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 launch on Channel 5 some time in 2024, but we'll update with the air date as soon as we hear.
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 as Sam Hardacre
In The Hardacres, Liam McMahon plays hardworking family man Sam. He 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 as Mary Hardacre
Claire Cooper plays Sam’s loving wife Mary. She’s 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 as Ma
Julie Graham plays Mary’s wily mother. She 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.”
Is there a trailer for The Hardacres?
No, but if Channel 5 releases a trailer for The Hardacres we’ll post it here.
