Reboot has style and substance

A WOMAN OF SUBSTANCE C4, 9PM

- By MIKE WARD, television critic

RAGS-TO-RICHES: Jessica Reynolds and Brenda Blethyn

THIS isn't the first time they've taken Barbara Taylor Bradford's rags-to-riches bestseller and turned it into an epic television drama.

They did it 41 years ago, when the lead role of Yorkshire maid-turned-business-magnate Emma Harte was shared by Jenny Seagrove (in the turn-of-the-century bits) and Deborah Kerr (in the contemporary ones).

Given that I have a head like a sieve, would it surprise you to learn that I can recite the opening lines of that original adaptation word-perfectly?