Jericho was a period drama set in the Yorkshire Dales during the 1870s. It tells the story of the shanty town of Jericho, home to a community that is prepared to live, thrive and die in the shadow of the viaduct that they have been brought together to build. Annie Quaintain (Jessica Raine) is evicted from her home when her schoolmaster husband’s death leaves her widowed and penniless. Shunned by society and with no family to turn to, Annie is desperate for a place for her and her children, Martha (Amy James-Kelly) and George (Sam Bottomley), to stay.
When they hear of jobs going in Culverdale Valley, where an enormous viaduct is being built, Annie, Martha and George set off for the vast expanse of the Yorkshire Dales in the hope of building a new life. Annie manages to find accommodation, but she is forced to take in lodgers in order to make ends meet, and the grubby, rowdy workmen of the area are not the most desirable of house guests. The handsome and enigmatic navvy Johnny Jackson (Hans Matheson) returns to his native Yorkshire from Africa and soon finds work on the viaduct. After making fierce enemies with a violent-tempered worker on his gang, Johnny is forced to find new lodgings and arrives, bloody-faced, on Annie’s doorstep. She agrees to take in this dashing stranger, little realising the consequences.
production details
UK | ITV Network | 8×50 minutes | Broadcast 7 January – 25 February 2016
Creator: Stephen Thompson,
cast
Lorraine Ashbourne as Lace Polly
Jessica Raine as Annie Quaintain
Hans Matheson as Johnny Jackson
Clarke Peters as Ralph Coates
Samuel Bottomley as George Quaintain
Natalie Gavin as Alma Capstick
Amy James-Kelly as Martha Quaintain
Phil Cornwell as Lizzie Capstick
Sophie Thompson as Davey Sharp
