All Creatures Great and Small fans will love Channel 5's new period drama The Hardacres – details
All Creatures Great and Small is without a doubt one of Channel 5's most popular period dramas. The Yorkshire-set series, based on James Herriot's beloved short story collection, has become a firm favourite amongst viewers since it debuted in 2020.
From its heartwarming tales to its endearing characters and breathtaking landscapes, All Creatures Great and Small has all the elements of a cosy, autumn drama. But luckily for fans, Channel 5 has a new period piece in the works that checks all the same boxes – and it sounds amazing.
Not only is the show created and penned by Call the Midwife writers Amy Roberts and Loren McLaughlan, but it also comes from the same production company behind All Creatures Great and Small, Playground, and is based on a beloved novel series.
Keep reading for everything you need to know about The Hardacres, which is arriving on our screens very soon.
What is The Hardacres about?
Based on CL Skelton's best-selling novel series The Hardacre Saga, the drama is billed as a "rags to riches" story and follows the working-class Hardacre family as their fortune dramatically changes.
The synopsis reads: "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.
"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?"
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Who stars in The Hardacres? Meet the cast
Claire Cooper (The Continental, The Peripheral) and Liam McMahon (The Secret, Warrior Nun) play loving married couple Mary and Sam Hardacre, who fall on hard times after an accident at work on the docks leaves them unemployed and broke.
Meanwhile, Julie Graham (Time, Ridley), takes on the role of Mary's "wily" mother, Ma, while their three children, Joe, Liza, and Harry, are played by Adam Little (Ackley Bridge), newcomer Shannon Lavelle and Zak Ford-Williams (Better).
According to the synopsis, the family "band 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".
Also starring in the show are Holly Sturton (The School for Good and Evil) as Adella, Cathy Belton (Miss Scarlet & The Duke, Philomena) as Emma and Owen Roe (Penny Dreadful) as George, making up the Hardacres' neighbours, the "well to do" Fitzherbert Family.
Rounding out the cast are Ingrid Craigie (Blood, Blackshore) as housekeeper Mrs Dryden, Siobhan O'Kelly (The Tourist) as Lena and Taheen Modak (The Bay) as Saunders.
The Hardacres release date
The series, which was filmed in Dublin and Wicklow, Ireland, will arrive on Channel 5 and My 5 this autumn. A release date has yet to be confirmed.
