Director brings heist drama to TV screens
AWARD-WINNING SHANE MEADOWS DISCUSSES ONE OF THE BIGGEST FRAUDS IN BRITISH HISTORY AHEAD OF BBC SERIES
AFTER exploring fringe subcultures and working-class communities in England for decades, director Shane Meadows is trying his hand at his first period drama.
Set in the moorland hills of 18th century Yorkshire against the backdrop of the coming industrial revolution, The Gallows Pole showcases a country divided, as the aristocracy are building the first cotton mills and factories while the everyday people are starving.
The new three-part BBC drama, based on the novel of the same name by Benjamin Myers, highlights this moment in history by fictionalising the true story of the rise and fall of David Hartley and the Cragg Vale Coiners.
After a mythical encounter, Hartley makes it his mission to assemble a gang of weavers and land-workers to embark upon a criminal enterprise that will capsize the economy and become one of the biggest frauds in British history.
Hidden in the wilderness of the Yorkshire hills and dales, their business is “clipping” - the forging of coins, a treasonous offence punishable by death.
“I really wanted to delve into the history of this story and the circumstances that lead to an entire West Yorkshire community risking their lives to put food in their children’s bellies”, says writer and director Meadows, who was behind the Bafta-winning 2006 film This Is England.
“It was during the workshopping process with the actors I realised there was also a story to tell leading up to Ben’s incredible book.
“A prequel that not only allowed us to understand why the Cragg Vale Coiners did what they did, but maybe fall in love with them a smidge while they did it.
“It may have turned into one of the biggest crimes in British history, but it was pulled off by a bunch of destitute farmers and weavers doing what they had to to survive, and I think people will resonate with that.”
The new series will see stars of This Is England, Michael Socha and Thomas Turgoose, rejoin Meadows as they play David Hartley and his younger brother William Hartley.
Socha prepared for the role by working on a farm where he learnt how to shear sheep and also tried his hand at clipping coins, which he admits he enjoyed doing.
The cast also features George MacKay, who starred in the war film 1917, Tom Burke, who was in 2022’s psychological drama The Wonder, Downton Abbey’s Sophie McShera and Cara Theobold, and Hollyoaks star Nicole Barber-Lane.
Alongside the team of established actors, Meadows was also keen to bring on new Yorkshire talent to create the series, which he believes is “unlike anything else I’ve made before”.
Myers, the author of the original book, had heard whisperings of the local mythology after moving to a village in West Yorkshire in 2009, but he began really delving into the story of the Cragg Vale Coiners after
his wife Adele came across the trial notes from 1770 in a museum.
His wife suggested the story should be turned into a TV series but as novel writing was more Myers forte, he set about writing his book in 2014 and joked that maybe one day Meadows could film it with some of the actors from This Is England.
And in a case of what could be called serendipity, the author received a call from production company Element Pictures in 2019 to inform him a director was interested in adapting his work - it was of course Meadows.
The Gallows Pole launches on BBC Two and BBC iPlayer on May 31.