Series 1, Episode 1

In 1832, worldly Anne Lister returns to Halifax, West Yorkshire after her former lover, Vere Hobart, leaves her in order to marry a man. Taking over the management of her family's ancestral home Shibden Hall, Lister discovers that not only has the estate been neglected and the rents uncollected, but there is considerable coal on the property that could be mined at great profit. A chance meeting introduces her to the shy but wealthy heiress Ann Walker, who lives nearby.