CHANNEL 5 GREENLIGHTS ‘THE HARDACRES’ A NEW DRAMA FROM THE MAKERS OF ‘ALL CREATURES GREAT AND SMALL’

 London, Tuesday 25th July 2023: From Playground, the award-winning production company behind the internationally acclaimed hit series All Creatures Great and Small, comes a new six-part period drama for Channel 5 based on CL Skelton’s best-selling series of novels ‘The Hardacre Saga’. 

The Hardacres chronicles the sweeping rags to riches story of a working class family in 1890s Yorkshire. A sprawling family saga, the series follows the lives, loves and fortunes of the Hardacre family as they move from a grimy fish dock to a vast country estate. 

When an accident at work on the docks lands Sam and Mary Hardacre – along with their three kids Joe, Liza and Harry, and Mary’s inimitable mother Ma – unemployed and destitute, they have to think fast. In a bid to avoid the workhouse, the driven and determined Hardacres put their last penny into a radical business venture they hope will free them from their harsh existence on the quays of the North Yorkshire coast.

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 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 3, and Liz Lake (Waterloo Road) who will write episode 4. Rachel Carey (Deadly Cuts) is Lead Director.

The series is produced by Playground (Wolf Hall, Howards End) in association with Screen Ireland, Red Berry Productions, and Newgrange Pictures. Global partners Banijay Rights will handle international distribution. The series, commissioned by Deputy Chief Content Officer, Paramount UK, Sebastian Cardwell, alongside Paul Testar, Commissioning Editor, Drama, Channel 5 and Paramount+, 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.  

The Hardacres will be filmed on location in Ireland later this year and casting will be announced in the coming weeks.

Sebastian Cardwell, Deputy Chief Content Officer, Paramount UK says: “Playground have a stellar reputation for bringing wonderful stories to life on Channel 5 and we are sure that The Hardacres will continue that success. Our viewers will love being transported back to 1890s Yorkshire, for this gutsy, heartwarming tale following the family through stories of love, ambition and the quest for happiness.” 

David Stern, Executive Producer and Joint Managing Director of Playground says: “We’re thrilled to be further extending our fantastic partnership with Channel 5 to bring CL Skelton’s glorious novels to the screen. The Hardacres is a life affirming rags to riches story about a family overcoming all odds, but in their quest for financial success they rediscover that community, friendship and family are the most precious things in life. Amy and Loren have done a brilliant job adapting the novels into a television series filled with humour, poignancy and a timely spirit that will resonate greatly with today’s Channel 5 audience.” 

Simon Cox, Executive Producer and EVP Content & Acquisitions, Banijay Rights, says: “We’re excited to be on this journey with Playground and Channel 5 as we enter the world of The Hardacres, a sweeping family saga that’s set to captivate and resonate with audiences around the world.”

For more information please contact: 

 Lisa Vanoli - lisavanolipublicity@gmail.com

Hannah Allan - hannah.allan@paramount.com 

NOTES TO EDITORS  

About Channel 5 

Channel 5 is a public service broadcaster and the UK’s third largest commercial TV station. Launched in March 1997, Channel 5 has been part of Paramount Global (formerly ViacomCBS) since its acquisition in September 2014.   

Channel 5 and its digital brands – 5STAR, 5USA, 5SELECT, 5ACTION and the on-demand service My5 – offer a diverse range of issue-led documentaries & popular factual celebrating the British countryside and drawing talent to the channel, accessible history, premium drama and critically-acclaimed children’s, news and current affairs programming. Through its agenda-driving commissions, Channel 5 leads on societal issues from inequality to homelessness and mental health, aiming to tell the story of modern Britain by reflecting the lives of people across the nation.    

 In 2018, Channel 5 won its first BAFTA for Cruising with Jane McDonald. The following year, Raped: My Story won best Single Documentary at RTS. In 2020, it won crowned Channel of the Year at the Broadcast Awards and by the RTS. In addition that year, it secured its first ever Grierson award win in the ‘Best Single Documentary – Domestic’ category with Suicidal: In Our Own Words. In 2021, it won best factual entertainment at the Broadcast Awards for Springtime on the Farm. It also won best drama at Voice of the Listener & Viewer for All Creatures Great and Small the same year.  

About Paramount Global  

Paramount Global (NASDAQ: PARA, PARAA) is a leading global media and entertainment company that creates premium content and experiences for audiences worldwide. Driven by iconic studios, networks and streaming services, its portfolio of consumer brands includes CBS, Showtime Networks, Paramount Pictures, Nickelodeon, MTV, Comedy Central, BET, Paramount+, Pluto TV and Simon & Schuster, among others. The company delivers the largest share of the U.S. television audience and boasts one of the industry’s most important and extensive libraries of TV and film titles. In addition to offering innovative streaming services and digital video products, Paramount Global provides powerful capabilities in production, distribution and advertising solutions.    

