A Woman of Substance Press Pack

Synopsis 

Based on the best-selling novel by Barbara Taylor Bradford OBE, A Woman of Substance is an epic drama spanning six decades, charting the rise of Emma Harte from penniless Yorkshire maid in the early 1900s to powerful 1970s business mogul. 

Betrayed by her aristocratic lover and cast out when she becomes pregnant, young Emma vows a lifelong revenge on the family she once worked for and who underestimated her. Through love, loss, war, and unrelenting ambition, Emma amasses power, outwits rivals, and shapes her own destiny. 

In the 1970s, as she approaches her 80th birthday, betrayal from within Emma’s own family threatens everything she’s fought a lifetime to build.

Produced by The Forge, a Banijay UK company. 
 

CAST CREDITS
Emma Harte – Brenda Blethyn
Young Emma Harte – Jessica Reynolds
Adam Fairley – Emmett J.Scanlan
Olivia Wainwright – Lydia Leonard
Adele Fairley – Leanne Best
Gerald Fairley – Harry Cadby
Edwin Fairley – Ewan Horrocks
Jack Harte – Will Mellor
Frank Harte – Lenny Rush
Mac O’Neill – Niall Wright
Jim Fairley – Toby Regbo
Joe Lowther – Philip Hill-Pearson
Paula Amory – Mara Huf
Elizabeth Ainsley-Harte – Jo Joyner
Edwina, Countess of Dunvale – Rosie Cavaliero
David Kallinski – Jeremy Neumark Jones
Priya Chandra – Hiftu Quasem
Jerry Sloane – Tyrone Huntley
Murgatroyd  - Robert Wilfort
Bernie – Vaughn Johseph
Polly – Georgina Sadler
Elizabeth Harte – Sophie Bould
Sir Vikram Chandra – Sagar Arya
Mrs Fairweather – Samia Galab
Mrs Minton – Susie Trayling
Mrs Jacobs – Rachel Logan
Mr Ivens – Matt Sutton
Mrs Easton – Allison Saxton
Young Edwina – Everly Miller
Laura Spencer – Ellie Mejia
Mrs Grisham – Ruby Hoggarth

CREW CREDITS
Katherine Jakeways – Creator, writer and executive producer
Roanne Bardsley – Co-writer and co-executive producer
Charlie Palmer – Producer
John Hardwick – Director (Episodes 1-3) and associate producer
Samantha Harrie – Director (Episodes 4-5)
Richard Senior – Director (Episodes 6-8)
Beth Willis – Executive producer, The Forge Entertainment
Joe Innes – Executive producer, The Forge Entertainment
George Faber - Executive producer, The Forge Entertainment
The Barbara Taylor Bradford Trust – Executive producers 

Episodes

Episode 1

Ambitious young Yorkshire maid Emma Harte starts a forbidden romance with Edwin Fairley, the son of the master of the house – losing sight of her plan to escape Fairley Hall for a better life. Meanwhile, a transgressive love triangle unfolds between Master Adam Fairley, his wife, and his wife’s sister.

Meanwhile, in 1970s New York, Emma is warned by Jim Fairley that there is a plot to take from her the business empire she has worked her whole life to build... 

Episode 2

Emma and Edwin fall deeper in love but Emma grapples with what future they can possibly have; they come from different worlds, servant and master. Elsewhere in Fairley Hall, Adam and Olivia embark on their own love affair behind Adele’s back, whose erratic behaviour and paranoia worsens. 

In the 1970s, Emma reckons with her children’s plan to betray her and oust her from the Harte company but is unaware of a secret blossoming romance between her protégé granddaughter Paula and Jim Fairley. 

Episode 3

Emma questions whether to leave Fairley and end her romance with Edwin. Adele is getting sober, causing rifts in the household. 

Episode 4 

A heavily pregnant Emma establishes a new life for herself and her baby in Armley. Edwin’s fiancée begins to ask questions. 

Episode 5

Emma is tempted by romance again for the first time since Edwin. A sober Adele returns home, threatening everything. 

Episode 6

Emma prepares the perfect Christmas for her family, but her obsession with work and revenge brings danger to her door. 

Episode 7

Britain is at war. To stay afloat Emma takes a huge gamble that could cost her far more than her business. 

Episode 8

Young Emma’s business is failing, but an unlikely alliance may be her lifeline. An unforeseen danger awaits 1970s Emma. 

