Channel 4 to remake beloved 'revenge romp' period drama series
Channel 4 has commissioned an eight-part reimagining of Barbara Taylor Bradford's novel A Woman of Substance, which was first adapted by the broadcaster four decades ago in 1979.
The original series, which aired in three parts, starred Jenny Seagrove and Liam Neeson and was watched by 13 million people in 1985, making it Channel 4's most-viewed show to date.
The story follows the rise of an impoverished maid named Emma Harte from her humble beginnings in rural Yorkshire in 1911 to becoming the world's richest woman after launching a retail empire.
Casting for the series is yet to be announced. Katherine Jakeways and Roanne Bardsley, who penned Apple TV+'s period romance The Buccaneers, will adapt the novel.
The announcement comes three months after the death of Taylor Bradford, aged 91, last November.
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Vicki Downey, trustee of the Barbara Taylor Bradford Trust, told The Times that it was Taylor's dream to see the book reimagined. "It is a classic of its genre," Vicki said. "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."
A Woman of Substance is one of ten of Taylor's novels to have been adapted for the small screen. According to The Times, the remaining six books in the Emma Harte series could be adapted by Channel 4 if the reboot proves successful.
The synopsis for the novel series reads: "In the brooding moors above a humble Yorkshire village stood Fairley Hall. There, Emma Harte, its oppressed but resourceful servant girl, acquired a shrewd determination. There, she honed her skills, discovered the meaning of treachery, learned to survive, to become a woman, and vowed to make her mark on the world.
"In the wake of tragedy she rose from poverty to magnificent wealth as the iron-willed force behind a thriving international enterprise. As one of the richest women in the world Emma Harte has almost everything she fought so hard to achieve-save for the dream of love, and for the passion of the one man she could never have."
It continues: "Through two marriages, two devastating wars, and generations of secrets, Emma's unparalleled success has come with a price. As greed, envy, and revenge consume those closest to her, the brilliant matriarch now finds herself poised to outwit her enemies, and to face the betrayals of the past with the same ingenious resolve that forged her empire."
