Brenda Blethyn headlines new Channel 4 remake and her seaside comfort comedy is streaming now
brenda blethyn returns to prime-time drama with A Woman of Substance and viewers can also binge her seaside sitcom Kate & Koji now — two very different projects that place her front and center.
Brenda Blethyn leads Channel 4 remake A Woman of Substance
The eight-part period drama A Woman of Substance will premiere with its first two episodes on Wednesday 11 and Thursday 12 March at 9 p. m. on Channel 4, with the entire eight-part series available as a boxset after the first episode airs. Blethyn plays the older Emma Harte, with Jessica Reynolds as the younger version of the character; the story opens in 1911 with Emma as an impoverished maid in Yorkshire who embarks on a rags-to-riches journey that ends with her gazing down from a sprawling New York penthouse.
Cast, writers and production details
The adaptation is penned by Katherine Jakeways with co-writer Roanne Bardsley. The cast includes Leanne Best, Ewan Horrocks, Harry Cadby, Niall Wright and Robert Wilfort, with Toby Regbo, Hiftu Quasem, Sophie Bould, Georgina Sadler and Jo Joyner also starring. The drama is made by The Forge, the producer behind The Buccaneers.
BritBox picks up U. S. rights; international sales roll out
BritBox has acquired U. S. streaming rights after a deal with Banijay Rights, which is handling international sales. The show has been sold to Foxtel’s Binge for Australia, TVNZ for New Zealand, NPO in the Netherlands, Cosmote in Greece, Cellcom TV Plus in Israel and RUV in Iceland. Matt Creasey, EVP Sales, Acquisitions and Coproductions, negotiated the U. S. streaming deal and described BritBox as the “perfect North American home” for the adaptation.
Legacy of the story and festival sales push
The adaptation remakes a Channel 4 production released 40 years earlier; that 1980s miniseries starred Jenny Seagrove and Deborah Kerr and its final episode still ranks as the highest rated program in the channel’s history. News of the new series emerged shortly after Barbara Taylor Bradford’s death in late 2024. The recent sales activity also coincides with London TV Screenings this week, an event that Banijay launched alongside All3Media, ITV Studios and Fremantle and which now features more than 40 sales houses showing their wares.
Premiere timing, trailer images and what viewers will see
A trailer for the remake shows Blethyn’s Emma in New York, desperate to exact revenge, then flashes back to the younger Emma working in a grand house and being warned about her “ambition. ” The official synopsis frames the story as a century-spanning tale of ambition and social defiance.
From Vera and Kate & Koji: Blethyn’s recent TV work
brenda blethyn is best known for playing DCI Vera Stanhope, and A Woman of Substance will mark her first role since Vera ended. She also stars in the seaside-set comedy Kate & Koji, created by Andy Hamilton and Guy Jenkin and first broadcast in 2020. That show follows Kate, a prejudiced British working-class café owner in an Essex seaside town, and Koji, an African doctor seeking asylum in the UK.
The first series of Kate & Koji aired in 2020 and ran for six episodes; it introduced Koji, played by Jimmy Akingbola, who cannot legally work while his papers are processed and so hides at Kate’s café. Kate initially mistakes him for a “scrounger” and then offers free food in exchange for unofficial medical consultations, which Koji provides through an underground clinic for local customers. The first series averaged just under five million viewers when it first aired.
The second series was broadcast in 2022 and also ran for six episodes. Brenda Blethyn returned as Kate; Jimmy Akingbola stepped away to star in a U. S. reboot of The Fresh Prince of Bel Air and Okorie Chukwu replaced him as Koji. Series 2 continues Koji’s unofficial surgery and his struggles with the UK asylum system while he navigates a romantic relationship, and Kate contends with a former rival who reappears.
Both series of Kate & Koji are available on Prime Video, and the second series can also be watched on ITVX. One reviewer summed up Kate & Koji as a show that “skewers the state of modern Britain. ” For viewers seeking a different comforting drama, another recommendation mentioned a series called Film Club that centers on Evie, played by Aimee Lou Wood, a young agoraphobic woman who starts a film club in her garage while navigating a new romantic situation.
One article carrying the Kate & Koji coverage included an affiliate note stating, “We earn a commission for products purchased through some links in this article. ” Another page carrying the remake information noted that it contains embedded video content and asks for permission before loading external media and cookies. A trade dispatch covering sales noted that online comments on its site are moderated, mentioned reCAPTCHA protections, and that the outlet is part of a larger media group.
Confirmed next steps: A Woman of Substance will premiere with two episodes on Wednesday 11 and Thursday 12 March at 9 p. m. on Channel 4, the full eight-part series will be available as a boxset after the first episode, and BritBox will stream the series in the U. S. following the international sales effort.
