''The Mill'' is a 2013 period television drama broadcast on Britain's

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned enterprise, state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a four ...

. It was developed by Emily Dalton using stories from the archives of the National Trust Property. It is based on real-life stories and people of the

textile mill Textile Manufacturing or Textile Engineering is a major industry. It is largely based on the conversion of fibre into yarn, then yarn into fabric. These are then dyed or printed, fabricated into cloth which is then converted into useful goods ...

workers at

Quarry Bank Mill Quarry Bank Mill (also known as Styal Mill) in Styal, Cheshire, England, is one of the best preserved textile factories of the Industrial Revolution. Built in 1784, the cotton mill is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a ...

Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a ceremonial and historic county in North West England, bordered by Wales to the west, Merseyside and Greater Manchester to the north, Derbyshire to the east, and Staffordshire and Shropshire to the south. Cheshire's county t ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, combined with fictional characters and events. The program is also filmed in Cheshire. The first series, written by John Fay, is set in 1830s Britain during the

Industrial Revolution The Industrial Revolution was the transition to new manufacturing processes in Great Britain, continental Europe, and the United States, that occurred during the period from around 1760 to about 1820–1840. This transition included going f ...

. It was directed by

James Hawes James Hawes is a British television director. He has worked in British television drama since the mid-1990s, and has also produced documentaries for British and American television networks. His work has ranged across high-end period pieces and ...

and produced by Caroline Levy. The second and final series, which began airing on 20 July 2014, is set between 1838 and 1842, four years after the first series. The series was cancelled by Channel 4 in 2014, leaving the story unfinished.

Plot

''The Mill'' tells the story of life in Quarry Bank Mill in Cheshire during the 1830s through the eyes of central characters, Esther Price and Daniel Bate. Esther is played by

Kerrie Hayes Kerrie Hayes (born 13 March 1987)Profiles – Kerrie Hayes – hellom ...

and is a young millworker who risks her own position to stand up for justice. Daniel is played by

Matthew McNulty Michael Anthony McNulty (born 14 December 1982), known professionally as Matthew McNulty, is a German-born British actor. Early life McNulty was born on 14 December 1982 in Hanover, Lower Saxony, West Germany, and lived in Berlin and Münster ...

and is a progressive young engineer with a troubled past. Based on the extensive historical archive of Quarry Bank Mill in Cheshire and real people's lives, the series depicts Britain at a time when the industrial revolution is changing the country beyond recognition. The series deals with themes of worker's rights, safety in millwork, child labour laws and the political movement to improve these conditions.

Production

Some of the exteriors were filmed at the Quarry Bank Mill while others in the city centre of Chester and at Chester Crown Court. Interiors of the work in the mill were filmed in Manchester because "the real factory floor couldn’t be easily converted from its contemporary function as a museum". Additional filming was completed in the village of Styal and at

MediaCityUK MediaCityUK is a mixed-use property development on the banks of the Manchester Ship Canal in Salford, Greater Manchester, England. The project was developed by Peel Media; its principal tenants are media organisations and the Quayside MediaCi ...

Salford Salford () is a city and the largest settlement in the City of Salford metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. In 2011, Salford had a population of 103,886. It is also the second and only other city in the metropolitan county afte ...

Cast

The cast include: * Donald Sumpter – Quarry Bank's founder,

Samuel Greg Samuel Greg (26 March 1758 – 4 June 1834) was an Irish-born industrialist and entrepreneur of the early Industrial Revolution and a pioneer of the factory system. He built Quarry Bank Mill, which at his retirement was the largest textile mil ...

Barbara Marten Barbara Marten (born 3 January 1947) is a British actress. She is most known for playing Eve Montgomery in ''Casualty''. She has appeared in various soaps, including Eastenders and Brookside, as well as many other drama serials such as ''Harry' ...

– Samuel's wife,

Hannah Greg Hannah Greg ( Lightbody; 1766 – 1828), with her husband Samuel Greg, was the architect of a paternalistic industrial community in the north of England, a prominent Unitarian and significant diarist. While her husband Samuel Greg pioneered new ...

Jamie Draven Jamie Draven (born Jamie Donnelly on 14 May 1978) is an English actor whose career in films and television began in 1998. One of his early notable parts was as Billy's bullying older brother, Tony, in the hit 2000 film ''Billy Elliot'' and as J ...

