The makers of All Creatures Great and Small announce cast of Yorkshire-set TV saga The Hardacres

Playground, which makes Channel 5’s All Creatures Great and Small, has announced the cast of The Hardacres, a sweeping rags-to-riches TV drama saga that follows the fortunes of the working-class Hardacre family as they move from a grimy fish dock to a vast country estate in 1890s Yorkshire.
Stephanie Smith
By Stephanie Smith
Published 14th Dec 2023, 10:15 GMT
Updated 14th Dec 2023, 17:05 GMT

The six 60-minute episodes, which are sadly not being filmed in Yorkshire but instead right now in Dublin and Wicklow, Ireland, are based on CL Skelton’s best-selling series of novels The Hardacre Saga. The Hardacre family consists of Claire Cooper (The Continental, The Peripheral) and Liam McMahon (Hunger, The Secret, Warrior Nun) as loving married couple Mary and Sam Hardacre, who land on hard times following an accident at work on the docks, which leaves them unemployed and broke.

Julie Graham (Time, Ridley, Penance) is Mary’s wily mother, Ma, and their three kids, Joe, Liza, and Harry, are played by Adam Little (Ackley Bridge, Coronation Street), newcomer Shannon Lavelle and Zak Ford-Williams (Better), as the family that bands together to think fast with a business venture that will free them from their humble existence on the North Yorkshire Coast and catapult them into high society.

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Also joining the series are Holly Sturton (The School for Good and Evil) as Adella, Cathy Belton (Miss Scarlet & The Duke,The Catch, Philomena) as Emma and Owen Roe (Michael Collins, Vikings, Penny Dreadful) as George, making up the well to do Fitzherbert Family and new neighbours of The Hardacres. Ingrid Craigie (Blood, Blackshore, You Are Not My Mother) is housekeeper Mrs Dryden, with Siobhan O’Kelly (The Tourist S2) as Lena and Taheen Modak (The Bay) as Saunders.

Claire Cooper, left, (The Continental, The Peripheral) and Liam McMahon (Hunger, The Secret, Warrior Nun) are Mary and Sam Hardacre, Julie Graham, right, (Time, Ridley, Penance) is Mary’s wily mother, Ma.Claire Cooper, left, (The Continental, The Peripheral) and Liam McMahon (Hunger, The Secret, Warrior Nun) are Mary and Sam Hardacre, Julie Graham, right, (Time, Ridley, Penance) is Mary’s wily mother, Ma.
Claire Cooper, left, (The Continental, The Peripheral) and Liam McMahon (Hunger, The Secret, Warrior Nun) are Mary and Sam Hardacre, Julie Graham, right, (Time, Ridley, Penance) is Mary’s wily mother, Ma.

A bold, gutsy ensemble family drama full of heart, The Hardacres places an ordinary family in an extraordinary position and explores the age-old question – can money ever buy true happiness?

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. 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.”

The Hardacres has been created for television by Amy Roberts and Loren McLaughlan (The Winter King, Call the Midwife) who will serve as lead writers and executive producers. They are joined by Emma Reeves (The Worst Witch) who will write episode three, and Liz Lake (Waterloo Road) who will write episode four. Rachel Carey (Deadly Cuts) is Lead Director of Episodes 1-3. And Kieron J Walsh will direct Episodes 4-6. The series 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). The Hardacres is planned for transmission in 2024.

Related topics:YorkshireChannel 5