Dominant demographic among viewers ‘don’t feel like they are represented on screen’, say Amy Roberts and Loren McLaughlin

The creators of a new “working-class Downton Abbey” drama say the lack of such programming is being compounded by the decline of soaps and “posh older guys” who have had the monopoly on storytelling.

Made by the producers of All Creatures Great and Small, the “rags-to-riches” period drama The Hardacres is the brainchild of Call the Midwife and Our Girl writers Amy Roberts and Loren McLaughlin, who said they chose to make the series because, “more working-class people watch telly than any other demographic, but they don’t feel like they are represented on the screen”.