‘Gentleman Jack’ recap: What happened in Episode 1?

Gentleman Jack began on BBC One in the UK tonight.

Based on the diaries of Anne Lister, played by Doctor Foster star Suranne Jones, the series is created, written and directed by Last Tango In Halifax creator Sally Wainwright.

Here’s a plot recap for the first episode, which aired at 9pm on Sunday 19th May 2019:

Halifax, 1832. Anne Lister (Suranne Jones) returns from Hastings to Shibden Hall, having discovered that her would-be companion and lover, the aristocratic Vere Hobart (Jodhi May), has accepted a marriage proposal from a man.

Despite her affection for her elderly aunt (Gemma Jones), Anne is frustrated by the shabbiness of her ancestral home and finds her father (Timothy West) and long-suffering sister (Gemma Whelan) difficult to live with.

A visit from her ex-lover Mariana Lawton (Lydia Leonard) compounds Anne’s fear that she is destined to be alone.

However, when Anne discovers that her land is rich in coal, her plans to transform the estate soon provide a welcome distraction from her broken heart.

On the neighbouring estate, Crow Nest, shy heiress Ann Walker (Sophie Rundle) is quietly delighted to hear that charismatic Anne Lister is back.

Meanwhile, Anne’s servants and tenants have problems of their own.

A hit-and-run accident on Shibden land puts a child’s life at risk, and Anne’s French maid Eugénie finds herself in trouble.

The book The Secret Diaries of Miss Anne Lister is available to buy on Amazon.