About Playground  

Playground is a New York and London-based television, film and theatre production company founded in 2012 by award-winning producer Colin Callender. Playground has produced over 100 hours of primetime television drama garnering 16 Emmy nominations, 26 BAFTA nominations, and 12 Golden Globe nominations, including winning a BAFTA and a Golden Globe for Best Miniseries.   

Recent productions include Wolf Hall, the BAFTA, Golden Globe and Peabody Award winning miniseries starring Mark Rylance, Damian Lewis and Claire Foy for the BBC and Masterpiece on PBS, The Dresser, the RTS winning television adaptation of Ronald Harwood’s acclaimed play starring Ian McKellen and Anthony Hopkins and directed by Richard Eyre for the BBC and Starz, The White Princess, a limited series for Starz drawn from the bestselling book by Philippa Gregory, Howards End, Academy Award-winner Kenneth Lonergan’s adaptation of E.M. Forster’s classic novel starring Hayley Atwell, Matthew Macfadyen and Tracey Ullman directed by Hettie Macdonald for the BBC and Starz, Little Women, adapted by Heidi Thomas and starring Emily Watson, Michael Gambon and Angela Lansbury for the BBC and Masterpiece on PBS, King Lear starring Anthony Hopkins and Emma Thompson and directed by Richard Eyre for the BBC and Amazon, Chimerica, adapted by Lucy Kirkwood from her Olivier Award-winning play and starring Alessandro Nivola, Cherry Jones and Sophie Okonedo for Channel 4, The Spanish Princess, a continuation of The White Princess and The White Queen starring Charlotte Hope, Laura Carmichael and Harriet Walter for Starz, All Creatures Great and Small based on the iconic bestselling novels by James Herriot for Channel 5 and Masterpiece on PBS starring Samuel West, Anna Madeley, Nicholas Ralph, Callum Woodhouse and Rachel Shenton, Dangerous Liaisons based on the iconic novel by Pierre Choderlos de Laclos for Starz, and Peter Kosminsky’s The Undeclared War starring Simon Pegg, Mark Rylance, Adrian Lester and Hannah Khalique-Brown for Channel 4 and Peacock.   

Playground’s theatre productions on Broadway include: Nora Ephron’s Tony-nominated Lucky Guy directed by George C. Wolfe starring Tom Hanks in his Broadway debut, Harvey Fierstein’s Tony-nominated Casa Valentina directed by Joe Mantello, the Tony Award-winning revival of Hedwig and the Angry Inch, Jez Butterworth’s The River directed by Ian Rickson and starring Hugh Jackman, and Kenneth Branagh and Rob Ashford’s critically acclaimed groundbreaking production of Macbeth at The Park Avenue Armory in New York, the Tony Award-winning Best Musical Dear Evan Hansen, and current smash hit musical New York New York. Recent theatre productions in the West End include: John Tiffany's The Glass Menagerie, Casey Nicholaw’s Dreamgirls, and Ian Rickson’s Rosmersholm.   

Playground, in partnership with Sonia Friedman Productions, is currently producing Harry Potter and the Cursed Child in the West End where it won a record-breaking 9 Olivier Awards, on Broadway where it won 6 Tony Awards including Best Play, and in Melbourne, San Francisco, Toronto, Tokyo and Hamburg where it has opened to further critical acclaim.   

About Banijay Rights 

Leading global distributor, Banijay Rights, represents a world-class, multi-genre portfolio of 172,000 hours of standout programming. Handling the distribution for media and entertainment powerhouse, Banijay, the division specialises in the exploitation of premium scripted and non-scripted brands to broadcasters worldwide.   

Representing quality, excellence and experience in the business of linear and non-linear television and ancillary activity across all platforms, Banijay Rights’ catalogue encompasses a host of top titles from Banijay’s 130+ in-house labels, and a number of third-party producers, spanning drama, comedy, entertainment, factual, reality, family, formats and theatrical.   

Delivering high-quality IP, which was born locally and travels globally, the distributor offers the best stories told the best way. Its landmark brands include Survivor, Big Brother, MasterChef, Peaky Blinders, Rogue Heroes, Marie Antoinette, Temptation Island, Grantchester, Deal or No Deal, Biggest Loser, Home and Away, Love Triangle, Mr Bean and Black Mirror.   

Built on independence, creative freedom, entrepreneurialism and commercial acumen, Banijay Rights operates under the direction of Chief Executive Officer, Cathy Payne.