''Inheritance'' was a 1967

Granada Granada ( ; ) is the capital city of the province of Granada, in the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain. Granada is located at the foot of the Sierra Nevada (Spain), Sierra Nevada mountains, at the confluence ...

-produced ITV drama based on a trilogy of novels by

Phyllis Bentley Phyllis Eleanor Bentley (19 November 1894 – 27 June 1977) was an English novelist. Biography The youngest child of a mill owner, she grew up in Halifax, West Yorkshire, Halifax in the West Riding of Yorkshire and was educated at Halifax High ...

- ''Inheritance'' (1932), ''The Rise of Henry Morcar'' (1946) and ''A Man of His Time'' (1966).

Plot

The ten-part period drama revolved around the fortunes of the Oldroyds, a

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ) is an area of Northern England which was History of Yorkshire, historically a county. Despite no longer being used for administration, Yorkshire retains a strong regional identity. The county was named after its county town, the ...

mill-owning family from 1812 to 1965. The early part of the series featured the

Luddite The Luddites were members of a 19th-century movement of English textile workers who opposed the use of certain types of automated machinery due to concerns relating to worker pay and output quality. They often destroyed the machines in organ ...

riots, involving the burning of mills and the subsequent execution of those responsible. The series turned the expression "There's trouble at mill" into a catchphrase.

Leading actors

The series featured

Michael Goodliffe Lawrence Michael Andrew Goodliffe (1 October 1914 – 20 March 1976) was an English actor known for playing suave roles such as doctors, lawyers and army officers. He was also sometimes cast in working-class parts. Life and career Goodlif ...

John Thaw John Edward Thaw (3 January 1942 – 21 February 2002) was an English actor in television, stage and cinema, best known for his television roles starring as Detective Inspector Jack Regan in '' The Sweeney'' (1975—78) and as Detective Chief ...

and

James Bolam James Christopher Bolam (born 16 June 1935) is an English actor. He is best known for his roles as Terry Collier in '' The Likely Lads'' and its sequel ''Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads?'', Jack Ford in ''When the Boat Comes In'', Roy Fig ...

in leading roles over the generations. Each new generation saw Goodliffe and Thaw playing father and eldest son, with Bolam usually playing the part of the younger son.

Cast with original partss

as William Oldroyd *

Daphne Heard Delia Phyllis Daphne Heard (21 August 1904 – 22 June 1983) was an English actress and acting teacher. She was born in Plymouth, Devon. She appeared in numerous made-for-TV movies and TV series. She was perhaps best known in latter years as ...

as Janie Smith-Oldroyd *

Royston Tickner Roy Albert Tickner (8 September 1922 – 7 July 1997), known professionally as Royston Tickner, was a British film actor. Biography Born in Leicester, a tailor's son, he trained as an actor at Scarborough repertory theatre. He served in the Ro ...

as Charley Mellor *

Madeleine Christie Madeleine Elsie Jane Christie (18 January 1904 – 2 February 1996) was a Scottish actress. Madeleine Christie studied at the Central School of Speech and Drama, London. Christie was the mother of actress Amanda Walker, and mother-in-law of P ...

as Charlotte Stancliffe *

as Will Oldroyd *

Wilfred Pickles Wilfred Pickles, Order of the British Empire, OBE (13 October 1904 – 27 March 1978) was an English actor and radio presenter. Early life and personal life Pickles was born in Halifax, West Yorkshire, Halifax in the West Riding of Yorkshire. ...

as mill overlooker * Thelma Whiteley as Mary Bamforth * Judy Wilson as Martha Ackroyd *

as Joe Bamforth * David Burke as Henry Morcar *

Basil Dignam Basil Dignam (24 October 1905 – 31 January 1979) was an English character actor. Basil Dignam was born in Sheffield, West Riding of Yorkshire. Before the acting, he tried many jobs, from a company clerk to a journalist. He acted on film and ...

as Mr. Shaw

External links

* 1967 British television series debuts 1967 British television series endings 1960s British drama television series ITV television dramas 1960s British television miniseries Television series set in the 1810s Television shows set in Yorkshire Television series by ITV Studios Television shows produced by Granada Television British English-language television shows Luddites {{UK-tv-prog-stub