Jericho (2016 TV series)

Jericho
Genre	Drama
Created by	Steve Thompson from an idea by Dave Ramage
Starring	Jessica Raine Hans Matheson Clarke Peters
Composer(s)	Tim Phillips
Country of origin	England
Original language(s)	English
No. of series	1
No. of episodes	8
Production
Executive producer(s)	Kate Bartlett
Producer(s)	Lisa Osborne
Location(s)	Yorkshire Dales
Running time	65 minutes (episode 1) 45 minutes
Production company(s)	ITV Studios
Distributor	ITV Studios Global Entertainment
Release
Original network	ITV
Picture format	16:9 1080i
Audio format	Stereo
Original release	7 January – 25 February 2016
External links
Website

Jericho is a period drama mini-series created and written by Steve Thompson and directed by Paul Whittington.^[1] The eight-part series premiered on ITV between 7 January and 25 February 2016.

It is set in the fictional town of Jericho, a shanty town in the Yorkshire Dales that springs up around the construction of a railway viaduct in the 1870s. The series re-imagines the story of the building of the Ribblehead Viaduct, which is renamed the Culverdale Viaduct in the show.^[2]

In April 2016 ITV confirmed that a second series of the show was not going to be commissioned.^[3]

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 as Annie Quaintain, a widow with teenage children.

• Hans Matheson as Johnny Jackson, a navvy. It is discovered later in the series his real name is John Blackwood.

• Clarke Peters as Ralph Coates, a railway agent.

• Mark Addy as Earl Bamford, a detective.

• Dean Andrews as ‘Happy’ Jack Laggan, a navvy gang leader.

• Lorraine Ashbourne as Lace Polly, a prostitute.

• Amy James-Kelly as Martha Quaintain, Annie's daughter

• Samuel Bottomley as George Quaintain, Annie's son

• Daniel Rigby as Charles Blackwood.

• Jeany Spark as Isabella Lambton.

Production

Scenes were shot around Huddersfield, specifically Golcar, at the Colne Valley Museum, and on the moors above Meltham and Marsden. The main setting for the shanty town was Rockingstone Quarry.^[4]

Episodes

Series 1 (2016)

No.	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original air date	UK viewers (millions)
1	"Episode 1"	Paul Whittington	Steve Thompson	7 January 2016	4.74
Annie Quaintain is forced out of her home when her husband dies, leaving her penniless. She seeks work at the shanty town of Jericho together with her two teenage children. Opening a boarding house, she is befriended by Johnny Jackson, her first lodger. When the workings are sabotaged and men are killed, events take a turn for the worse for her son.
2	"Episode 2"	Paul Whittington	Steve Thompson	14 January 2016	4.20
Railway detective Bamford searches for Red Killeen and takes lodgings at Annie Quainton's which unsettles her son. Bamford finds a knife, leading him to suspect Killeen is dead, and discovers Coates may be behind the sabotage. Isabella finds she is unable to invest in the viaduct until she is married and makes an offer to Charles Blackwood. Bamford after meeting Coates reports to Blackwood that Killeen has fled on a ship from Liverpool.
3	"Episode 3"	Robert McKillop	Steve Thompson	21 January 2016	3.86
Isabella and Charles Blackwood marry. Coates takes control of the sale of supplies to prevent hauliers profiteering, making enemies of hauliers who blockade the camp. One of the camp children dies of the strangling angel and Annie's daughter, Martha, falls foul of the same fever. Unable to break the blockade and fetch a doctor, Johnny Jackson takes her to Charles Blackwood's house. Johnny's real identity is exposed causing financial complications for Charles and Isabella.
4	"Episode 4"	Robert McKillop	Steve Thompson	28 January 2016	3.65
Johnny is ostracised by the navvies and Charles refuses his offer that would save the project. Charles approaches a Methodist preacher as an investor. The pious Methodist insists the bar and prostitutes must go. When Annie discovers the preachers son had attacked a prostitute, she herself is threatened with arrest until Johnny intervenes.
5	"Episode 5"	Robert McKillop	Chris Dunlop	4 February 2016	3.73
Charles cannot pay the wages and the men strike. He issues credit notes to be used in Jericho to buy goods and services. Johnny declares they are worthless and some men decide to rob Charle's house. Charles and Isabella are forced to listen to Johnny and mortgage the house and in return Johnny becomes a partner.
6	"Episode 6"	David Moore	Chris Dunlop	11 February 2016	3.83
Charles needs to quarry stone and the only stone available is the burial site of the navvies killed at the workings. When the bodies are moved Red Killeen is discovered buried underneath the coffins. Coates finds evidence, the blanket Killeen is buried in, and is convinced Johnny is responsible. Charles discovers his wife has had an affair with Johnny before they married and a relationship that was thawing freezes again. Johnny, to protect the real culprit, flees Jericho but is brought back by Coates to face justice.
7	"Episode 7"	David Moore	Caroline Henry	18 February 2016	3.70
Johnny is imprisoned by Coates who refuses to send for a magistrate as the navvies are goaded by one of their number to hang Johnny for the murder of Red Killeen. Coates arranges a hearing in the bar that he can manipulate to ensure Johnny's hanging despite knowing who the real killer is. Annie is cross examined and her daughter, Martha, denounces Johnny. Charles and Isabella head to the camp in time to hear the real killer confess.
8	"Episode 8"	David Moore	Steve Thompson	25 February 2016	3.71
Johnny fires Coates. Intending to quarry their own stone a mine is constructed. During an inspection and subsequent cave-ins, Johnny, Charles, and Dagger are trapped. Coates has Davey Sharpe get gunpowder from the store using a key he had. The gunpowder effects a rescue but Charles is badly injured and Isabella needs Johnny's help to run the business. Annie is not happy but refuses Johnny's offer of marriage. Davey Sharpe asks Coates why he had a key to the gunpowder store. Later that evening as Davey walks to his wedding he is shot.

References

1. "ITV commissions new eight-part drama series Jericho". ITV Press Centre. 14 May 2015. Retrieved 7 January 2016.
2. "Jericho: Behind the scenes of a new ITV period drama". Express. 27 December 2015. Retrieved 7 January 2016.
3. "Yorkshire Dales-set TV series Jericho is axed by ITV bosses". Craven Herald & Pioneer. 13 April 2016. Retrieved 14 April 2016.
4. "JERICHO: Everything you need to know". Huddersfield Examiner. 6 January 2016. Retrieved 7 January 2016.

External links

• Jericho at the Internet Movie Database