First-look: Blethyn in Channel 4's A Woman of Substance

Channel 4 has released first-look images of Brenda Blethyn as Emma Harte for its upcoming eight-episode remake of A Woman of Substance, adapted from Barbara Taylor Bradford’s 1979 novel. Blethyn plays the older, glamorous Emma while Jessica Reynolds portrays the younger version; filming in Yorkshire has wrapped and the series is set to air next year with no exact date announced. The drama, beginning in 1911, follows a Yorkshire kitchen maid who builds a retail empire in a rags-to-riches feminist tale first adapted for television in the mid-1980s. The ensemble cast includes Emmett J. Scanlan, Lydia Leonard, Leanne Best, Ewan Horrocs, Will Mellor, Niall Wright and Lenny Rush, and scripts are by Katherine Jakeways with Roanne Bardsley co-writing. Blethyn, who recently ended a 14-year run as ITV’s Vera Stanhope, said she was “overjoyed” to take on the iconic role.