– Samuel and Hannah's son,

Robert Greg Sir Robert Hyde Greg, Order of St Michael and St George, KCMG (24 December 1876 – 3 December 1953) was a British diplomat. He was List of ambassadors of the United Kingdom to Thailand, British Minister to Siam from 1921 to 1926 and List of dip ...

Andrew Lee Potts Andrew-Lee Potts (born 29 October 1979) is an English actor and director. He is best known for his role as the quirky Connor Temple on ITV's British science fiction programme '' Primeval'' and Space's Canadian spinoff '' Primeval: New World'' ...

– another son, William Greg *Rosilyn Ann Southgate – Mill apprentice *

– Daniel Bate *

Kerrie Hayes Kerrie Hayes (born 13 March 1987)Profiles – Kerrie Hayes – hellom ...

– Esther Price *

Katherine Rose Morley Katherine Rose Morley (born 3 October 1989) is an English actress. She has appeared in '' The Mill'' (2013–2014), ''Thirteen'' (2016), ''Last Tango in Halifax'' (2013–2020), '' Clink'' (2019), and ''The Syndicate'' (2021). Early life Kath ...

– Lucy Garner * Holly Lucas – Susannah Catterall *

Sope Dirisu Sope Dirisu ( yo, Ṣọpẹ Dìrísù, ; born 9 January 1991) is a British actor. . He made his film debut in 2016 with '' Sand Castle'', ''Criminal'', and '' The Huntsman: Winter's War''. Since 2020, he has starred as Elliot Finch in the Sky ...

- Peter Gardner *

Mark Frost Mark Frost (born November 25, 1953) is an American novelist, screenwriter, film-and-television producer and director. He is the co-creator of the mystery television series ''Twin Peaks'' (1990–1991; 2017) and was a writer and executive story ...

- John Howlett *

Ciarán Griffiths Ciarán Joseph Griffiths (; born 3 March 1983) is an English actor. His role in television include Gary Best in ''The Bill'' and Micky Maguire in '' Shameless''. Biography Griffiths was born in Manchester to a Welsh father and Irish mother, an ...

– Matthew Boon *

Craig Parkinson Craig Parkinson (born 11 March 1976) is an English actor and podcaster. He is perhaps best known for his roles as Shaun in the E4 series '' Misfits'', twins Jimmy and Johnny Kray in the ITV series ''Whitechapel'', and DI Matthew "Dot" Cottan ...

– Charlie Crout *

Sacha Parkinson Sacha Louise Parkinson (born 11 March 1992) is an English actress, known for her role as Sian Powers on the ITV soap opera ''Coronation Street''. Early life Sacha Louise Parkinson was born on 11 March 1992 in Salford, Greater Manchester, the ...

– Miriam Catterall *

Kevin McNally Kevin Robert McNally (born 27 April 1956) is an English actor and writer. He is known for portraying Joshamee Gibbs in the ''Pirates of the Caribbean'' film series. Early life Born in Bristol, McNally spent his early years in Birmingham, att ...

– Mr Timperley *

Aidan McArdle Aidan McArdle (born 1970) is an Irish actor. Early life McArdle was born in Dublin. He studied for an Arts degree at University College Dublin before going on to study at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London, England. Career First r ...

– John Doherty * Morgan Watkins – George Windell

Series overview

Episodes

Series 1 (2013)

Series 2 (2014)

Reception

The first episode of Series 1 was aired on the evening of 28 July 2013. The series was well received among UK viewers but received mixed reviews due to its controversial storylines and characters.

Grace Dent Grace Dent (born 3 October 1973) is an English columnist, broadcaster and author. She is a restaurant critic for ''The Guardian'' and from 2011 to 2017 wrote a restaurant column for the ''Evening Standard''. She is a regular critic on the BBC' ...

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 publis ...

'' described it as "so bloody serious, so dry, so gritty Bafta, so bang-you-around-the-head worthy" that she could not describe the first 10 minutes "without laughing". Arifa Akbar, also at ''The Independent'', compared its

social realism Social realism is the term used for work produced by painters, printmakers, photographers, writers and filmmakers that aims to draw attention to the real socio-political conditions of the working class as a means to critique the power structure ...

with the

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