'A Woman of Substance' Casts 'Vera's Brenda Blethyn

The 1979 debut novel of British author Barbara Taylor Bradford, A Woman of Substance, was a massive hit. The first in what became the “Emma Harte Cycle,” a seven-novel saga tracing the fictional heroine’s rise from country housemaid to Wall Street mogul, sold 30 million copies and made Taylor Bradford a household name. Naturally, it was picked up for a TV miniseries adaptation, as this was the heyday of the format, with the original 1980 version of Shogun, the 1982 Brideshead Revisited, and the 1984 The Jewel in the Crown being massive TV successes at the time. Now Channel 4 is reviving the series, with Vera’s Brenda Blethyn in the lead role.

Blethyn steps into the role of the older Emma Harte, made famous by Scottish actor Deborah Kerr, who is renowned in Scotland as the first person ever from the country to be nominated for an Academy Award. She’ll be joined by up-and-coming actor Jessica Reynolds (Kneecap), who plays Harte during her teenage years. Along with the announcement, Blethyn released a statement, saying: “I’m overjoyed to be taking on this iconic role, in the footsteps of the great Deborah Kerr. As a fan of Barbara Taylor Bradford, it is an unmissable opportunity to play the fierce Emma Harte.” 

Unlike the aforementioned series, A Woman of Substance never made it to U.S. national television despite being the hit that put the then-nascent Channel 4 on the map. Due to the network’s limited clout, it ultimately licensed the initial three-parter to a single independent station in the New York City area, just enough to qualify for Emmy consideration. (It won two, but ironically, it lost out on Best Drama to The Jewel in the Crown.) While most Anglophiles have probably seen it since, along with sequels Hold the Dream and To Be the Best, the lack of a built-in U.S. fandom means that, for now, this new version is only coming to Channel 4, with no American co-producer involved.

Here is the series' synopsis:

1911. Emma Harte, an impoverished, ambitious maid in Yorkshire, England, goes on a dizzying journey to become the world’s richest woman, gazing down from a sprawling luxury New York penthouse. A rags-to-riches tale of women through the 20th century, Emma defies the expectations of her society, fearlessly challenging the roles she's given, smashing glass ceilings, and never, ever deviating from her master plan: Get to the top. Whatever it takes.

Blethyn and Reynolds are joined by an ensemble cast that includes Lydia Leonard (Wolf Hall) as Olivia Wainwright, Will Mellor (Mr Bates vs the Post Office) as Jack Harte, Sophie Bould (Call The Midwife) as Elizabeth Harte, and Lenny Rush (Doctor Who) as Frank Harte. Supporting cast includes Emmett J Scanlan (MobLand) as Adam Fairley, Leanne Best (This City Is Ours) as Adele Fairley, Ewan Horrocks (Domina) as Edwin Fairley, Harry Cadby (Everything Now) as Gerald Fairley, Toby Regbo (Belgravia) as Jim Fairley, Niall Wright (Hope Street) as Mac, Robert Wilfort (Bridgerton) as Murgatroyd, Hiftu Quasem (Ten Percent) as Priya Chandra, and Georgina Sadler (Boarders) as Polly.

Katherine Jakeways and Roanne Bardsley, the team behind Apple TV+'s remake of The Buccaneers, penned all eight episodes of the updated version of A Woman of Substance; John Hardwick, who directed several episodes of the Apple TV+ series, has been announced to helm the first block of filming. Jakeways and Bardsley executive produce alongside Barbara Taylor Bradford, Beth Willis, Joe Innes, and George Faber.

Filming for A Woman of Substance is currently underway in Yorkshire. The new series does not yet have an American distributor, but is expected to be out in 2026 on Channel 4.