Starring: Maxine Peake , Anna Madeley
Directed by: James Kent
Produced by: Mark Bentley
Written by: Jane English
Meet Anne Lister (Maxine Peake, Little Dorrit)-a wealthy landowner with a secret life. Anne's affair with Marianna Belcombe (Anna Madeley, Law & Order UK) defies the conventions of 19th-century Yorkshire high society, until Marianna weds a rich widower. Will Anne ever find true love again? A profoundly moving drama, based on the heavily coded diaries of "the first modern lesbian." Recommended for mature viewers.
Item Number: 16104
- Maxine Peake in Conversation with Director James Kent
- The Real Anne Lister with Sue Perkins - a 60 minute documentary exploring Lister's diary
Maxine Peake stars in a profoundly moving drama based on the real diaries of Anne Lister: a landowning woman who defied the conventions of her 19th century society to live her life openly as a lesbian. Her affair with "soul mate" Marianna Belcombe keeps society guessing but when it is announced that Marianna is to be married to the older, corpulent and wealthy Charles Lawton, Anne is distraught. And so she begins a string of relationships, most notably with the wealthy heiress Ann Walker. But while Ann is a proud, strong and supportive partner in a time when lesbianism just isn't tolerated, can Anne's feelings for her ever match those she has for Marianna? Set in the small, elite world of high society, The Secret Diaries of Miss Anne Lister is an inspiring story of "the first modern lesbian," a woman who challenged convention and was determined simply to be herself.