''Jericho'' is a period drama series created and written by Steve Thompson and directed by Paul Whittington. The eight-part series premiered on ITV between 7 January and 25 February 2016. The series re-imagines the building of the

Ribblehead Viaduct The Ribblehead Viaduct or Batty Moss Viaduct carries the Settle–Carlisle railway across Batty Moss in the Ribble Valley at Ribblehead, in North Yorkshire, England. The viaduct, built by the Midland Railway, is north-west of Skipton and ...

(renamed the Culverdale Viaduct) as a

Western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

-inspired story. It is set in the fictional town of Jericho, a shanty town in the

Yorkshire Dales The Yorkshire Dales is an upland area of the Pennines in the historic county of Yorkshire, England, most of it in the Yorkshire Dales National Park created in 1954. The Dales comprise river valleys and the hills rising from the Vale of York w ...

of England, which springs up around the construction of a railway viaduct in the 1870s. In April 2016 ITV confirmed that a second series of the show was not going to be commissioned. The series is available via streaming video in the USA on Acorn TV, beginning 11 July 2016.

Premise

The series focuses upon the shanty town of Jericho, home to a community that will live, thrive and die in the shadow of the viaduct they have been brought together to build.

Cast

Jessica Raine Jessica Raine (born Jessica Helen Lloyd; 20 May 1982) is an English actress. She is best known for her roles as Jenny Lee in the television series ''Call the Midwife'' (2012–2014) and Verity Lambert in the television film '' An Adventure in ...

as Annie Quaintain, a widow with teenage children. *

Hans Matheson Hans Matheson (born 7 August 1975) is a Scottish actor and musician. In a wide-ranging film and television career he has taken lead roles in diverse films such as '' Doctor Zhivago'', '' Sherlock Holmes'', '' The Tudors'', '' Tess of the d'Urb ...

as Johnny Jackson, a

navvy Navvy, a clipping of navigator ( UK) or navigational engineer ( US), is particularly applied to describe the manual labourers working on major civil engineering projects and occasionally (in North America) to refer to mechanical shovels and eart ...

. It is discovered later in the series his real name is John Blackwood. * Tommy McDonnell as Dagger Wilkins. *

Clarke Peters Peter Clarke (born April 7, 1952), known professionally as Clarke Peters, is an American-British actor, writer, and director. He is best known for his roles as Lester Freamon in the television series ''The Wire'' (2002–2008) and Albert Lambrea ...

as Ralph Coates, a railway agent. *

Mark Addy Mark Ian Addy (born 14 January 1964) is an English actor. His roles in British television include Detective Constable Gary Boyle in the sitcom '' The Thin Blue Line'' (1995–1996) and Hercules in the fantasy drama series ''Atlantis'' (2013–2 ...

as Earl Bamford, a detective. *

Dean Andrews Dean Andrews (born 6 August 1963) is an English actor. He is known for his role as DS Ray Carling in the BBC drama series ''Life on Mars''. He continued the role in the sequel series, '' Ashes to Ashes'', until 2010. As of April 2019, he ha ...

as ‘Happy’ Jack Laggan, a navvy gang leader. *

Lorraine Ashbourne Lorraine Ashbourne (born 10 April 1961) is an English actress. Career Ashbourne has appeared on British series and television films, including: '' The Street'', ''True Dare Kiss'', '' Thin Ice'', ''In a Land of Plenty'', ''Boon'', '' Playing th ...

as Lace Polly, a prostitute. *

Amy James-Kelly Amy James-Kelly (born 15 November 1995) is a British actress. She gained prominence through her role as Maddie Heath in the ITV soap opera ''Coronation Street'' (2013–2015). She has since starred in the Netflix series ''Safe'' (2018) and t ...

as Martha Quaintain, Annie's daughter *

Samuel Bottomley Samuel Bottomley (born 14 June 2001) is an English actor. He began acting at the age of nine, when he made his professional debut in the 2011 film ''Tyrannosaur''. After portraying Brandon Kelleher on the CBBC series ''Rocket's Island'', Bottoml ...

as George Quaintain, Annie's son *

Daniel Rigby Daniel Rigby (born 6 December 1982) is an English actor and comedian. He received a BAFTA TV Award for his leading role as Eric Morecambe in the 2011 television film ''Eric and Ernie''. Early life Rigby was born in Stockport, Greater Mancheste ...

as Charles Blackwood. *

Jeany Spark Jeannette "Jeany" Spark (born 7 November 1982) is an English actress, known for portraying Linda Wallander in the British television series '' Wallander''. The actress has also had significant roles in the comedy series '' Man Down'' and the dram ...

as Isabella Lambton. *

Phil Cornwell Philip Cornwell (born 5 October 1957) is an English actor, comedian, impressionist and writer. He is part of the '' Dead Ringers'' television and radio series, and was the voice of Murdoc Niccals in the virtual band Gorillaz. Cornwell has co- ...

as Joe Capstick * Elliot Barnes-Worrell as Easter

Production

Scenes were shot around

Huddersfield Huddersfield is a market town in the Kirklees district in West Yorkshire, England. It is the administrative centre and largest settlement in the Kirklees district. The town is in the foothills of the Pennines. The River Holme's confluence into ...

, specifically

Golcar Golcar (pronounced 'Go Car' or 'Golker') is a village on a hillside crest above the Colne Valley in West Yorkshire, England, west of Huddersfield, and just north of the River Colne and the Huddersfield Narrow Canal. The 2021 population censu ...

, at the

Colne Valley Museum The Colne Valley Museum is located within the Colne Valley at Golcar, Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England. The museum consists of four converted 19th century weavers' cottages. The museum provides an insight into what life was like for a weav ...

, and on the moors above

Meltham Meltham is a town and civil parish within the Metropolitan Borough of Kirklees, in West Yorkshire, England. It lies in the Holme Valley, below Wessenden Moor, four and a half miles south-west of Huddersfield on the edge of the Peak District Na ...

and Marsden. The main setting for the shanty town was Rockingstone Quarry. Wharncliffe Chase above Oughtibridge, north Sheffield, was another shanty town set with nearby locations being used.

Episodes

Reception

The series received mixed reviews from critics. ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

's'' Lucy Mangan, reviewing the first episode, remarked that the presentation was a bit too clean for the setting, but praised the cast and ending. Jasper Rees of ''

The Telegraph ''The Telegraph'', ''Daily Telegraph'', ''Sunday Telegraph'' and other variant names are popular names for newspapers. Newspapers with these titles include: Australia * ''The Telegraph'' (Adelaide), a newspaper in Adelaide, South Australia, publ ...

'' commended the ambition, but found the first episode's drama 'busy' and the genre confused. Andrew Billen of ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' (f ...

'' gave it three stars, unimpressed by the show's characters. Thea Lenarduzzi of ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publish ...

'', on the other hand, found the first episode gripping and full of excitement.

References

External links

*{{IMDb title, id=5178604, title=Jericho ITV television dramas 2016 British television series debuts 2016 British television series endings 2010s British drama television series 2010s Western (genre) television series Television series by ITV Studios 2010s British television miniseries English-language television shows Television shows set in Yorkshire