A New 'A Woman of Substance' Commissioned, One of 5 New Series for 2025

The mid-2020s have already been a brutal time for the entertainment industry, as the downslope from peak TV suddenly gets steep for several struggling production studios. Between Netflix's domination reaching global levels, uncertain economies, and unfriendly environments, there are a lot of networks going through dark times right now. That's why we have to celebrate the wins where we find them, in places like Channel 4, which doubled its drama budget in the wake of Labour's win in July 2024, which signaled the end of the threat of a government sale. That extra money has produced a high-profile slate for 2025, including a remake of the network's most successful series in history, A Woman of Substance.

Anyone who lived through the 1980s and ever went inside a bookstore or stood in the supermarket checkout line will recognize the paperback cover of A Woman of Substance. Released in 1979, the debut novel of the late British author Barbara Taylor Bradford was the first in the "Emma Harte Cycle," a seven-novel saga tracing the fictional heroine's rise from country housemaid to Wall Street mogul. The first three novels — the second and third being Hold The Dream and To Be The Best — were adapted by Channel 4 as miniseries between 1984 and 1992. However, the sequels never topped the original, which aired to a whopping 14 million viewers in the U.K., and won two Emmys in the States in 1985.

The series starred Jenny Seagrove as Emma Harte and Deborah Kerr as the older Harte looking back across her life. Barry Bostwick was the leading love interest, but the series is notable for featuring young Liam Neeson and Miranda Richardson. However, despite the Emmy wins, most Americans probably did not see A Woman of Substance until much later on VHS, as the series never aired nationally on PBS.

Here's Channel 4's synopsis of the remake:

Channel 4’s biggest ever drama when it was made 40 years ago, this new eight-part revenge romp is a re-imagining of the multi-million bestselling novel and global phenomenon written by Barbara Taylor Bradford, which feels just as searingly relevant today as it did back then. 

We meet the magnetic Emma Harte in 1911, as an impoverished, ambitious maid in Yorkshire, England, and follow her irresistible and dizzying climb to become the world’s richest woman, gazing down on her sprawling empire from a luxury New York penthouse.  The background to Emma Harte’s rags-to-riches rise is the tale of women through the 20th century, as Emma defies the expectations of her society, fearlessly challenging the roles she's given, smashing glass ceilings, and never, ever deviating from her masterplan: Get to the top. Whatever it takes. A housemaid-turned-mogul, daughter, mother, lover, fighter and a 20th century feminist icon who refused to know her ‘place’, Emma Harte returns to Channel 4 once again to delight and scandalise audiences.

No cast is attached as yet, only that The Buccaneers writer/showrunner Katherine Jakeways is adapting it with co-writer Roanne Bardsley. More is expected in due course. If I were a betting woman, I would guess this one will com to PBS, if not become a Masterpiece co-production.

However, that's just the first of five new dramas Channel 4 is making in 2025. 

The uncertainty around Channel 4 under a Tory government lost the network one of its more anticipated series for 2025: the Derry Girls follow-up How to Get to Heaven from Belfast, which Netflix scooped out from under them during the crisis. While The Rachel Incident, based on the best-selling novel of the same name by Caroline O’Donoghue, isn't exactly a one-to-one substitution, the synopsis suggests its greenlighting was inspired by the desire to have another Irish hit in the same vein.

Rachel is a student working at a bookstore when she meets James, and it is love at first sight. Effervescent and insistently heterosexual, James soon invites Rachel to be his roommate, and the two begin a friendship that changes their lives forever. Together, they run riot through the streets of Cork City, trying to maintain a bohemian existence while the threat of the financial crash looms before them. When Rachel falls in love with her married professor, Dr. Fred Byrne, James helps her devise a reading at their local bookstore, with the goal that she might seduce him afterward. But Fred has other desires. So begins a series of secrets and compromises that intertwine the fates of James, Rachel, Fred, and Fred's glamorous, well-connected wife, Deenie. 

O’Donoghue is set to adapt her own work into the eight-episode series with Jen Statsky (Hacks). If I had to guess where this might go, I'd say Netflix or Hulu.

