Somewhere on the West Yorkshire moors is what the team behind A Woman of Substance nicknamed \u201cthe sex cave\u201d. It is here that the heroine, Emma Harte, loses her virginity in the lavish new adaptation of Barbara Taylor Bradford\u2019s bonkbuster. \u201cIt\u2019s hidden away and beautiful,\u201d says the showrunner, Katherine Jakeways. \u201cThe lighting in there almost looks like AI, but it\u2019s real. Weirdly, it\u2019s about a mile from my mother-in-law\u2019s house. I haven\u2019t told her yet that it\u2019s a sex cave!\u201d<\/p>\n
This is just one of many unusual sites for sex scenes featured in the show. \u201cOh my God, I know,\u201d laughs Jessica Reynolds, who plays the young Emma. \u201cNot just the cave, but there\u2019s a little love shack, too. The cave is the most stunning location, with sunlight coming through these arching rocks. I wonder if they used it in Wuthering Heights<\/a>, too? If they didn\u2019t, they should have.\u201d<\/p>\n Thanks to Emerald Fennell\u2019s reimagining of Emily Bront\u00eb\u2019s classic<\/a>, heaving bosoms on rolling Yorkshire hills are so hot right now. A Woman of Substance duly features plenty of ye olde shagging. \u201cThe show\u2019s not afraid of sex,\u201d says Reynolds. \u201cNeither is Emma. We had the most amazing intimacy coordinator and choreographed it to the point that me and Ewan [Horrocks, who plays her aristocratic lover Edwin Fairley] became so comfortable, we were able to conjure up real romance. It\u2019s sexy, but also feels true for teenagers falling in love.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n What will her friends and family think? \u201cThey\u2019ve seen it all before,\u201d shrugs the 27-year-old from County Down in Northern Ireland. \u201cThey watched Kneecap<\/a> [the film in which she played rapper Liam \u00d3g \u00d3 hAnnaidh\u2019s girlfriend, Georgia], so they\u2019ve nothing to worry about. I find sex scenes the least nerve-racking part of the job. As a woman, you grow up in a world where you\u2019re accustomed to being seen in that way. Emotional scenes are more intimidating. Compared with those, sex scenes are an easy day.\u201d Period clothing, however, poses logistical challenges. \u201cI can feel the weight of the patriarchy on me through the corset alone,\u201d laughs Reynolds.<\/p>\n Brenda Blethyn, who plays the older Emma, was content to delegate the down-and-dirty stuff. \u201cIt\u2019s quite saucy, isn\u2019t it?\u201d chuckles Blethyn, who recently celebrated her 80th birthday. \u201cI\u2019m happy to leave that to my younger self. I suspect the audience would prefer that, too!\u201d<\/p>\n Taylor Bradford\u2019s 1979 novel was a smash hit, shifting 32m copies. \u201cI was too young, but everybody\u2019s mum was reading it,\u201d says Jakeways. \u201cI remember seeing it on every bookshelf and glass-topped coffee table.\u201d \u201cOne of my best friends read it when we were teenagers,\u201d adds the co-writer Roanne Bardsley. \u201cShe used to hide it under her pillow because it was a bit racy.\u201d<\/p>\n double quotation markI find sex scenes the least nerve-racking part of the job \u2026 Emotional scenes are more intimidatingJessica Reynolds<\/p>\n The new eight-parter isn\u2019t the first time A Woman of Substance has been adapted for TV. An Emmy-nominated 1985 miniseries, starring Jenny Seagrove, Deborah Kerr<\/a> and a fresh-faced Liam Neeson<\/a>, drew Channel 4\u2019s highest-ever ratings \u2013 13.8 million viewers. More than 40 years later, it has been remade by the same broadcaster.<\/p>\n The revival was announced shortly after Taylor Bradford\u2019s death<\/a> at 91 in November 2024, but the writer had given it her blessing. \u201cShe was very involved in the early discussions,\u201d says Jakeways. \u201cShe was thrilled it was going back to Channel 4 and keen to keep it being filmed in Yorkshire. We heard her voice in our heads throughout, guiding us.\u201d<\/p>\n An irresistibly soapy saga follows Emma\u2019s rags-to-riches journey, from a penniless teenage servant in 1911 to the world\u2019s wealthiest woman, gazing down from a luxury New York penthouse in the 1970s. \u201cEmma Harte is a force of nature and so was Barbara,\u201d says Jakeways. \u201cI only met her on Zoom, because of lockdown. She was in her amazing apartment overlooking Central Park and so glamorous. It was 7am, but she was in full makeup, with impeccable hair and jewellery. Behind her were these painted portraits of her dogs. She was everything you\u2019d hope for. It was a huge responsibility to honour her.\u201d<\/p>\n \u2018The show\u2019s not afraid of sex. We were able to conjure up real romance\u2019 \u2026 Jessica Reynolds as Emma Harte and Ewan Horrocks as Edwin Fairley in A Woman of Substance. Photograph: Sam Taylor\/Channel 4\/The Forge<\/p>\n The story also resonated with Blethyn, echoing her own background: \u201cMy mum was born in 1904 and became a skivvy in a big house. My dad was the chauffeur and that\u2019s how they met. I used to love hearing their stories, but my they worked hard. My mum advanced to become a lady\u2019s maid. Sadly, she didn\u2019t become the richest woman in the world like Emma Harte \u2026\u201d<\/p>\n After Emma is repeatedly wronged by the local toffs, her burning sense of injustice becomes a superpower. \u201cThe payback is delicious,\u201d says Bardsley. \u201cEverybody has somebody in their past who you think: I\u2019ll show them. Emma gradually learns that the Fairleys have fucked over every single member of her family. She delivers on the ultimate revenge fantasy by becoming the richest woman in the world.