The Mill Series 2

FOLLOWING THE hugely successful first series, Channel 4’s outstanding drama, The Mill based on powerful true stories of the workers at the time of the Industrial Revolution, returns for a second series and comes to DVD courtesy of RLJ Entertainment’s Acorn Label.

The new six-part series created and written by John Fay (Coronation Street, Brookside), covers the period between 1838 and 1842. It focuses on the lives of the mill workers against a backdrop of significant social and political changes following the Poor Law Amendment Act of 1834, which made a distinction between ‘deserving’ and ‘undeserving’ poor. Set in rural- industrial England, it draws on the historical archive of Quarry Bank Mill in Cheshire.

The Mill Series Two will air on Channel 4 on 20 July, followed by its DVD release on 8 September 2014, The Mill Series One and Two Box Set will be also be released.

Kerrie Hayes (Black Mirror, Nowhere Boy) returns as young Esther Price, a girl not afraid to stand up for her rights. She almost loses her job, but instead finds herself negotiating her freedom. As she prepares to move into a place of her own, life at the Mill faces new challenges.

Sacha Parkinson (Coronation Street, My Mad Fat Diary) returns as Miriam Catterall and Matthew McNulty again appears as young engineer Daniel Bate, along with new wife, Miriam’s sister Susannah Bate (Holly Lucas – Holby City, Where The Heart Is).

Migrant labourers have arrived in the form of the Howlett family from down South, and the father, John (Mark Frost – Doctors) soon rises to the role of overseer. Paid by the piece his attempts to improve output and his wages could lead to disaster. Another newcomer, apprentice Peter, has been brought over from the Greg Plantation in the West Indies, to speak in favour of the abolition of slavery.

There’s change all around, with workers rallying for their rights and the Greg family struggling to maintain the status quo in this gripping period drama.