The Hardacres is a new period drama coming to Channel 5 which has been described as “Downton Abbey meets All Creatures Great and Small”. The series is based on the Hardacres Family Saga novels by C L Skelton.
The show tells the rags-to-riches tale of the Hardacre family after a tragic incident turns their lives upside down. As they come up with innovative ways to get back on their feet, they find themselves rubbing shoulders with the elite.
In episode one, set in a small Victorian fishing village on the coast of Yorkshire, the working-class Hardacre family work as fish gutters. But after an unfortunate accident befalls patriarch Sam (played by Liam McMahon), the family lose their jobs at the docks.
They must race to find work elsewhere or else end up on the street. and one of the feisty female leads in the series is Ma Hardacre, played by Julie Graham.
She has a dog called Tinny, who was supposed to be a “calm” and obedient pet. However, Julie said in an exclusive interview with the press how her furry co-star was not the most compliant.
The Hardacres star Julie Graham opened up on Tinny (Image: CHANNEL 5)
She explained: “I’m a dog person, I love dogs, so Tinny was… in the script, Tinny is this very calm, old, scruff of a dog who is by Ma’s side all the time.
“Sits at her feet, the loyal hound following her around, but her real name was Munch and she was actually a girl.
“She was absolutely beautiful and she was lovely, but she would just not sit still for one second.
“There was no sitting by Ma’s feet, I had to hold her because she was so obsessed with her owner.
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The Hardacres is a rags to riches story (Image: CHANNEL 5)
“She was constantly trying to get away so all the shots you see of Tinny leading the way, she is actually just trying to find her owner.”
The entire cast nicknamed her the “rogue” star of the show, as Julie continued: “By the end of the shoot she had gotten used to me so she was a bit more obedient.
“But she was a rogue and it became a running joke that she was a bit of a rogue, so she was definitely Ma’s dog.
“When I first saw the show I was taken by how much of a character Tinny is, even though he’s not in it a lot, but you feel his presence.”
The Hardacres airs on Channel 5 tonight from 9pm