The Hardacres (2024-)

I remember seeing The Hardacres (2024-) on our Upcoming Frock Flicks list, but it never got a U.S. premiere date. Then I randomly stumbled across season one on BritBox, and now season two is airing in the U.K. as of August 2026. So why not?

The show rests on a improbable plot where the Hardacres family works their way up from manual labor at the herring docks to creating an empire of herring shops in what seems like a couple months! Suddenly, they’re so extremely wealthy they can buy an estate and rub shoulders with titled elites.

That setup rolls out in the first episode, leading an otherwise pretty typical rags-to-riches, fish-out-of-water scenario. The Hardacres are all rough-n-tumble, their lord-and-lady neighbors are snooty, even the housekeeper at the Hardacres’ new estate is a classist bitch, thus comedy and drama ensue from their conflicts. It’s all somewhat predictable, but the characters can be charming especially the leads of Sam and Mary Hardacre.

The period is 1890s with costumes for season one designed by Allison Byrne. Everything looks generally OK, with no real standouts. I do like how the nouveau riche wardrobes fit the characters, reflecting their personalities through the new fashions and also showing how they’re both aspiring to more but aren’t letting go of who they used to be.

Mary Hardacre is the most upward seeking, yet she still wears mostly dark, sombre tones, similar to her old working-class styles.

She does try a flashier outfit for the first dinner she hosts. Mary wears an extravagant white satin gown, but alas, everything at that event goes wrong for her, so it’s as if that dress was a step too far.

Mary’s gowns shift between an 1880s and 1890s silhouette, which makes sense because while the family is nouveau riche, they’re also a bit conservative. They want to fit in, not so much stand out. In the season’s final episode, she wears this pale dotted dress that’s the most 1890s thing yet on her.

Then there’s Mary’s mother, who’s always called “Ma” — for that chaotic first dinner, she chooses a black feathered gown that is ideal for her “give no fucks” character. She could be a grande dame, but she don’t give a damn, she’d rather tweak their noses.

Otherwise Ma sticks to basic black, and in a later episode she adds this unusual coat. It looks like a weird riff on a modern trenchcoat, but I couldn’t get a better view / screencap to figure out what’s going on with those sleeves.

The Hardacres’ daughter, Liza, is thrown head-first into the new world, somewhat unwillingly. She alternates between simple blouse-and-skirt combos and more elaborate 1890s styles like this day dress:

There’s a more tailored, unfussy style to Liza’s outfits that’s a reflection of her no-nonsense character.

Even when she tries to become more “lady like” under the tutelage of Lady Adella, Liza doesn’t adopt lace frills like her new friend.

For one particular party, Liza does get a glow-up from Adella, but this is still a less girly look that what Adella herself might wear.

I haven’t even talked about the lovely wardrobes of Adella and her (horrible) mother — they may be supporting characters, but their costumes help fully flesh out who they are. Likewise, the different worlds of the Hardacres’ old herring-docks life and new high society life are visually contrasted in costume and production design. This probably isn’t a big-budget show, but it does a good job in creating realistic scenes, even though the plot is far-fetched. Hopefully season two won’t take too long to arrive in the U.S. because I won’t mind seeing how the family’s story continues.

 

Have you watched The Hardacres?

 

 

 

 

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