Frock shock! For once Gentleman Jack ISN’T wearing the trousers
SHE outraged 19th-century society with her crossdressing – as chronicled by the latest hit BBC costume drama.
But tonight, viewers of Gentleman Jack will see lead character Anne Lister pull off her most shocking outfit yet – a dress!
As our exclusive picture shows, star Suranne Jones wears an elegant gown for a ballroom scene in the last episode of the series.
But despite her more conventional dress, the character – based on a real Yorkshire industrialist – still manages to stun well-heeled onlookers by flaunting her sexuality in a close embrace with Sophie Ferrall, as played by Stephanie Hyam.
Lister’s dress is a marked contrast to the gentleman’s outfit complete with silk top hat, right, that viewers will recognise as her trademark look.
Tonight’s episode also features Sofie Grabol, star of The Killing, as the Queen of Denmark, at whose birthday ball the two women dance. Gentleman Jack has been acclaimed by critics and won ratingstopping viewing figures of around six million. A second series has already been ordered, with Happy Valley creator Sally Wainwright again set to write the scripts. The real-life figure of Lister travelled extensively abroad, including to France, Russia and Sweden as well as Denmark, writing about her travels in her copious diaries, which Wainwright has drawn upon for her drama. The programme’s success has inspired a surge in number of tourists going to Lister’s historic home of Shibden Hall in Halifax, West Yorkshire, where visitor numbers have trebled since the series began. The final episode of Gentleman Jack will air on BBC1 at 9pm tonight.