\u201d<\/p>\n Cue a bingeable bodice ripper, full of lust and loss, warring siblings and family feuds. As Jakeways says: \u201cIt\u2019s the sort of epic melodrama you don\u2019t get on terrestrial TV any more. It will make you laugh, cry and punch the air.\u201d Blethyn adds: \u201cIt feels like old-fashioned TV. Triumph over adversity. It\u2019s like a banquet to enjoy. A big saga with big hair.\u201d<\/p>\n The show provides a much-needed dose of escapism. As Reynolds says: \u201cModern audiences love the past because the world nowadays is so treacherous.\u201d Bardsley echoes this: \u201cIn the times we\u2019re living in, you want something to grab you, take you on a journey and make you forget about what\u2019s going on. Right now, wouldn\u2019t you love to just put something on and go \u2018Aah\u2019?\u201d<\/p>\n double quotation markIt\u2019s the sort of epic melodrama you don\u2019t get on terrestrial TV any moreBrenda Blethyn<\/p>\n Jakeways\u2019 acid test of her scripts was whether they made her cry. \u201cKatherine would weep by 11am daily,\u201d laughs Bardsley. \u201cIt\u2019s my version of a Paul Hollywood<\/a> handshake,\u201d shrugs the unrepentant Jakeways. \u201cA seal of approval. If I haven\u2019t burst into tears by coffee time, it normally means something\u2019s not working.\u201d<\/p>\n The result is Rivals meets Poldark<\/a>, with a dash of Downton and Dynasty<\/a>. \u201cThose were all influences, but it\u2019s very much its own thing,\u201d says Jakeways. \u201cIt\u2019s the story of a woman\u2019s entire life, over which she has many love affairs and a lot of great sex. But it\u2019s also about her determination to break out of the confines of her upbringing. \u201cThe true love of Emma\u2019s life is her work. We talked about Succession<\/a> a lot, in terms of the kids fighting over the business. It\u2019s like Logan Roy\u2019s origin story, but gender-flipped.<\/p>\n \u201cIts uniqueness is that it\u2019s told across two timelines. You get the majestic Yorkshire moors and the sweeping romance of young Emma. The massive bonus is that you also get the 1970s New York glamour, campness and fun of power-suited late-era Emma. I find it really moving, seeing both ends of her life. Emma spans the 20th century, which was a period of mind-blowing change, especially for women. She starts out with horse and cart, but ends up on Concorde.\u201d<\/p>\n \u2018A working-class woman who breaks glass ceilings and transcends her roots\u2019 \u2026 Emma in A Woman of Substance. Photograph: Sam Taylor\/Channel 4\/The Forge<\/p>\n It has been called \u201cthe original female empowerment story\u201d, because Emma defies expectations. \u201cShe\u2019s a feminist icon,\u201d says Jakeways. \u201cA working-class woman who breaks glass ceilings and transcends her roots. Me and Roanne both went to state schools. That social mobility element was really important to us.\u201d Bardsley nods: \u201cEmma is routinely underestimated and overlooked. She has to work 10 times harder to reach the next rung of the ladder. Most women can relate to that. It\u2019s not only about a woman with relentless ambition, but our show is made by women, too. That\u2019s still a rarity in TV drama.\u201d<\/p>\n Casting was key. Reynolds shines in her first leading role, while Blethyn, an Oscar nominee, is typically superb. \u201cThey really do resemble each other,\u201d says Bardsley. \u201cJess has a photo of her grandma who looks a lot like Brenda. And Brenda has one of her younger self, looking a lot like Jess. They\u2019re even exactly the same height \u2013 and it\u2019s an unusual height.\u201d Both actors are 5ft 1in, which was a boon for continuity.<\/p>\n double quotation markEmma is routinely underestimated and overlooked … Most women can relate to that Roanne Bardsley<\/p>\n When the two incarnations finally came face to face, it was spine-tingling. \u201cThey were never on set at the same time,\u201d says Jakeways. \u201cBut one day they met on the misty moors, both in costume, and you couldn\u2019t have scripted it. Their eyes met and the whole crew got goose bumps. Obviously, I got tearful. It felt like they were seeing ghosts, glimpsing each other\u2019s past and future. They hugged and it was magical.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cBeing faced with the pretend future version of myself was a real moment,\u201d says Reynolds. \u201cBrenda has this vigour and sass that I hope I have when I\u2019m her age.\u201d Blethyn returns the compliment: \u201cI\u2019ve never watched someone play a young me before. It\u2019s a weird feeling, but I\u2019m so proud of Jessica. Her performance is a breath of fresh air.\u201d<\/p>\n