Character Descriptions 

Emma Harte – played by Brenda Blethyn and Jessica Reynolds

We meet Emma in 1975 at the height of her success, residing in penthouse Manhattan offices and towering skyscrapers, commanding worldwide businesses as she approaches her 80th birthday. Emma Harte is on top of the world. She’s a global phenomenon. But where did this powerhouse of a woman spring from? When we dip back in time to meet Young Emma, she’s a penniless teenage maid – plucky and determined - working for a pittance at the forbidding Fairley Hall. 

Emma’s a talented seamstress and already a promising business mind, but without the money or opportunity to hone her skills she’s stuck in her small Yorkshire village. But there’s something in Emma which is different to those around her: driving ambition is paired with an unstoppable work ethic, she is a singular and remarkable young woman, focused squarely on fulfilling her promise to her mother and rising above her humble means.

However, one perilous obstacle threatens to throw her off course. Emma is embroiled in a forbidden romance with the young master of the hall, Edwin Fairley. It’s a true and innocent bond that transcends class, but when Emma falls pregnant and their young love is tested against reality, Emma finds herself cast aside in favour of the Fairley family honour. The pain of her rejection and the determination to get revenge on Edwin whatever the cost, will fortify Emma, shielding her as she strikes out into the world and begins to lay the foundations of her business empire. But as Emma’s talents grow, the path—and the price—of becoming the richest woman in the world will test our brilliant and unrelenting heroine.

We’ll watch as life throws adversity, grief and disappointment at her time and again, but Emma built her empire by defying the odds, and through misfortunes, marriages and motherhood Emma never fails to emerge triumphant. Emma Harte is a marvel.

Adam Fairley – played by Emmett J Scanlan

Squire Adam Fairley is the master of Fairley Hall. He is the head of a wealthy family with a reputation to uphold. But behind closed doors, Adam’s far from the upstanding gentleman he purports to be, because he’s caught in an unashamedly sexy and complicated love triangle, with his wife Adele at one end and his mistress Olivia, who also happens to be his wife’s sister, at the other. Adam hates himself for it – but never quite enough to stop enjoying the relationship he has with each of them. Locked away upstairs, his wife Adele fills him with pure burning desire, despite his resentment for her fragmented personality, while mistress Olivia is finally fulfilling the role of the respectable and supportive wife Adam’s been longing for all these years. 

A classically stiff-upper-lipped British father, Adam struggles to connect to his two sons, Edwin and Gerald. The well of hurt they each hold about their mother’s addiction remains entirely, and painfully, unspoken. As the series progresses, Adam unexpectedly finds himself head-to-head with his former maid, Emma Harte, whose relentless quest for revenge against the Fairley’s threatens to strip them of everything they hold dear. Who will come out on top – maid or master?

Olivia Wainwright – played by Lydia Leonard

When Olivia’s younger sister Adele needed her, she ran to her immediately. Olivia moved to Adele’s home, Fairley Hall, vowing to take care of her agoraphobic and alcoholic sister for as long as it took. But what Olivia could never admit, is that for decades she’s been in love with her sister’s husband Adam. As sisters so often are, Olivia and Adele are defined by everything the other is not. Olivia, with her shrewd mind and sensible approach, is the opposite of passionate, chaotic Adele. Where Adele is noise, Olivia is thoughtful and quiet. Olivia never found her match and was living the dreary life of a ‘spinster’ before she came to Fairley Hall. I

n Adam, Olivia has finally found her equal, her partner. They make a brilliant team, running the Hall and Fairley businesses together, but their relationship is wrought with unspoken romantic tension. Olivia is paralysed by guilt, she loves and cares for her sister Adele despite everything and thinks she would never betray her – but there’s only so long a heart can hold out for what it truly wants. Deep down, Olivia resents Adele for the life she feels should have been hers, having lived too long in her sister’s shadow. Throughout the series, she battles between duty and the aching need to claim a life of her own.

Adele Fairley – played by Leanne Best

When Adele Wainwright married Adam Fairley, she was an elegant, sophisticated, intelligent young woman; anyone would have said so. Adele and Adam were irrevocably drawn to each other – but now, years after their fairytale romance, Adele is a shadow of her former self. She is caught in a destructive spiral, fighting with her demons, and losing... Her life was once a whirlwind of passion, excitement and glamorous parties, but now, she is the proverbial and self-proclaimed mad wife in the attic. It’s easy to see how Adam fell for Adele, with her sophisticated beauty and undeniable sexual magnetism. But Adele is – in modern terms – an alcoholic and an agoraphobic. In one moment, Adele pulls people close, and in the next, rejects them. She is unpredictable – prone to fits of rage and bouts of insecurity.

