A Woman Of Substance Was Filmed At This Rewilded Yorkshire Estate

Based on Barbara Taylor Bradford’s beloved rags-to-riches novel, the 1984 TV adaptation of A Woman of Substance is historically Channel 4’s most-watched drama of all time. And while Bradford’s 1979 novel was already a bestseller, the three-part drama starring Jenny Seagrove and Deborah Kerr solidified the protagonist Emma Harte as a real British heroine.

With an eight-part reboot premiering on Channel 4 this week, 2026’s young Emma Harte, Jessica Reynolds, puts the enduring appeal of the protagonist thus: ‘It’s the fact that she’s not led by love. I remember reading the scripts for the first time and she constantly took turns that I genuinely didn’t expect. The piece fights against lots of period drama cliches, and Emma was just so driven by the desire to better herself, rather than living for a man. She has her eyes set on the prize and she doesn’t steer away from that, which is pretty inspirational. We all love romance and Emma is a very romantic person in all senses of the word, but she’s not defined by love or men.’

Meanwhile Vera star Brenda Blethyn plays Emma in the ‘70s, when she’s a wealthy but elderly matriarch in charge of a valuable department store. We flash between these two time periods: Emma (Reynolds) the impoverished but ambitious maid in 1911 Yorkshire, and Emma (Blethyn) the staunch businesswoman gazing down on her sprawling empire from a New York City Penthouse.

And with these two time periods naturally comes two settings – and two sets of filming locations. Here’s what you need to know.

Emma Harte (JESSICA REYNOLDS) in A Woman of Substance. (Channel 4)

Where Was A Woman Of Substance Filmed?

A Woman of Substance was filmed on location in spring 2025, with filming in Yorkshire for Emma Harte’s life as a young woman, and in Liverpool for her later life in New York.

Reynolds, who has previously starred in Outlander and House of Guinness and now plays Emma in her younger years, says filming in Yorkshire was her ‘favourite’. ‘I know the crew worry about wind and rain, but I just love being able to have nature around me and working off the elements,’ she says. ‘I feel much less self-conscious, and freer. Some of the locations were just breathtaking and those are the images that stick in my mind today when I think back to filming; Yorkshire is just stunning. Those are some of Emma’s happiest moments too, when she’s so connected to the land – it’s a beautiful thing.’

Broughton Hall is surrounded by 3,000 acres of Yorkshire Dales land.

The Grade I-listed Georgian mansion Broughton Hall plays the role of Fairley Hall – the same filming location used in the original 1984 series. A historic house dating back to 1597 and surrounded by the rewilded 3,000-acre Broughton Estate, the land has been home to the Tempest family since 1097. The private property sits on the edge of the Yorkshire Dales and comprises woodland, rivers, ponds, wide open countryside, farmsteads and time-capsule interiors capturing style across the ages.

Now known as Broughton Sanctuary and home to the renewably-heated Avalon Wellbeing Centre with its woodland sauna, wild swimming pools and ice bathing rituals, if you fancied visiting to follow in Emma Harte’s footsteps, the Hall boasts 17 bedrooms that can be booked out by groups for exclusive use. An eclectic collection of smaller honey-hued properties are also available to book, ranging from the Gate House to converted barns and a goat farmhouse.

Emma Harte (JESSICA REYNOLDS) & Edwin Fairley (EWAN HORROCKS) in A Woman of Substance. (Channel 4)

In A Woman of Substance’s Yorkshire flashbacks, Emma is joined by the master of Fairley Hall, Adam Fairley (Emmett J Scanlan), as well as his alcoholic wife Adele (Leanne Best), their sons Edwin (Ewan Horrocks) and Gerald (Harry Cadby) and his mistress Olivia (Lydia Leonard), who also happens to be Adele’s older sister.

Looking back on filming A Woman of Substance, Leonard says ‘It was a glorious summer up in Skipton in the sunny Yorkshire countryside,’ adding: ‘it’s great fun to film with the horse and carriages, and all the beautiful costumes’. In Olivia, expect to find a poised, thoughtful woman – despite the family-shattering affair she embarks upon. Leonard describes Broughton Hall as ‘beautiful’ and ‘one of [her] favourite places to shoot’. ‘It adds so much to the piece because the house becomes almost like another character in its own right,’ she says. ‘I love the incredible locations you get to work in on period dramas, and we were staying just round the corner. Spending the summer in Yorkshire – it was lovely. It’s always fun to be part of a big ensemble piece with such good camaraderie too.’

Adele Fairley (LEANNE BEST) in A Woman of Substance. (Channel 4)

For the series’ writer, Katherine Jakeways, the dual timeline element of A Woman of Substance ‘was a gift,’ she says. ‘You get all the grit and beauty of the Yorkshire Moors, with young Emma’s striving and passion, but then every episode you get to spend a bit of time in New York in 1975,’ Jakeways, who was also the series showrunner, says. ‘We had to make sure the 1970s scenes felt purposeful and that both timelines were informing each other, so we went back and forth on that a lot – it was a bit of a crossword. I hope we got it right and the audience feels glad to be in both worlds. The New York scenes were filmed in Liverpool, but they look so authentic, exciting and buzzy.’

This is far from the first time Liverpool has stood in for New York in period dramas, thanks to the city’s similar maritime history and Edwardian Baroque skyscrapers. Other recent examples include Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (2016) and The Batman (2022).

Emma Harte (BRENDA BLETHYN) in A Woman of Substance. (Channel 4)

WATCH

A Woman of Substance premieres on Channel 4 on Wednesday 11 March at 9pm. All eight episodes will be available to stream from 9pm.