Banijay Rights, the global distribution arm of Banijay Entertainment, has announced landmark acquisitions of major new six-part period drama series The Hardacres ahead of MIPCOM 2024 in Cannes next week.
In deals negotiated across the Banijay Rights global sales team, The Hardacres has been acquired by BritBox in Australia, TVNZ in New Zealand, TV4 Sweden, MTV in Finland, DR in Denmark, RTÉ in Ireland, BBC First in Benelux and, as previously announced, Movistar Plus+ in Spain. Dazzler Media has acquired home entertainment rights for the series in UK.
Produced by Playground (Wolf Hall: The Mirror and the Light, All Creatures Great and Small), in association with Screen Ireland, Red Berry Productions and Newgrange Pictures for Channel 5 in the UK, the 6 x 60’ series chronicles 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 1890s Yorkshire, England.
Cathy Payne, CEO, Banijay Rights and Executive Producer, said: “The Hardacres is a sprawling and captivating saga that follows an ordinary family on their rags to riches journey into an extraordinary new world. We’re delighted this series will form part of our exciting line-up of new scripted fare at MIPCOM 2024.
David Stern, Joint Managing Director, Playground, said: “Inspired by CL Skelton’s epic novels, audiences will undoubtedly fall in love with and root for the Hardacre family as they try to answer the age-old question: Can money truly buy happiness? At its core, The Hardacres is a bold, gutsy, funny and incredibly heartwarming story about a family trying to do their best and stay together in a world that doesn’t always seem to share their values, all enhanced by the remarkable talent in front of and behind the camera which we cannot wait for viewers to experience for themselves.”
The Hardacres was filmed on location in Dublin and Wicklow, Ireland, and was adapted for television by Amy Roberts and Loren McLaughlan (The Winter King, Call the Midwife) who serve as Lead Writers and Executive Producers. They are joined by Emma Reeves (The Worst Witch) who wrote episode three, and Liz Lake (Waterloo Road) who wrote episode four. Rachel Carey (Deadly Cuts) is Lead Director.
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, alongside Julie Graham (Time, Ridley, Penance), as Mary’s wily mother, Ma, and their three kids, Joe, Liza, and Harry, played by Adam Little (Ackley Bridge, Coronation Street), newcomer Shannon Lavelle and Zak Ford-Williams (Better, Bridgerton).
The series, commissioned by Deputy Chief Content Officer, Paramount UK, Sebastian Cardwell, alongside Paul Testar, Commissioning Editor, Drama, Channel 5 and Paramount+, is 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 Nada Cirjanic and Andrew Byrne for Screen Ireland.
The Hardacres is one of several scripted highlights on Banijay Entertainment’s slate for MIPCOM 2024, which includes Wolf Hall: The Mirror and the Light and the re-imagining of iconic detective drama Bergerac. The company will exhibit at C.20 at MIPCOM 2024.
