Jack is coming back! HBO and BBC just renewed Gentleman Jack for a second season. The first season introduced us to Anne Lister (Suranne Jones), a woman determined to save her family’s estate. Her intrusion into high society and courtship of the wealthy Ann Walker (Sophie Rundle) is based on the real Lister’s encoded (now decoded) diaries about her personal life (she’s often called the “first modern lesbianâ€) and her business dealings. Her rejection of social norms and propensity to dress in black from head to toe (seriously, a mood) made her life ripe for a TV adaptation. The first season still has three episodes to go and will conclude the eight-episode season on June 10 on HBO.
“I’m so thrilled that I will be joining Sally Wainwright on the second part of Anne’s journey,†Jones said in a release from HBO. “We always dreamed there would be more, and now we get to play it all out.†Gentleman Jack was created, written, and directed by Sally Wainwright, who previously worked on Happy Valley. She said she was “utterly delighted that we’ve been recommissioned†for a second season. The show also stars Gemma Jones (God’s Own Country, Bridget Jones’ Diary), Timothy West (Last Tango in Halifax, Bleak House), and Gemma Whelan (Game of Thrones, The Moorside). Lister’s 4 million–word journals should be more than enough material for another season of at least eight episodes.