‘It’s a big saga with big hair’: the bonkbuster remake of one of the biggest TV dramas ever

‘It’s a big saga with big hair’: the bonkbuster remake of one of the biggest TV dramas ever The raunchy 80s adaptation of smash hit novel A Woman of Substance drew the highest ratings Channel 4 has ever seen. As the broadcaster goes there again, the cast and creators talk feminism, revenge – and sex caves S omewhere 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 ...