CLASS act

BRENDA BLETHYN and JESSICA REYNOLDS on TV's latest reimagining of a bestselling revenge romp

-  CAREN CLARK

When British-American author Barbara Taylor Bradford's debut novel A Woman of Substance was published in 1979, it instantly captured imaginations with its sweeping portrayal of single-minded maid Emma Harte's dizzying rise from poverty to unimaginable wealth.

Now, over 40 years after Jenny Seagrove and Deborah Kerr starred in C4's acclaimed 1985 adaptation of the story, a new version on the channel is bringing it to life again.

The eight-episode epic sees Brenda Blethyn as Emma, who in 1975, at almost 80, is the world's richest woman and runs Harte Enterprises in New York City with support from her equally ambitious granddaughter, Paula Amory (played by Mara Huf).

But when she learns that her children, such as self-centred daughter Edwina, Countess of Dunvale (Rosie Cavaliero), are plotting a coup, Emma reflects on the challenges she overcame to forge her business empire.

As the action flashes back to 1911, we find a teenage Emma (Jessica Reynolds) living in Yorkshire with her impoverished family – including stoic father Jack (Will Mellor) and studious brother Frank (Lenny Rush) – and working as a housemaid at Fairley Hall, the home of respected mill owner Adam Fairley (Emmett J Scanlan) and his fragile wife, Adele (Leanne Best).

But when Emma embarks on a forbidden romance with the Fairleys' besotted son Edwin (Ewan Horrocks) and falls pregnant, the consequences spark her unrelenting bid for revenge on her employers and motivate her mission to rise to the top.

Here, Brenda, who portrayed DCI Vera Stanhope in ITV's hit crime drama Vera from 2011 to 2025, and House of Guinness actor Jessica give us their take on the tale...