The 8 x 60′ drama is adapted by Katherine Jakeways from Barbara Taylor Bradford’s novels

Production is getting underway in Yorkshire on a new Channel 4 adaptation of A Woman of Substance, based on the novels by Barbara Taylor Bradford.

Adapted by showrunner Katherine Jakeways and co-written by Roanne Bardsley, the 8 x 60’ drama is from The Forge Entertainment (a Banijay UK company).

The rags-to-riches saga centres on Emma Harte, beginning in 1911 when she is an impoverished maid in Yorkshire, and following her defiant climb as she becomes a 20th century feminist icon and the world’s wealthiest woman.

Beth Willis, Joe Innes and Jakeways are the executive producers; Roanne Bardsley is co-executive producer. Charlie Palmer is producer and John Hardwick directs.

Showrunner Jakeways said at the time of the commissioning news: “I was a child in the ’80s, when A Woman of Substance was on every bookstand, every glass-topped coffee table and hidden, well-thumbed, under every pillow.

“The original Channel 4 adaptation was packed full of rolling Yorkshire hills, hairspray, shoulder pads and heaving bosoms and I desperately wanted in. So, it’s an incredible thrill for me to be bringing this blockbusting, epic saga of ambition, lust and revenge back to exactly where it belongs… Channel 4. And, we hope, doing justice to those twin feminist icons: the unstoppable Emma Harte and the original, inspirational Woman of Substance herself… Barbara Taylor Bradford.”

Exec producer Willis added: “Katherine’s delicious, funny and observant writing is a joy to read – and in her and Roanne Bardsley’s brilliant hands Emma Harte is as fabulous as ever. A Woman of Substance is an all-you-can-eat-banquet of drama for contemporary audiences who – like Emma Harte – want it all.”