Rags-to-Riches Period Drama 'The Hardacres' Arrives on Channel 5 This Fall
Shannon Lavelle, Julie Graham, Zak Ford-Williams, Adam Litle, Claire Cooper, and Liam McMahon in "The Hardacres"
(Photo: Channel 5)
Can money buy you happiness? That’s the question at the heart of the new Channel 5 period drama The Hardacres, a rags-to-riches story from the producers of All Creatures Great and Small that is based on the bestselling series of novels by CL Skelton. Set in 1890s Yorkshire, the series follows the story of the titular Hardacres, an ordinary working-class family thrust into extraordinary circumstances. After an accident at the local fish docks leaves the Hardacres unemployed and on the brink of financial ruin, they embrace a radical new business idea that subsequently makes them rich beyond their wildest dreams.
Suddenly catapulted into the world of Yorkshire’s elite, the family must navigate not only the snobbery and unspoken rules of the British class system but also the existential personal questions that accompany such a rapid change in status. If the overall vibe of this series feels familiar, it may be because Skelton was a contemporary of All Creatures author James Herriott, whose stories share a similar thematic interest in class issues and the lives of everyday people.
Creators Amy Roberts (Call the Midwife) and Loren McLaughlin (Our Girl) describe The Hardacres as a “working-class Downton Abbey. “The pair told The Guardian that they chose to make the series because “more working-class people watch TV than any other demographic, but they don’t feel like they are represented on the screen.”
Here's the series' logline.
The Hardacres is a sweeping rags to riches story that follows the lives, loves and fortunes of the working class Hardacre family as they move from a grimy fish dock to a vast country estate in 1890’s Yorkshire.
The Hardacres stars Claire Cooper (The Peripheral) and Liam McMahon (Joan) as Mary and Sam Hardacre, alongside Julie Graham (Ridley) as Mary's mother, and Adam Little (Years and Years), Sharon Lavelle (Hamlin), and Zak Ford-Williams (Bridgerton) as Hardacre children, Joe, Liza, and Harry. Holly Sturton (Sanctuary: A Witches Tale), Cathy Belton (Miss Scarlet), and Owen Roe (Vikings) play Adella, Emma, and George, the well-to-do Fitzhugh family who are the Hardacres' new neighbors. Other members of the series' ensemble include Ingrid Craigie (You Are Not My Mother), Siobhan O’Kelly (The Tourist), Sarah Agha (Homeland), and Taheen Modak (The Bay).
Roberts and McLaughlan are lead writers, joined by Emma Reeves and Liz Lake, who will pen episodes three and four, respectively. Rachel Carey (Deadly Cuts) is the lead director, splitting helming duties on the six episodes with Kieron J. Walsh. The series is produced by Playground (Wolf Hall) in association with Screen Ireland, Red Berry Productions, and Newgrange Pictures.
The Hardacres will premiere in October on Channel 5 in the U.K. The drama does not yet have an American distributor, but given the popularity of All Creatures in the U.S., it seems hard to believe it won't find one relatively quickly.
