This was so horribly inaccurate I suffered more and more every minute. The basically just took the bullet points of Anne Lister's life, the names of those she knew, shuffled the timeline around, and made up almost everything that happened for the sake of drama. There was plenty of drama in Anne Lister's life they could've chosen to make a film about instead of making stuff up.
Apparently Anne did not have a father or sister, and her aunt was obsessed with her finding a husband even though she supported Anne being a lesbian in real life.
One of the most extraordinary parts of Anne Lister's life was that she travelled extensively, but it's barely mentioned. I understand if they can't show that because of budget reasons, but it should at least have been mentioned more than it was.
No mention of Ann Walker's lifelong struggle with anxiety and depression, and they completely changed their relationship. No courtship, they just randomly decide to get married after Ann randomly moves in, instead of showing how much of a struggle it was to even make that happen.
I don't know if I would be this annoyed if this was the only adaptation of Anne Lister's diaries, maybe I would have been grateful simply for someone to adapt Anne Lister's story no matter how inaccurate it was. Thankfully Gentleman Jack exists, especially given how accurate it is.
I do think it's fun that Gemma Jones portrayed Aunt Anne Lister twice.