KEITH WATSON

of opposites attracting in what, on the surface, seems a barren breeding ground for passion. But while it’s Lister who sets about crashing through society’s boundaries, Rundle believes that, in some ways, Walker was the stronger character.

‘The more I knew her, the more I found her massively inspiring, because where Anne Lister didn’t care what people thought and had the swagger to pull it off, Ann Walker knew she would be cast out by her family and lose her position in the world,’ says Rundle. ‘She was a very shy, quiet and private person. It’s easy to write her off because of that but the choice she made, to marry the woman she loved at a time when that just wasn’t done – she was incredibly brave.’