There is only one bodice-ripping period drama that everyone is talking about at the moment – and surprisingly, it’s neither Wuthering Heights nor Bridgerton. Channel 4’s A Woman of Substance – which began airing on 11 March – has been a huge hit, with both viewers and critics alike.
But the eight-part series, based on a 1979 Barbara Taylor Bradford novel, finished on a bit of a cliffhanger. What actually happened in the end, and what does it tell us to expect in A Woman of Substance season two?
A Woman of Substance ending spoilers follow.
Channel 4
Young Emma’s revenge
In the earlier timeline, young Emma goes to the Fairley house, as they think she’s going to go into a partnership with them. But her old boss Murgatroyd finally regards her as her own independent person. As Emma kindly forgives his past behaviour, unbeknownst to her it’s a masterstroke of a move as he then reveals to her that the plan is a set-up, and the Fairleys want to rip her off.
So when she meets with the gathered family, she lets rip and reveals that she is one step ahead of them. She’s been to Lord Acton, and bartered her own deal with him, cutting the Fairleys out, and securing herself as the real entrepreneur of the business. Then, she takes on each of her grievances with each of the family members.
But the real, show-stopping part of her masterplan leaves the family totally slack-jawed: she’s bought Fairley Hall, their family home for centuries. Her first act now she’s the landlady is to evict them all, stopping just short of rubbing her hands together and cackling “bahahahahha” at them. What a revenge. What a woman.
Afterwards, her former lover Edwin tells her: “If you think this feud has been brutal up to now, well you haven’t seen anything yet… so I promise you now, whether it’s next year or in 50 years, when you’re least expecting it, somehow the Fairleys will take back this house”. Welp.
This means that Emma, in all her future successes, will never know peace. At some point, somebody from the Fairley family will be out to destroy it all. Better sleep with one eye open, Emma.
Channel 4
Older Emma’s showdown
Neatly taking place in the same dining room in Fairley Hall all those decades ago, the older Emma is forced into another showdown, but this time it’s with her children. In a very Succession-esque manner, she informs them that they’ve been given a mere £1 million from the empire for double-crossing her – she’s using money as power (once again) and silencing them, just as she did the Fairleys.
But that scheme was revenge, and for her to treat her own children (even though they’ve objectively mistreated her) in the same way highlights that generational ruptures can be just as fierce within families, and that Emma views her children as traitors, and the enemy now too.
The person who will inherit her entire fortune is…. her granddaughter, Paula (Mara Huf). But rather than be elated, Paula looks conflicted and awkward about it all.
What’s more, Emma tells her daughter, Edwina, that Mac isn’t her dad – it’s actually Edwin Fairley.
“You’ve turned out to be living proof that no Fairley can be trusted,” Emma says, really digging in that knife. But there’s an even bigger shock that Emma couldn’t have predicted: after all the deeds to the business have been signed into Paula’s name, Paula reveals that she eloped with Jim Fairley, and not only are they married, but Paula is pregnant, a fact that Jim smirks about when he confronts Emma outside the hall.
This means that after years of the feud, the two sworn-enemy families are united forever, and everything that Emma’s sacrificed to create for her family, and to hand over to Paula, will now be owned, by marriage, to the Fairleys.
“What’s hers is mine, and all that,” he quips, meaning that Edwin’s threat two generations ago has come to pass, and that his great-grandson has now won Fairley Hall back for the family once again.
The betrayal! The double crossing! The look on Brenda Blethyn’s face! Incredible.
Now we just need to wait for series two, to find out what on Earth is going to happen next…
Channel 4
What will happen in season 2 of A Woman of Substance?
After that wild cliffhanger, we were sure that details of A Woman of Substance season two would be revealed quickly. But as of the time of writing, a second series hasn’t officially been confirmed yet by Channel 4.
At a launch event for the series, co-writer Roanne Bardsley explained that the first series only covers the first half of the original novel, so it stands to reason that a second series could cover the second half of the story.
The second novel in the seven-part series, Hold the Dream, is all about Paula’s taking over of the company, so the story could move on to include the plot from this, too.
We discuss spoilers from the book from this point.
According to the plot of the book, Paula ends up running the Harte chain of department stores, however her marriage to Jim Fairley – as could be predicted – is a disaster, and she ends up with her childhood sweetheart instead, who in the novel is called Shane O’Neill, grandson of that character Mac, renamed in the 2026 TV series.
Mac has a whole book dedicated to him later in the series called A Man of Honour, which follows his childhood as an orphan born in County Kerry, Ireland, to joining the navy, and to when his life became entwined with Emma Harte.
Paula also has to deal with devious family members, including her cousin Jonathan Ainsley making things difficult for her, and her life begins to echo the tragedy and betrayal of her grandmother. But she remembers her grandma’s strong persona, and how she fought for her place in the world, and approaches events with the same strength and tenacity as her relative.
Channel 4
Who would be in the cast for A Woman of Substance season 2?
Again, as yet, nothing has been confirmed. But if another season was to go ahead, we’d assume Brenda Blethyn as the older Emma and Jessica Reynolds as younger Emma (if the dual timeline continues) would return.
With Paula as the new boss, we’d imagine that would mean Mara Huf will return as Paula, as will her new hubby Jim (Toby Regbo).
Sadly, we wouldn’t be seeing any more of Will Mellor as Emma’s dad, as the character died after the fire in the Mill. Leanne Best, who played the troubled alcoholic Adele Fairley, and Philip Hill-Pearson, who played Joe Lowther, Emma’s husband, killed in the war, would also probably not return.
Again, nothing has been confirmed, but even if it is green-lit, it’s unlikely it’ll be on screens for quite some time.
Like the Fairley family and their revenge – we’d be in for a long wait.
A Woman of Substance is available to stream in full on Channel 4 now.
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