Published 12th Jan 2023, 11:45 BST

The likes of Ackley Bridge, Last Tango in Halifax and Happy Valley have all been filmed in and among the historic landscapes of Calderdale, but the impact of Huddersfield-born writer Sally Wainwright’s Gentleman Jack series has become embedded in Halifax’s very fabric.

The show, set in the 1830s in Yorkshire, stars Suranne Jones as landowner and industrialist Anne Lister, who has been dubbed the first modern lesbian. The series is based on her extensive diaries of around five million words, which were part-written in cryptic code and document all aspects of her public and private life, including her romantic relationships with women.

Filmed in and around West Yorkshire, series one followed Lister's life as she inherited her uncle's fading estate, Shibden Hall in Halifax, which she attempted to restore while beginning a romance with Ann Walker. In series two, all eyes were on the pair as they set up home together as wife and wife, determined to combine their estates and become a power couple.

Suranne Jones wearing her iconic black coat and top hat outfit as Anne Lister in the BBC series Gentleman Jack filming at Salts Mill in Saltaire.
Picture : Jonathan Gawthorpe — Suranne Jones wearing her iconic black coat and top hat outfit as Anne Lister in the BBC series Gentleman Jack filming at Salts Mill in Saltaire. Picture : Jonathan Gawthorpe

Wainwright has previously said that Lister was Halifax’s “best kept secret” for too long and has spoken of her joy at Gentleman Jack helping Lister to achieve “the global recognition she deserves”.

The impact of the BBC One show, a co-production with US network HBO, has been huge, in more ways than one. The Gentleman Jack effect points as much to how sharing Lister’s story has emboldened LGBTQ+ communities, as it does to how Calderdale and the wider West Yorkshire region is reaping the benefits of increased visitor numbers and a focus on TV and film production.

Last year, a documentary, Gentleman Jack Changed My Life, followed British women of all ages sharing their deepest feelings, hopes, fears and personal moments, as they took inspiration from Lister and found their sexuality and lives transformed.

Meanwhile, Halifax has experienced a boost in tourist numbers as people from across the globe have visited the town to walk the paths of Lister’s former stomping ground and see the filming locations used for the show. Council chiefs say work on Gentleman Jack projects and the wider tourism offer is a key strand of Vision2024, the strategy for Calderdale by the time the authority reaches its 50th birthday.

Sally Wainwright on the Red Carpet in the Piece Hall, Halifax, for the Premier Screening of the second series of Gentleman Jack.
Picture Bruce Rollinson — Sally Wainwright on the Red Carpet in the Piece Hall, Halifax, for the Premier Screening of the second series of Gentleman Jack. Picture Bruce Rollinson

Such is the strength of feeling about the show that when HBO, the American funding partners of the programme, decided to end its involvement last year, a campaign to #SaveGentlemanJack was set up by fans. Women from Spain, Germany, Texas and Yorkshire were among those who danced along to the Gentleman Jack theme tune during a flashmob at Shibden Hall to support the cause.

Wainwright has previously said she would love to finish off the story. Whether or not a third series will be made remains to be seen, but the Gentleman Jack effect will long live on in Halifax.

Gentleman Jack: Impact of Halifax period drama felt across the world