A new BBC drama series will tell the story of a criminal enterprise set in a West Yorkshire Valley in the 18th Century
England, is a country divided. As the aristocracy are building the first cotton mills and factories, the common people are starving.
David Hartley (Michael Socha) has been away from his family’s remote moor-top dwelling for seven years. On his journey home to Cragg Vale, West Yorkshire, David gets lost in the moors. He’s dragging a mysterious looking bag of tools with him and on his last legs.
As he’s about to lay down and die, he is saved by six mythical Stag Men who let him know that his work on earth isn’t done yet. David’s mission is to assemble a gang of weavers and land-workers to embark upon a criminal enterprise to bring comfort and dignity back to his community. Hidden in the wilderness of the Yorkshire hills and dales, their business is ‘clipping’ – the forging of coins, a treasonous offence punishable by death.
Shane Meadows, writer and director, on his vision:
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.
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.
You can tell a story in any century if you care about the characters, but there was something so attractive about this period in British history. Large mouthfuls of West Yorkshire were about to be inhaled by the Industrial Revolution and our country and its unspoilt sides set to change forever. So it was an honour to be able to go back and hold up a magnifying glass to some of dudes that were living through it.
Marry that with a cast that pitches some of the UK’s finest actors alongside an awesome array of brand spanking new Yorkshire talent and you have a series unlike anything else I’ve made before.
