Gentleman Jack is coming back to HBO and BBC for Season 2 after the eight-episode debut season.
Gentleman Jack Season 1 — created by Sally Wainwright and co-produced by HBO and BBC One — premiered on HBO in April 2019. The show then premiered on BBC One in May 2019.
Gentleman Jack, which follows the life of the lesbian landowner Anne Lister (played by Suranne Jones) in the early 1800s, was the BBC’s bigger drama launch in 2019, with an average overnight audience of 5.1 million viewers.
Gentleman Jack debuted on HBO to positive reviews and favorable audience response, with a critical review approval rating of 90 percent and an audience approval rating of 94 percent on Rotten Tomatoes.
The series was nominated for multiple awards and won the TVTimes Award for Favourite Drama and the Royal Television Society Award for Best Drama Series.
Season 1 ended with Ann Walker (Sophie Rundle) agreeing to marry Anne Lister. She also agrees to move into Shibden Hall with Lister.
Thomas Sowden (Tom Lewis) also marries Suzannah Washington (Amy James-Kelly).
This article provides everything that is known about Gentleman Jack Season 2 and all related news. As such, this article will be updated over time with news, rumors, and analysis. Meanwhile, let’s dig down into what is known so far.
- Edited on Nov. 8: Production resumes
Is there going to be a Season 2 of Gentleman Jack?
Yes, Gentleman Jack is returning for Season 2, which consists of eight episodes.
BBC One and HBO announced the renewal of the series for Season 2 on May 23, 2019, after the first episode of Season 1 had aired on the British channel.
Gentleman Jack resumes production
Gentleman Jack Season 2 has resumed production in the U.K. under COVID-19 guidelines for the country.
According to the reports, production restarted on November 6, 2020. There were also photos released from the new shooting set from the show.
“I’m so happy to be back in beautiful Yorkshire, back with my favorite team, back with Sophie and this amazing cast and of course I’m so honored to be returning as Anne Lister. Sally’s scripts are detailed and wonderfully human as ever,” actress Suranne Jones said.
Release date latest: When is Gentleman Jack Season 2 likely to come out?
BBC and HBO have not yet announced a release date for Gentleman Jack Season 2. But after BBC quickly renewed the show for another season, fans were hoping for a quick return.
But things haven’t gone as fans expected.
The producers originally planned to start filming in June 2020, but due to the coronavirus pandemic shutdown, preparations for filming could not start as previously scheduled. This forced the producers to delay filming until September.
Lookout Point TV, the company producing Gentleman Jack, announced the delay on Twitter on March 20.
“Reluctantly we have decided to delay the start of production of Gentleman Jack series two due to the ongoing Covid-19 emergency. Huge thanks to our cast and crew, and our incredible, inspiring fans for their understanding. Sending everyone a bit of Anne Lister’s strength and energy at this difficult time.”
Gemma Whelan, who plays Marian on the series, told Digital Spy back in April that, “I do know that we were meant to start filming in June, and of course because of the current situation [Covid-19], that has currently been pushed to September…”
If production resumes in September as currently scheduled, then fans can expect Season 2 to premiere on BBC One in the UK and HBO in the U.S. sometime in early to mid-2021.
Gentleman Jack Season 2 cast updates
The main cast of Season 1 is expected to return for Season 2.
Suranne Jones will return as Anne Lister, while Sophie Rundle will reprise her role as her lesbian partner Ann Walker.
Gemma Whelan will return as Marian, Gemma Jones as Aunt Anne, Peter Davison as William Priestley, and Amelia Bullmore as Eliza Priestley.
Others expected to return for Season 2 include Timothy West as Captain Jeremy Lister, Rosie Cavaliero as Elizabeth Cordingley, Joe Armstrong as Samuel Washington, and Tom Lewis as Thomas Sowden.
What is Gentleman Jack about?
Gentleman Jack is set in Halifax, West Yorkshire in 1832. The story is based on the real-life diaries of Anne Lister, a lesbian landowner and industrialist who lived on the Shibden Hall estate that she inherited from her uncle.
Lister’s diaries, originally written in a secret code that was later decoded, tell the story of her lesbian relationships and her struggle to restore her uncle’s estate that included a coal mine.
She was also looking out for a marriage partner. However, her preference for a lesbian relationship set her at odds with her cultural environment
Gentleman Jack Season 2 plot
In Season 1, Anne and Ann agree to tie the knot. It ended with them starting their lives together.
Show creator Sally Wainwright teased in an interview with Digital Spy that in Gentleman Jack Season 2, Anne and Ann will move into Shibden Hall together. The next season will follow their lives together as a married same-sex couple. It will focus on how they manage their relationship in the context of a hostile anti-LGBTQ society.
Wainwright told Digital Spy:
“They move into Shibden together in series two and it’s about how they negotiate their married life, conspicuously in public, and how they deal with their detractors and the effect that has on their relationship as well.”
Wainright added that the upcoming season is relevant today when there is an ongoing conversation about educating school children about gender, sexuality, and LGBTQ to promote tolerance.
The upcoming season will also explore the evolving power dynamic between them, according to Wainwright.
Gentleman Jack Season 2 should return to BBC One in 2021.