‘I’m shaking after that episode’: Gentleman Jack fans react to Suranne Jones in season two of BBC drama

Season two of the critically praised BBC drama premiered on Sunday (9 April) after a three-year wait

Suranne Jones is pictured in her role of Anne Lister in the BBC drama Gentleman Jack alongside actress Sophie Rundle who plays wife Ann Walker. (MCPIX/Shutterstock)

Fans of Gentleman Jack were left “shaking” and “overwhelmed” over the season two premiere of the BBC One drama last night (Sunday 9 April).

Sally Wainwright’s historical drama, a co-production between the BBC and HBO, chronicles the real-life love story of Anne Lister (Suranne Jones) and Ann Walker (Sophie Rundle), 180 years before same-sex marriages were legalised in the UK.

The programme is based on the encoded diaries of Lister, who was a real-life industrialist and landowner in Halifax in the early 1800s.

Spoilers for season one of Gentleman Jack below.

Fans of the critically acclaimed period drama have had to wait nearly three years for the next chapter of Lister and Walker’s romance, after the show’s protagonists tied the knot in a secret ceremony at a church in York.

Released in 2019, season one was celebrated as a “confident, smart period drama with fabulous sets and costumes – especially Anne’s top hats and black suits – and a large warm heart.”

Now, Gentleman Jack fans have been left “speechless” over the first episode of the show, which is being praised online for its representation of the LGBT+ community, Jones’s performance, and the “intense” chemistry between Anne and Ann.

“Surrane f’n Jones and Sophie Rundle #GentlemanJack my Anne(s) are extraordinary, welcome back, the gays have missed you,” one fan wrote on Twitter.

Only one episode in, and fans were calling for Jones to win next year’s Bafta and Emmy awards over her performance.

“If Gentleman Jack was a movie she’s be nominated for an Oscar. Come on Baftas and Emmys!” one fan said.

Another fan of the show, which has previously been dubbed “Fleabag in petticoats”, tweeted: “One of my favourite things in Gentleman Jack is Anne’s asides to camera, her breaking the fourth wall to talk about how she feels. It just makes the whole thing even better.”

In Fleabag, creator Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s character also routinely breaks the fourth wall as a way to guide viewers through the twisted map of her mind.

Some fans found solace in the “visually glorious” episode one of Gentleman Jack season two. They contrasted it to the season finale of BBC’s Killing Eve, which viewers had previously called an “abomination”.

“I am about toGentleman Jack that Killing Eve abomination (except for about 20 minutes of chemistry perfection from Sandra Oh & Jodie Comer) right out of my memory. Thank you for your timing, Suranne Jones & Sophie Rundle,” one social media user wrote on Sunday.

“Y’ALL!!!!!!! SHAKING SCREAMING CRYING THROWING UP THAT WAS F****** AMAZING HELP!!!!!” one fan commented on Twitter, after watching episode one of Gentleman Jack.

New episodes of the period drama air every Sunday night at 9pm on BBC One in the UK.

Viewers in the US can watch season two of Gentleman Jack on 25 April on HBO Max.