Despite her volatile nature, Adele can’t seem to shake her deep attachment to Adam, the man who is both her greatest love and her greatest torment. But lately, she’s noticed the glances between her husband and her own sister Olivia. The growing intimacy between her husband and sister is like a knife to her chest, and worst of all, her darkest suspicions are grounded in a horrifying truth. Adele is desperate to return to the woman she once was, and to claim back her husband and her household. She refuses to be pushed out of her own life. But this house, and this family, have a way of trapping you in the very version of yourself you most want to escape.

Edwin Fairley – played by Ewan Horrocks

The youngest son of the wealthy Fairley family, Edwin is irresistibly charming – a threat to his older, callous brother, Gerald. Destined for a career in law but with obligations to the Fairley business, Edwin is learning the ropes at the family mill and craving the approval of his domineering father Adam. But Edwin’s harbouring a secret passion for Emma, a maid in the family household. Edwin and Emma began as friends, but Edwin was quickly captivated by her: a strong-willed young woman who challenges the boundaries of their class differences. They have an intense physical connection, but their love is also genuine and tender, with Edwin promising Emma a future of love, marriage, and devotion. But their connection and Edwin’s commitment is tested when Emma finds herself unexpectedly pregnant. 

Young, terrified, and unable to cope, Edwin succumbs to the pressure of his family’s expectations and abandons Emma, leaving a deep scar on both their lives which will endure until their dying days. Edwin is forever marked by his betrayal of Emma, his guilt lingers over his life, and his relationships are burdened by the apologies he could never make and the child he willingly abandoned. Across the series, Edwin will have to come to terms with the choices he’s made. Haunted by his failure, Edwin will seek ways to atone for what he’s done, and with WW1 looming, that could mean life or death.

Gerald Fairley – played by Harry Cadby

As the eldest Fairley son, Gerald lives in pursuit of his father’s approval, measured against a younger brother who outshines him with ease. Gerald knows he’s meant to be the one running the mill and schmoozing business partners but struggles to form genuine connections. Years of rejection and self-hatred have turned Gerald into an unrepentant bully. As the manager of Fairley Mill, Gerald’s cruelty extends to his workers, whom he treats with disdain. He finds no qualms in pursuing illicit liaisons with maids and then dropping them without a thought. Despite his own loose morals, Gerald is incensed when he clocks the affair between his father and his mother’s sister, in their very home of all places. He resents his mother, Adele too, but beneath that anger lies a desperate longing for the affection he has spent years without. As he continues to deteriorate, gambling and drink consume him, his vast debts dragging the Fairley fortune toward collapse. This path will bring Gerald, at last, to Emma Harte’s door— with consequences neither of them can escape.

‘Mac’, Shane O’ Neill – played by Niall Wright

Mac is the self-made, man-next-door. Born into the tenements of County Kerry, Ireland, Mac had little but his wit, smarts, and fierce determination to rely upon. From a young age, he dreamed of a life beyond the one he knew, and it was hard graft and grit which brought Mac to Yorkshire. Grounded, reliable, and ruggedly handsome, in another life, Mac and Emma would have been soulmates. And indeed, their friendship is the backbone of Emma’s life as she goes through great loves and terrible losses. Mac and Emma have a natural rapport – two people who have tasted hunger and are determined to make something of themselves. Mac has dreams in his own right – and he’s in awe of Emma’s singular ambition. He is her biggest champion and protector, and together, there’s nothing these two can’t do. He’d drop anything for his beloved Emma, and every relationship throughout his life has to fight to match up. 

During their long and dedicated lifelong friendship, Mac will contend with the knotty, complicated feelings he has for Emma trying to discern what distinguishes a youthful crush from a love worth sacrificing a friendship for. Through it all, Mac is Emma’s rock, her confidant, and her greatest ally. But Mac must learn to navigate his own life while standing in the shadow of Emma’s…

Frank Harte, played by Lenny Rush 

Frank Harte has grown up in a one-bedroom cottage nestled in the Yorkshire Moors with his fragile mother, his hardworking but penniless father, and his older sister, the inimitable Emma Harte. Despite their difficult living circumstances, Emma has fought hard to ensure that Frank never felt deprived of love. The Harte’s may not have been able to afford much, but they made sure that Frank’s clothes had no holes in them, that he’d always get the last scrap of butter, and that he could dream of growing up strong. Whilst many boys his age forget their schooling for a life of work, Emma made sure to keep up Frank’s studies, teaching him to read by night. And as it turns out, Frank has a gift for it. Frank is someone who has a huge capacity for love, hope, and optimism, and his family would do anything to make him laugh. The tragic passing of his mother leaves him anxious about losing the remaining family he has around him. Emma will do everything she can to provide for Frank, but he’ll face losses that a boy his age should never have known.

