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Series · 1977

Hard Times

Created by Arthur HopcraftPatrick AllenTimothy WestJacqueline Tong
Hard Times poster
25 Oct 1977First aired
1Season

The series

Hard Times is a four-part British television drama miniseries based on Charles Dickens' 1854 novel of the same name, a survey of English society and a satirisation of 19th century social and economic conditions. Wealthy, retired Coketown merchant Thomas Gradgrind devotes his life to a philosophy of rationalism, self-interest, and fact. He raises his eldest children, Louisa and Tom, according to this philosophy and never allows them to engage in fanciful or imaginative pursuits.

Episodes

Season 1 · 4 episodes · 1977

  1. Episode 125 Oct 197753m

    Episode 1

    Thomas Gradgrind, a leading citizen of Coketown, raises his daughter Louisa and son Tom to prize hard facts above soft sentiment. His friend Josiah Bounderby, shares the philosophy and applies it to running his bank and textile mills. But …

  2. Episode 21 Nov 197753m

    Episode 2

    Encouraged by her father, Louisa reluctantly accepts Bounderby's marriage proposal. Enter Captain James Harthouse, a glib Parliamentarian offering Louisa relief from her loveless household. Meanwhile, Bounderby unfairly fires the honest St…

  3. Episode 38 Nov 197753m

    Episode 3

    Bounderby and Gradgrind's fact-bound worlds come crashing down. After Bounderby's bank is robbed, the investigation focuses on the 'fugitive' Stephen Blackpool. However, Louisa suspects a perpetrator closer to home and closer to her heart.…

  4. Episode 415 Nov 197753m

    Episode 4

    Louisa's breakdown forces her father to reevaluate his worldview. From love for Louisa, Sissy delivers Harthouse an ultimatum. From rage, Bounderby delivers a different ultimatum to Louisa and Gradgrind. The town's search for Blackpool end…

Cast

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