The Hardacres on Channel 5 is a period drama set in the late 1800s that brings to life CL Skelton’s best-selling series of novels The Hardacre Saga.
Starring Shetland's Julie Graham, Hollyoaks’ Claire Cooper and Coronation Street’s Adam Little, it follows the Hardacre family as their fortunes change and they move from a grimy fish dock to a vast country estate in 1890’s Yorkshire. But as the move plunges an ordinary family into an extraordinary situation it tackles the age-old question of whether money can really buy true happiness.
Here’s everything you need to know about the six-part Channel 5 period drama The Hardacres…
The Hardacres release date
The Hardacres will start on Channel from Monday, October 7 2024 at 9pm. The series will air weekly at the same time for 6 weeks, and also be available on My5.
How to watch The Hardacres online or on TV
Is there a trailer for The Hardacres?
Yes a trailer for The Hardacres has been posted by Channel 5 which shows how this rags-to-riches story pans out. Do take a look below
The Hardacres plot
Sam Hardacre (Liam McMahon) makes a tough but honest living as a fish gutter but then an accident on the docks means he and his family fall on hard times. Unemployed and broke, Sam and his wife Mary (Claire Cooper), who was once a street urchin, come up with a business venture which sees them leave behind their humble existence on the north Yorkshire coast and move to a sprawling country estate. As Sam and Mary adapt to their new roles as master and mistress of a grand house, their children all make very different choices about their futures.
The Hardacres cast — Liam McMahon on playing Sam Hardacre
In The Hardacres, Liam McMahon plays hardworking family man Sam.
"Sam is working-class and comfortable with his station in life at the beginning; his dream was just to have a good family. So when the world’s turned upside down by their sudden wealth, he struggles. It solves the immediate problem of them not falling into destitution, but he has to figure out what his role is now. He also has a strong moral code, and tries to carry his core values into the different world of the establishment, but he can’t align everything and there’s conflict.
"But Sam and Mary have a modern relationship. He’s a strong man and gives her freedom to express her opinions, he doesn’t fight her battles, but he will protect her, although he knows who’s running the show!
"He’s also a devoted father and you see his insecurity as he tries to keep Joe on the straight and narrow, but he’s overprotective of Harry and Liza is a daddy’s girl who has Sam wrapped around her wee finger! It was the first time I’ve played the dad of teenage children, though, so my Peter Pan complex went out the window!
"But our favourite scenes were the ones where we were all together for the family dinners. We have a real family dynamic. Whenever it was just me in a scene, I missed the others, we had camaraderie and the craic was great!"
* Liam McMahon played Daniel in the 2022 series Silverpoint and has also had roles in Coronation Street, Mrs Sidhu Investigates, Evie, Doctors, The Tudors, The Secret and The Fall.
Claire Cooper on playing Mary Hardacre
Claire Cooper plays Sam’s loving wife Mary. "Determination defines Mary, she’s a strong woman, and has grown up in hard times,’ says Claire. "She pulls everyone together and Sam realises she has a vision and he supports her."
After Mary sets up a fried herring stall with help from her schoolboy youngest son Harry (Zak Ford-Williams), who has cerebral palsy, there are some initial obstacles. But as the whole family joins the new enterprise, it thrives and expands, and soon, some sound investments leave them staggeringly wealthy and they eventually buy a lavish stately home.
"Mary’s an entrepreneur and is desperate for this other world," shares Claire. "She wants to better her children’s lives."
However, moving through the upper echelons of society proves challenging for them all… "Mary doesn't know the etiquette and the family don’t conform when she needs them to," says Claire. "The Hardacres are wildlings, they’re looked down on, and that’s hard for Mary to take."
* Claire Cooper is best known for her role as Jacqui McQueen in the soap Hollyoaks but has also been in The Continental, The Witcher: Blood Origin, The Peripheral, Strike Back, Snatch and Knightfall.
Julie Graham on playing Ma
Julie Graham plays Mary’s wily mother in The Hardacres. "It’s great telling a working-class story with humour and heart. The script was a page-turner – you’re rooting for the family, "says Julie. "Ma’s fun to play. She is an unpredictable renegade and a remarkable woman for the time, because she’s raised a child on her own. She marches to the beat of her own drum – she’s like a kid, she’s feral! And she and Mary have a real mother-daughter relationship, it’s tumultuous but there’s love.