Priya Chandra, played by Hiftu Quasem 

Priya Chandra is a refreshingly honest, emotionally intelligent and big-hearted young woman who dreams of true romance. So, when Adam Fairley’s youngest son Edwin appears to show an interest in Priya, she’s keen to pursue her heart. Edwin’s charmed by Priya’s directness and her candour, and Priya is captivated by the idea of finding the kind of love her parents had – a heart soaring, all-consuming love – but unbeknownst to Priya, Edwin is grieving his own heartbreak over Emma Harte, a former maid of Fairley Hall.

Jack Harte, played by Will Mellor 

Jack Harte is at his happiest striding out into the crisp morning air of the Yorkshire moors. Working outside has kept him fit and healthy, and his strong hands and shoulders support his beloved wife, Elizabeth, and his two precious children, Emma and Frank. Quiet and stoic, he cares for his family deeply, and although he might not say it in so many words, he shows it every day. Despite the warmth Jack brings to the family home, it’s a hard life. The Harte’s are desperately poor and struggle to keep food on the table. Elizabeth is very ill and growing weaker. Jack Harte is the kind of man that goes without to make sure his wife and children get a decent morsel, but it never seems to be enough. Jack and Elizabeth have also made sure their children are intelligent and literate, not bad for two village bairns, and even though Jack knows he’ll likely die in Fairley Village, he has faith that there’s something more to be had out of life for his children. When his wife dies, the heart of the family is shattered.

Amidst his grief, Edwin Fairley offers Jack a job at the mill, a managerial one and at double his usual salary - he can hardly say no. But Jack Harte is a rugged man, meant for the hilltops and rolling moors. Can he cope being cooped up in a dark and dingy mill, even if it means more money? And where will Jack’s compromises for his family lead?

Paula Mcgillamory, played by Mara Huf 

Paula is Emma Harte’s most beloved grandchild. Unlike most of Emma’s other children and grandchildren, Paula’s cut from the same gritty, ambitious cloth as her grandmother and although she may be a Harte legacy hire, Emma doesn’t just hand out the chance to be her right-hand woman to anyone. Paula’s had to prove herself to her mega-mogul grandmother countless times. Now she’s finally cemented herself as Emma’s protégé and Emma is piling on the responsibility. Paula is pretty sure she can handle herself, but taking board meetings with the CEO of Sitex, and jetting around the world is – while exhilarating – a whole new level of big business. She’s savvy and brilliant, but all the same, it’s overwhelming. Emma never seems to hesitate or doubt herself, and Paula tries to be the same, but she has some big, effortlessly elegant shoes to fill. Then there’s the matter of Jim Fairley. Edwin Fairley’s grandson. When Paula ran into the good looking, if bold, young editor of a New York magazine she had absolutely no idea who he was. It wasn’t until it was too late, and she was already hooked, that she found out he was the heir to a family her grandmother has publicly hated for decades. Paula knows Emma will be furious with her for this dalliance, but she just can’t help it. She’s made that ageless Harte mistake and has fallen in love with a Fairley. Torn between her relationship with her grandmother, her career, and her heart, Paula will have to make a choice about the kind of woman she wants to become.

Jim Fairley, played by Toby Regbo

Jim isn’t like the other Fairleys. That’s what he’s trying to prove to Emma Harte at least – all for the love of Paula, Emma’s protégé and beloved granddaughter. Smooth-talking man about town, Jim Fairley and Paula both fell head-over-heels in love on first meeting, and embarked on a fairytale New York romance. They both know however that Jim will never be accepted by her family. Emma despises all members of the Fairley clan and has dedicated her life to taking her revenge against them. Because Jim is the grandson of Edwin Fairley – the very man who jilted Emma all those years ago. It’s a huge obstacle for Jim to overcome, but he’s determined to do it in pursuit of Paula. When he accidentally captures a recording at a business lunch of Emma’s children admitting they’re planning to usurp their mother, he knows this is his chance. This evidence will allow Emma to thwart the coup before it even begins. If he can give Emma this gift, Jim’s certain he can change her mind and end this feud once and for all. But, as he enmeshes himself further with Paula, was his chance meeting and passionate relationship with the heir to the Harte kingdom as random as it seems?