Most British contemporary legal dramas don't do well in the States. Something about the wigs and robes just does not work for U.S. viewers, who like their Law & Order style series set anywhere but the U.K. However, Pierre has something going for it that may well solve the issue by making it part of the show's framework: it will star David Harewood, a household name in America for his work on Showtime and in insurance commercials, as the titular Duty Solicitor (the British term for a court-appointed lawyer). Here's the synopsis:

West London duty solicitor Pierre is a force of nature: charming and funny, a glamorous character in an unglamorous profession, juggling the pressures of his job, a fragile personal life and just keeping his head above water financially. His resilience is tested when he begins investigating the suspicious death of a young black client, Michael. As Pierre challenges the police's portrayal of Michael as a criminal, he unravels a chilling web of institutional corruption… When you come at the system, the system comes at you…

This contemporary legal drama will follow Pierre as he risks everything—his career, his family, and his sense of self — to expose the truth. Each episode will also feature individual legal stories with unexpected twists that push Pierre and his team to their limits. Against the backdrop of legal aid cuts, the practice struggles to survive, often bending the law to fight for their clients' rights.

The six-part series comes from Roy Williams (Soon Gone: The Windrush Chronicles), the Award-winning Black British playwright, co-writing with John Donnelly, for whom this is about raising awareness of the British legal system. “Duty solicitors are the unsung heroes of the legal profession. Overworked, underpaid. They can be called out anytime, never knowing who or what lies in store for them. They are full of stories, it's a thrill to tell them.” This one feels very BritBox's lane.

We might not have been so impressed with Harry and Jack Williams' one-two punch of The Tourist Season 2. and Boat Story in 2023, but Channel 4 loves the brothers responsible for such shows as The Missing and Baptiste. However, this commission will have them only as executive producers, with writer and actor Daisy Haggard (who recently starred in Boat Story) as the creative force behind and star of the new thriller Maya.

The original series follows the story of mother and daughter as they are forced into witness protection to escape a dangerous threat. Leaving their lives in London behind, Anna and her teenage daughter Maya must take on new identities and relocate to a small rural town. As they try to adjust to their new reality, the trauma of their past continues to haunt them, and the sinister presence of two hitmen leaves a trail of unease as they search for the missing mother and daughter. As the walls close in on them, it becomes clear that the dangerous figure from their past is still a looming threat.

Interwoven with warmth, humor, and the unbreakable bond between mother and daughter, Maya explores identity, predatory male behavior, and the lengths a parent will go to protect their child. With compelling performances and a darkly comedic, atmospheric tone, the series promises to be an unmissable psychological thriller. As Anna and Maya navigate their new world, the question remains: will the system protect them? Will they ever truly be safe, or will they have to go to extraordinary lengths to protect themselves?

Haggard will star as Anna, with more casting to be announced in due course. I would expect Prime or Netflix to end up with this one.

Last but not least, Channel 4 has greenlit a straight romance miniseries from award-winning scriptwriter Jack Thorne (Joy). This series is notable because it's the only new series not titled after a character's first name when you would totally think the romance series, out of all of them, would be the show for that. No, in his very literal Jack Thorne way, his show will be titled Falling. But then again, this isn't exactly your regularly scheduled romance series. Check out the synopsis:

Anna is a devoted nun who has spent most of her adult life in a convent whilst David, a catholic priest, is at the top of his game, committed to his work in the church and the Bristol community that surrounds it. Neither are expected to fall in love… However, when they do, both Anna and David are forced to wrestle with what it means for them, their vows, and their relationship with God.

Falling is a contemporary and deeply romantic drama that will surprise you in its study of faith in modern society as well as moving you to tears with its honesty and its heart.

No cast as yet, but Thorne will pen all six episodes with Peter Hoar (It’s A Sin) directing. Falling is executive produced by Thorne, George Ormond, and George Faber. This one is a hard call, but I'll bet if Masterpiece doesn't scoop it up, it'll end up on BritBox.