York in all its autumnal glory was the stunning backdrop to a BBC drama filmed in the city.
Minster Yard was thronged with gentlemen in top hats and ladies in bonnets as scenes were shot for BBC drama Gentleman Jack on Monday (November 5).
This drama has Doctor Foster star Suranne Jones in the title role as Anne Lister, aka Gentleman Jack.
Filming took place between Treasurer’s House and the Deanery next to York Minster.
Tents, tripods and teams of makeup artists swarmed the courtyard. Two horse-drawn carriages and a single rider were part of the action.
Parked cars were disguised by the ingenious use of camouflage to preserve the historical authenticity.
A love story
Anne Lister, who dressed head-to-foot in black, charmed her way into Victorian high society. The six-part series centres on the time when she returned to England to save her ancestral home Shibden Hall.
It is also a love story. On Easter Sunday of 1834 she and her lover Ann Walker took communion together at Holy Trinity Church in Goodramgate, which they considered a marriage ceremony.
The church was set to be the location for the second day of York filming this week.
A team from Lookout Point, the independent drama production company working with the BBC on the drama, have been seen moving vast amounts of studio equipment into the small church courtyard.
Award-winning filmmaker Sally Wainwright, creator of Last Tango In Halifax and Happy Valley, is the driving force behind the drama.
She first shot scenes in York in the summer. Sally and Suranne previously worked together on the popular police drama Scott & Bailey.
The filming of Gentleman Jack comes hard on the heels of a team from ITV shooting scenes for another 19th century costume drama, Victoria, starring Jenna Coleman as the young queen.
Gentleman Jack gallery
