Somewhere on the West Yorkshire moors is what the team behind A Woman of Substance nicknamed “the sex cave”. It is here that the heroine, Emma Harte, loses her virginity in the lavish new adaptation of Barbara Taylor Bradford’s bonkbuster. “It’s hidden away and beautiful,” says the showrunner, Katherine Jakeways. “The lighting in there almost looks like AI, but it’s real. Weirdly, it’s about a mile from my mother-in-law’s house. I haven’t told her yet that it’s a sex cave!”

This is just one of many unusual sites for sex scenes featured in the show. “Oh my God, I know,” laughs Jessica Reynolds, who plays the young Emma. “Not just the cave, but there’s a little love shack, too. The cave is the most stunning location, with sunlight coming through these arching rocks. I wonder if they used it in Wuthering Heights, too? If they didn’t, they should have.”

Thanks to Emerald Fennell’s reimagining of Emily Brontë’s classic, heaving bosoms on rolling Yorkshire hills are so hot right now. A Woman of Substance duly features plenty of ye olde shagging. “The show’s not afraid of sex,” says Reynolds. “Neither is Emma. We had the most amazing intimacy coordinator and choreographed it to the point that me and Ewan [Horrocks, who plays her aristocratic lover Edwin Fairley] became so comfortable, we were able to conjure up real romance. It’s sexy, but also feels true for teenagers falling in love.”

What will her friends and family think? “They’ve seen it all before,” shrugs the 27-year-old from County Down in Northern Ireland. “They watched Kneecap [the film in which she played rapper Liam Óg Ó hAnnaidh’s girlfriend, Georgia], so they’ve nothing to worry about. I find sex scenes the least nerve-racking part of the job. As a woman, you grow up in a world where you’re accustomed to being seen in that way. Emotional scenes are more intimidating. Compared with those, sex scenes are an easy day.” Period clothing, however, poses logistical challenges. “I can feel the weight of the patriarchy on me through the corset alone,” laughs Reynolds.

Brenda Blethyn, who plays the older Emma, was content to delegate the down-and-dirty stuff. “It’s quite saucy, isn’t it?” chuckles Blethyn, who recently celebrated her 80th birthday. “I’m happy to leave that to my younger self. I suspect the audience would prefer that, too!”

Taylor Bradford’s 1979 novel was a smash hit, shifting 32m copies. “I was too young, but everybody’s mum was reading it,” says Jakeways. “I remember seeing it on every bookshelf and glass-topped coffee table.” “One of my best friends read it when we were teenagers,” adds the co-writer Roanne Bardsley. “She used to hide it under her pillow because it was a bit racy.”

The new eight-parter isn’t the first time A Woman of Substance has been adapted for TV. An Emmy-nominated 1985 miniseries, starring Jenny Seagrove, Deborah Kerr and a fresh-faced Liam Neeson, drew Channel 4’s highest-ever ratings – 13.8 million viewers. More than 40 years later, it has been remade by the same broadcaster.

The revival was announced shortly after Taylor Bradford’s death at 91 in November 2024, but the writer had given it her blessing. “She was very involved in the early discussions,” says Jakeways. “She was thrilled it was going back to Channel 4 and keen to keep it being filmed in Yorkshire. We heard her voice in our heads throughout, guiding us.”

An irresistibly soapy saga follows Emma’s rags-to-riches journey, from a penniless teenage servant in 1911 to the world’s wealthiest woman, gazing down from a luxury New York penthouse in the 1970s. “Emma Harte is a force of nature and so was Barbara,” says Jakeways. “I only met her on Zoom, because of lockdown. She was in her amazing apartment overlooking Central Park and so glamorous. It was 7am, but she was in full makeup, with impeccable hair and jewellery. Behind her were these painted portraits of her dogs. She was everything you’d hope for. It was a huge responsibility to honour her.”

The story also resonated with Blethyn, echoing her own background: “My mum was born in 1904 and became a skivvy in a big house. My dad was the chauffeur and that’s how they met. I used to love hearing their stories, but my they worked hard. My mum advanced to become a lady’s maid. Sadly, she didn’t become the richest woman in the world like Emma Harte …”

After Emma is repeatedly wronged by the local toffs, her burning sense of injustice becomes a superpower. “The payback is delicious,” says Bardsley. “Everybody has somebody in their past who you think: I’ll show them. Emma gradually learns that the Fairleys have fucked over every single member of her family. She delivers on the ultimate revenge fantasy by becoming the richest woman in the world.”

