Barbara Taylor Bradford’s A Woman of Substance is to be adapted into a new television drama by The Buccaneers writers Katherine Jakeways and Roanne Bardsley.
Produced by The Forge Entertainment (National Treasure, Help, Generation Z), the “8-part revenge romp” for Channel 4 will be a re-imagining of the bestselling novel.
“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,” explained Katherine Jakeways, showrunner and writer.
“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.”
That original adaptation, 40 years ago, was Emmy-nominated and became Channel 4’s biggest ever drama.
The story begins with Emma Harte in 1911, as an impoverished, ambitious maid in Yorkshire, England, and follows her irresistible and dizzying climb to become the world’s richest woman, gazing down on her sprawling empire from a luxury New York penthouse.
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“Emma Harte’s superpower is weaponising the degree to which men underestimate her,” said Ollie Madden, Director of Film4 and Channel 4 Drama.
“Watching her do that through the decades, experiencing her epic journey from housemaid to mogul, promises to be as thrillingly entertaining as it is fiercely relevant. We couldn’t be more excited to bring Barbara Taylor Bradford’s classic creation to life again via the brilliance of Katherine Jakeways and Roanne Bardsley’s sparkling scripts, alongside our trusted partners at The Forge.”
The 8×60” series is being made by The Forge Entertainment, part of Banijay UK. Beth Willis, Joe Innes and Katherine Jakeways are the executive producers. Roanne Bardsley is Co-Executive Producer. Charlie Palmer (Extraordinary, Agatha Raisin) is producer and John Hardwick (The Buccaneers, One Day, The A Word) will direct.
Barbara Taylor Bradford, the Leeds-born novelist died at the age of 91 in November 2024.
A Woman of Substance is one of her most famous of novels, going from bestseller to super seller within its first year and it stayed on The New York Times’ list for 43 weeks.
Since it was published in 1979 by Granada Publishing, now HarperCollins in the UK, and Doubleday in USA, it has sold 82m copies, in 90 countries and has been translated into over 40 languages.
“It was always Barbara’s dream to see A Woman of Substance reimagined, as this book – along with her 39 others – features compelling plot lines, which are perfect for television drama,” said Vicki Downey, Trustee of The Barbara Taylor Bradford Trust.
“In many ways, A Woman of Substance was one of the first female empowerment novels, portraying a woman driven not by love or the pursuit of it, but by her determination to gain power, protect and provide for others, and, above all, to succeed. It is a classic of its genre.”
Casting will be announced at a later date.
