Suranne Jones (left) and Sophie Rundle as Anne Lister and Ann Walker
PHOTOS BBC/LOOKOUT POINT/MATT SQUIRE
I’m on my way from Edinburgh to Halifax, staring out of the window at the rolling green hills of West Yorkshire. Though we’re still a good half hour from our destination – the grade two listed Shibden Hall, and the setting for new BBC and HBO drama Gentleman Jack – I already feel like I’ve stepped into a Sally Wainwright series.
It’s a blustery September morning – blawin’ a hoolie, as we say in Scotland – but Storm Ali and the inevitable train delays couldn’t keep me from being here, from this picturesque valley, because I’ve been waiting a long time to meet Anne Lister, one of the most formidable women in history and someone described as “thefirst modern lesbian”.