Cue a bingeable bodice ripper, full of lust and loss, warring siblings and family feuds. As Jakeways says: “It’s the sort of epic melodrama you don’t get on terrestrial TV any more. It will make you laugh, cry and punch the air.” Blethyn adds: “It feels like old-fashioned TV. Triumph over adversity. It’s like a banquet to enjoy. A big saga with big hair.”

The show provides a much-needed dose of escapism. As Reynolds says: “Modern audiences love the past because the world nowadays is so treacherous.” Bardsley echoes this: “In the times we’re living in, you want something to grab you, take you on a journey and make you forget about what’s going on. Right now, wouldn’t you love to just put something on and go ‘Aah’?”

Jakeways’ acid test of her scripts was whether they made her cry. “Katherine would weep by 11am daily,” laughs Bardsley. “It’s my version of a Paul Hollywood handshake,” shrugs the unrepentant Jakeways. “A seal of approval. If I haven’t burst into tears by coffee time, it normally means something’s not working.”

The result is Rivals meets Poldark, with a dash of Downton and Dynasty. “Those were all influences, but it’s very much its own thing,” says Jakeways. “It’s the story of a woman’s entire life, over which she has many love affairs and a lot of great sex. But it’s also about her determination to break out of the confines of her upbringing. “The true love of Emma’s life is her work. We talked about Succession a lot, in terms of the kids fighting over the business. It’s like Logan Roy’s origin story, but gender-flipped.

“Its uniqueness is that it’s told across two timelines. You get the majestic Yorkshire moors and the sweeping romance of young Emma. The massive bonus is that you also get the 1970s New York glamour, campness and fun of power-suited late-era Emma. I find it really moving, seeing both ends of her life. Emma spans the 20th century, which was a period of mind-blowing change, especially for women. She starts out with horse and cart, but ends up on Concorde.”

It has been called “the original female empowerment story”, because Emma defies expectations. “She’s a feminist icon,” says Jakeways. “A working-class woman who breaks glass ceilings and transcends her roots. Me and Roanne both went to state schools. That social mobility element was really important to us.” Bardsley nods: “Emma is routinely underestimated and overlooked. She has to work 10 times harder to reach the next rung of the ladder. Most women can relate to that. It’s not only about a woman with relentless ambition, but our show is made by women, too. That’s still a rarity in TV drama.”

Casting was key. Reynolds shines in her first leading role, while Blethyn, an Oscar nominee, is typically superb. “They really do resemble each other,” says Bardsley. “Jess has a photo of her grandma who looks a lot like Brenda. And Brenda has one of her younger self, looking a lot like Jess. They’re even exactly the same height – and it’s an unusual height.” Both actors are 5ft 1in, which was a boon for continuity.

When the two incarnations finally came face to face, it was spine-tingling. “They were never on set at the same time,” says Jakeways. “But one day they met on the misty moors, both in costume, and you couldn’t have scripted it. Their eyes met and the whole crew got goose bumps. Obviously, I got tearful. It felt like they were seeing ghosts, glimpsing each other’s past and future. They hugged and it was magical.”

“Being faced with the pretend future version of myself was a real moment,” says Reynolds. “Brenda has this vigour and sass that I hope I have when I’m her age.” Blethyn returns the compliment: “I’ve never watched someone play a young me before. It’s a weird feeling, but I’m so proud of Jessica. Her performance is a breath of fresh air.”

After playing ITV’s DCI Vera Stanhope for 14 years, Blethyn relished her designer wardrobe. “It was lovely, having my pick of the best of everything – and a nice change from Vera in her battered hat and coat. That grubby old mac of hers could have done the job on its own. Vera was a part made in heaven. I never dreamed in my mid-60s that I’d be offered the role of a shit-hot detective. Now, I’m playing the richest woman in the world, which is another welcome surprise.”

Remaking such a monster hit is a risk. As Jakeways says: “To this day, it’s Channel 4’s highest-rated drama, so obviously there’s a bit of pressure there. But it feels legitimate to have another crack at it and say: look how much has changed – and how much hasn’t.”

“The book and the original adaptation were huge,” says Blethyn. “People on buses or in cafes would be talking about it. It’s a different TV landscape now. There were only four channels then, so we won’t get those viewing figures. I just hope it lives up to its predecessor. I want to be sitting on a train and overhear somebody say: ‘Here, did you watch A Woman of Substance last night? Wasn’t it good?’”

“Imagine if it became a phenomenal hit and we ended up doing fan tours of the sex cave,” laughs Jakeways. Bardsley says this would be fitting: “It’s what she would have wanted. Emma Harte would totally monetise that sex cave.”

• A Woman of Substance airs on 11 March at 9pm on Channel 4, after which all episodes will be available to stream.