Gentleman Jack

[saveforthat]

Did anyone watch the first of series 2 tonight? What did you think?

I noticed the accent - I thought it was deliberate though, RP educated and a bit Yorkshire round the edges!

The one thing I find funny with this is how the subplots go nowhere... like, the kitchen maid who had learned her letters, just appeared and... nothing happened! But maybe the point is that life is kind of like that? 🤔

I'd also forgotten entirely that William from Downton John Booth who offered to marry Eugénie was even a person in it. If I remember correctly, Joseph/George is his younger brother?

Loved the bit in tonight's episode where Marian pulled a face to camera after listening to all the talk about coal 😂

All the talk tonight about Mr Sutherland dying. Can't remember who he is!!

I think the doctor?

That was an endurance test. I failed it.

The scenes with the Ann/e's, the family, the servants etc etc are great... but the coal!!!! OMG! The first ten minutes last night were all 'business'! I don't think that's the way to draw an audience in! People like Cordingly, the Cook are WAY underused in favour of more men in hats!

I've read some of the diaries and even I'm bored by all the coal / business - far too much of it... and such a shame becasue the rest is great TV with some really beautiful moments and comedy. I think Sally Wanwright may have got SO close to her subject & so knowledgable that she can't see the wood for the trees any more.
I'm not sure it will be renewed for a third season at this rate - which would be a huge shame as it has so much to offer.

And since last week's Thatcher speech, her deep voice and banging on about the Blues / Tories she's becoming a more unlikable character and I can't help but think of Thatcher every time she starts on a political rant... not attractive!

Indeed, it stirred my inner revolutionary which has been submerged for many a year. I don't want to man the barricades at 9pm on Sunday evening, I want an hour of domestic drama before bedtime.

The coal was boring enough last series. Was hoping to hear less about it this time. What was the thing with the cooks hip last week. What did the doctor try and do?

Doc got cook to walk across room to see how bad hip was. Cook got v upset insisting she was fine and couldn't lay about in bed with it presumably referring to Anne's Aunt upstairs. Doc said to take caster oil every day. Anne told her to go and have a little break at her sister's place but no idea if she actually went. Think family were commenting on different cooking this week so maybe? Seemed a bit of an odd storyline to throw in unless building up to something

I’d like to see more of the cook and the young girl who’d learnt her letters. I’d like to know why the lovely aunt ended up unmarried and living with her brother.

I really like Marianne Lister as a character, Mr Washington too. I also enjoy any scene with Stephanie Cole/Amelia Bullmore/Peter Davison in it. The twinkly old solicitor is great.

The grasping, dominant brother-in-law is well-written, as is Mr Lawton. The patriarchy was pretty horrific.

I like the vibe between Anne and Ann. Anne was deeply fond of her wife, but not passionately in love, and I think it comes across. Suranne Jones and Sophie Rundle are spot-on. Fantastic chemistry between Anne and Mariana Lawton, on the other hand. The characters really fizz together.

Anne Lister is an important historical figure and I’m glad she’s been brought to the screen. We’ve come such a long way as tv viewers since the furore over the Brookside lesbian kiss.

I too find the young working-class men confusing and interchangeable. This is not a criticism of the actors. There are too many of them and insufficient time to develop them all.

I lose track of who’s who with the businessmen, too. Not looks-wise, but I’m not sure of the names and have no idea which ones are against Anne Lister and which aren’t. Again, this is not a criticism of the actors.

Think I'm about to give up on this series. It is a shame as, like others, I feel TV does not represent lesbians particularly often. I just can't take the incessant business/coal/property talk...especially at 9pm on a Sunday night 🙉

@MyBeloved I'm feeling the same. It's just all coal, business, more coal...I'm totally lost off and I've watched it since the start!

I'm confused as well. I feel I've completely missed something really obvious. I like the coal/ business storyline but I've a feeling it's not going to end well for Anne, especially the selling off of the shares.

I'm going to google a documentary to see if that helps at all...

Catching up last nights. I'm bored and confused!

It's a real shame - so much potential and anticipation and I was so looking forward to it... and then it's all boring business!

As someone on Twitter said last night - I almost missed all the talk of pits and coal when we were on the about the fourth letter about splitting the inheritance!!

I do think it warrants another series, there is so much to Anne Lister's story, and they have a great cast & Sally Wainwright at the helm, but I also think it needs some changes! SW, as I've said before, feels so close to her subject and needs a bit of outside perspective. She also didn't direct this series, which shows - she's a brilliant director and it just doesn't have the same 'feel'.

I read that there were so many obstacles to making this series - not only Covid, but Suranne Jones' father died during filming and Sophie Rundle was pregnant for a lot of it - so I get that it wasn't easy... but that doesn't explain the script!!

There's another dramatisation of Anne's story on Prime starring Maxine Peake (originally shown on BBC). Watched it earlier - focuses more on the relationship between Anne and her earlier dalliances. Gemma Jones is the aunt in this version too.

I enjoyed the Maxine Peake version.

I'm not a fan of Suranne Jones' style of acting in this.

Glad Anne W is sticking up for her self.

Really enjoyed that. Reading the companion book now.

Remarkable woman.

There's a companion book to he series?

Yes, @Stressybetty - it's by Anne Choma with a foreword by Sally Wainwright. It doesn't follow the events of the series exactly so "companion" is probably not the correct description, but it's entertaining nonetheless.

Looking for some more background reading now.

Fantastic, thanks, have found it

I agree with you. I'm not a lesbian but I am queer and applaud anything that explores non heterosexual characters on TV. I also like the fact that Anne Lister being a lesbian and her being the protagonist of the story does not take away from the fact she is a real, fully formed human and had annoying character traits too. So often dramas portray a queer element as if that is the only interesting, sensationalist aspect of a character. Anne is very much a rounded portrayal of a real woman in history. I'm curious as to how she'd identify in modern times. She was progressive for the gender stereotypes of women at the time and admirable in that sense when she refused to conform, but in other ways she was still entitled by birth and at times very conservative and classist. Wainwright has tapped into that well. She feels the judgement of society with regards to her own presentation and relationships with women yet holds her own prejudiced views too, barely respecting or allowing certain relationships of her sister or her servants. I do like Suranne Jones' performance including her little fourth wall asides to the camera in a modern mockumentary style. I saw in an interview with Sally Wainwright that they agreed to put them in because when Wainwright read the diaries of Anne Lister it felt so personal as if she was talking to her personally across the centuries and so it works well to give the TV audience the feeling they are involved personally. I also love the Gentleman Jack outro song by O'Hooley and Tidow and I love them both as performers and as a couple and my partner and I have a massive crush on them as people we'd most like to have round for dinner. It seems perfect for that area of Yorkshire to be in O'Hooley and Tidow's back yard too and for them to have written that song way before the series was conceived. We like to sing along with the song on the outro of Gentleman Jack so were outraged that for the first few episodes of series 2, they dropped the audio right down and an announcer talked over the top of it and ruined it. Sacrilege! For anyone else interested in folk history and the song, I'd urge you to listen to more of O'Hooley and Tidow on Spotify or seek out their music on YouTube. They're great writers in that tradition.