"She enjoys the money the family earns, but she’s not going to change. Ma can’t stand posh people and hates the Hardacres’ new neighbours, the Fitzherberts! They’re landed gentry and Lord Fitzherbert [Dead and Buried star Owen Roe] is friendly but Lady Fitzherbert [Miss Scarlet and the Duke’s Cathy Belton] is a piece of work and a snob. And Mrs Dryden [Roadkill’s Ingrid Craigie], the Hardacres’ housekeeper, is horrified that they have moved in as well.
‘"We have Ma’s dog Tinny, too, who’s played by a girl dog, Munchie. She was beautiful but the scenes where Tinny’s running around were just Munchie dashing after her owner! Tinny’s supposed to be this calm old scruff, who’s always by Ma’s side, but Munchie wouldn’t sit still. She was a rogue, but we went with that, so Tinny has Ma’s spirit!
"I’ve also learnt to ride a horse and cart, which isn’t easy! And we had a fish-gutting masterclass – our hands were freezing and covered in blood, and we stank! But I’m a natural fishwife!"
* Julie Graham played Lou in the prison drama Time season 2 and has also been in Payback, Shetland, Ridley, Maternal, Queens of Mystery, Benidorm, Casualty, At Home with the Braithwaites, The Bletchley Circle and The Bill.
Adam Little as Joe Hardacre
Adam Little plays Sam and Mary’s son Joe Hardacre. He’s known for playing Blake Myers in Coronation Street and Kyle Dobson in Ackley Bridge. Adam has also appeared in Doctors, The Dumping Ground and Years and Years.
Who else is starring in the Hardacres?
The Hardacres also stars newcomer Shannon Lavelle and Zak Ford-Williams (A Christmas Carol: A Ghost Story and Better) who play the Hardacres’ other children Liza and Harry while Holly Sturton, Cathy Belton, Owen Roe, Ingrid Craigie, Siobhan O’Kelly and Taheen Modak also star.
Behind the scenes, locations and more on The Hardacres
The Hardacres is filmed on location in Dublin and Wicklow, Ireland. The drama has been created for television by Amy Roberts and Loren McLaughlan (The Winter King, Call the Midwife) who are Lead Writers and Executive Producers. They are joined by Emma Reeves (The Worst Witch) who wrote episode 3, and Liz Lake (Waterloo Road) who wrote episode 4. Rachel Carey (Deadly Cuts) is Lead Director of Episodes 1-3. And Kieron J Walsh directs Episodes 4 to 6.
The series is produced by Playground (All Creatures Great and Small, Wolf Hall, Howards End, The Undeclared War) in association with Screen Ireland, Red Berry Productions and Newgrange Pictures.
The Hardacres was commissioned by Deputy Chief Content Officer, Paramount UK, Sebastian Cardwell, alongside Paul Testar, Commissioning Editor, Drama, Channel 5 and Paramount+, and will be produced by Alex Jones (Witness Number 3, Penance) and co-produced by Jackie Larkin (Strike, Mrs Wilson); Executive Producers are Sir Colin Callender CBE (All Creatures Great and Small, The Undeclared War) and David Stern (Howards End, The Last Tycoon) for Playground, Lesley McKimm (My Name is Emily, Sunlight) for Red Berry Productions, Cathy Payne and Simon Cox for Banijay Rights and Andrew Byrne for Screen Ireland.
David Stern, Executive Producer and Joint Managing Director of Playground says: “We’re incredibly excited to have found a cast that embodies and enhances the spirit, humour and humanity that leaps off the page in both the original novels and the brilliant scripts by Amy, Loren, Liz and Emma. Audiences will undoubtedly fall in love with our fantastic group of actors, made up of both seasoned talent and exciting new faces, as they bring this spirited and sweeping rags to riches saga to life on screen.”
Simon Cox, Executive Producer and EVP Content & Acquisitions, Banijay Rights, says: “We fell in love with the world of The Hardacres from the first read of the scripts and we’re delighted with the ensemble cast that Playground has assembled. We’re in no doubt international audiences will enjoy embarking on the journey with this talented family of actors.”
