Channel 4 has forged the leads for its upcoming remake of Barbara Taylor Bradford’s A Girl Of Substance.
Double Oscar-nominee Brenda Blethyn will play the older Emma Harte and Jessica Reynolds is the youthful model of the long-lasting character.
The remake of the rags-to-riches story comes 40 years after the primary Channel 4 model of A Girl of Substance, which starred Jenny Seagrove and stays its most watched drama of all time. Taylor Bradford died final November aged 91.
Becoming a member of the forged are Emmett J Scanlan (Kin, Mobland) as Adam Fairley, Lydia Leonard (The Mirror and The Mild, Gentleman Jack) as Olivia Wainwright, Leanne Greatest (This Metropolis Is Ours, Line of Responsibility) as Adele Fairley, Ewan Horrocks (The Final Kingdom, Domina) as Edwin Fairley, Harry Cadby (In Flight, All the things Now) as Gerald Fairley, Will Mellor (Mr Bates vs the Put up Workplace, Line of Responsibility) as Jack Harte, BAFTA-winning Lenny Rush (Am I Being Unreasonable, Physician Who) as Frank Harte, Niall Wright (Hope Avenue, Sluggish Horses) as Mac, Robert Wilfort (Gavin and Stacey, Wolf Corridor) as Murgatroyd, Toby Regbo (Medici, A Discovery of Witches) as Jim Fairley, Hiftu Quasem (The Witcher, Ten P.c) as Priya Chandra, Sophie Bould (Name The Midwife, Intercourse Schooling) as Elizabeth Harte and Georgina Sadler (Silo, Boarders) as Polly.
The Buccaneers scribes Katherine Jakeways and Roanne Bardsley are penning A Girl of Substance, which follows the story of an impoverished, formidable maid in Yorkshire who takes a dizzying climb to develop into the world’s richest lady, gazing down on her sprawling empire from a luxurious New York penthouse. Banijay-backed The Forge is producing the brand new model and ex-Channel 4 drama boss Beth Willis is EP.
Blethyn mentioned: “I’m overjoyed to be taking up this iconic function, within the footsteps of the nice Deborah Kerr. As a fan of Barbara Taylor-Bradford, it’s an unmissable alternative to play the fierce Emma Harte.”
Blethyn is a double Oscar-nominated star well-known to UK audiences for her roles in reveals like Vera. Reynolds is a relative newcomer who impressed as love curiosity Georgia in hit indie movie Kneecap and starred in Outlander Season 6.
Channel 4 has gone huge on drama castings over the previous few days. Falling, one other of its new reveals underneath movie and TV drama boss Ollie Madden, landed Paapa Essiedu and Keeley Hawes as leads final week. That present can be produced by The Forge and is being penned by Adolescence co-creator Jack Thorne.
Willis, Joe Innes, George Faber and Jakeways are the manager producers of A Girl of Substance alongside Taylor Bradford. Bardsley is co-executive producer. Charlie Palmer (Extraordinary, Agatha Raisin) is producer and John Hardwick (The Buccaneers, One Day, The A Phrase) will direct block one. A Girl of Substance has been commissioned for Channel 4 by Madden, Director of Film4 and Channel 4 Drama and Rebecca Holdsworth, Commissioning Editor, Drama. A Girl of Substance might be distributed internationally by Banijay Rights.
