Suranne Jones fans (that includes most of us, right?) are currently waiting for her next television role after the phenomenal success of BBC thriller, Vigil. 

Well, it seems like fans won’t have long to wait as it’s just been announced that Jones will be back on our screens for a second series of Gentleman Jack next month.

As well as a release date for the new series, the BBC has finally released the official trailer for Gentleman Jack season two, and trust us, it already looks like a great one. Take a look:

In the clip, we see Ann Walker (played by Sophie Rundle) arrive at Shibden Hall to live with Lister, as well as the pair scaling snow-topped mountains as they set off on their travels.

Things looks like they might be getting complicated, though, with the return of Mariana Lawton (Lydia Leonard), who asks Lister how much her new wife knows about their past.

“I told her all that was necessary,” Lister replies, looking troubled. 

We also see Lister and Lawton getting very close during an embrace and a rather dramatic declaration from Lawton about Lister’s new relationship: “I’m not the other woman, she is.”

To celebrate the new season announcement, the BBC also released new images of Suranne Jones, Sophie Rundle and Lydia Leonard in character as Anne Lister, Ann Walker and Mariana Lawton.

Earlier this month, the BBC released the first teaser trailer for the new series, which picks up right after the private marriage between Lister and Walker in 1834. But the lives of the newlyweds are anything but pedestrian, thanks to Lister’s ambitious plans to make her mark beyond Halifax.

As usual, Lister is defying societal expectations by taking a keen interest in medicine, mathematics, and “all the things women aren’t supposed to be interested in” – including her unconventional love life. Take a look:

“We are the only people in the whole world who want us to be together,” she tells Walker as they set off on their travels.

The trailer also emphasises how Lister ruffles the feathers of more than a few characters in Halifax society, including one nemesis who speculates that Lister is a “fortune hunter” who has an “unnatural” hold over Walker.

As usual, though, Lister has no time for gossip or drama.

“I fear you have built me up in your mind to be all manner of things I am not,” she defiantly tells one critic. “And some that I am.”

Gentleman Jack series one was a hit for BBC One and iPlayer and averaged 6.8 million viewers across its eight-episode run. It also won the RTS Drama Series award and received BAFTA nominations in the drama series category, as well as the leading actress category for Suranne Jones’ stellar performance as Anne Lister. 

To mark the start of filming last November, Jones shared a behind-the-scenes photo of her in costume, wearing a facemask embroidered with the words: “What would Anne Lister do?”

What will Gentleman Jack season two be about?

The second season will again use the real-life diaries of Anne Lister – a 19th century landowner whose blue plaque describes her as a “lesbian and diarist” (but who was so much more than that). Based on historical fact, Anne’s story in the series uses the 5 million words she wrote in her journals, of which some parts were coded.

Set in Yorkshire in 1834 , it will continue to follow Anne and Ann Walker (Sophie Rundle) as they set up home together at Shibden Hall as wife and wife, determined to combine their estates and become a power couple. Anne’s entrepreneurial spirit frightens the locals as much as her unconventional love life and, with Halifax on the brink of revolution, her refusal to keep a low profile becomes provocative and dangerous.

Who stars in the second season of Gentleman Jack?

Returning to Shibden Hall for the new season are Gemma Whelan as Marian Lister, Gemma Jones as Aunt Anne Lister, and Timothy West as Jeremy Lister. Joanna Scanlan (No Offence, The Thick Of It) will join as guest cast for series two in the role of Anne Lister’s outrageous former lover Isabella ‘Tib’ Norcliffe.

They are joined by many returning cast members including Jodhi May (Lady Vere Cameron), Katherine Kelly (Elizabeth Sutherland), Derek Riddell (Captain George Sutherland), Stephanie Cole (Aunt Ann Walker), Peter Davison (William Priestley) and Amelia Bullmore (Eliza Priestley). 

Also returning will be Vincent Franklin (Christopher Rawson), Shaun Dooley (Jeremiah Rawson), Rosie Cavaliero (Elizabeth Cordingley), Joe Armstrong (Samuel Washington), Anthony Flanagan (Ben Sowden), and George Costigan (James Holt).

The show’s creator, Sally Wainwright, has talked about working on the new season, saying in a press statement: “I’ve been in a little bit of heaven once again spending so much time deep in Anne’s diaries as I’ve written the scripts, and can’t wait to see the fabulous, joyous magic and detail that Suranne and Sophie will bring to it all.”

Jones added: “I’m so happy to be back in beautiful Yorkshire, back with my favourite team, back with Sophie and this amazing cast and of course I’m so honoured to be returning as Anne Lister. Sally’s scripts are detailed and wonderfully human as ever.”

She’s also been sharing more behind-the-scenes photographs on Instagram.

Rundle also said: “I feel very lucky to be heading back to Halifax to tell more of this extraordinary story that has meant so much to so many people all over the world. It is a privilege to be able to make more of this brilliant, brave show with such a talented cast and crew.”

When will Gentleman Jack return to TV?

Gentleman Jack will return for its second series on Sunday 10 April at 9pm on BBC One and iPlayer, with new episodes premiering weekly. In the meantime, though, you can use this time to catch up with the first season on BBC iPlayer.

Images: BBC