Jamaica Inn: Story, Cast and Series Facts

Story and premise

Set in 1820 against the forbidding backdrop of windswept Cornish moors, the story follows the journey of young and spirited Mary who is forced to live with her Aunt Patience after the death of her mother. Mary arrives at the isolated Jamaica Inn to discover her Aunt is a shell of the carefree woman she remembers from her childhood, and instead finds a drudge who is firmly under the spell of her domineering husband Joss.

The Inn has no guests - the rooms are locked and kept for storage - but it soon becomes clear that it's a cover, as Joss is the leader of a smuggling ring, and Jamaica Inn the hub of his ‘free' trade.

As Mary gets drawn into the dangerous world of smuggling, she finds herself attracted to Jem Merlyn, Joss's roughly handsome younger brother. But he stands for everything that Mary despises and worse, she fears that he's involved in Joss's gang. Mary's morals and loyalties become deeply conflicted. Who can she trust? Can she even trust herself?

Series details

• Title: Jamaica Inn
• Format: Scripted
• Language: English
• Genres: Drama, History
• Premiere date: 2014-04-21
• Final broadcast date listed: 2014-04-23
• Status in TVmaze: Ended
• Network listed by TVmaze: BBC One
• Network country: United Kingdom
• Typical episode runtime: 60 minutes
• TVmaze community rating: 7.3/10
• TVMaze ID: 15571
• IMDb ID: tt3098842
• TVDB ID: 277588

Cast and credited roles

• Jessica Brown Findlay — Mary Yellan
• Matthew McNulty — Jem Merlyn
• Sean Harris — Joss Merlyn
• Joanne Whalley — Aunt Patience

Seasons in the TVmaze catalogue

• Season 1: premiered 2014-04-21; final listed air date 2014-04-23; episode order: 3.

Source and licence

Adapted from Jamaica Inn on TVmaze. The synopsis is reproduced as plain text; catalogue facts, cast and season records are selected and reformatted. This adapted text is available under CC BY-SA 4.0, following the TVmaze API licence. Network and web-channel credits identify the service listed in this source; they do not establish current streaming availability.