pm on BBC1.
