North & South - John Thornton (2004)

Richard Armitage describes his character, John Thornton, mill owner, as an 'iron fist'. When we first meet Thornton, he is beating an employee. It is a brutal introduction to the world of a mid nineteenth century English industrial town. Even the director, Brian Percival, disliked Thornton when he first read the screenplay. But we are on a journey with Margaret Hale (Daniela Denby-Ashe), the heroine of Elizabeth Gaskell's love story, set against a back-story of social and industrial change.

[Margaret Hale - Daniela Denby-Ashe] represents the south, really. She is a country girl who is the daughter of a parson (Richard Hale - Timothy Pigott-Smith). They’ve lived what was considered a rural lifestyle in the 1850s. They’re from Hampshire … . They were a hard working family but due to financial circumstances they have to uproot from their idyllic home because her father has had a … crisis of faith … and they have to go up to this industrial town and live quite a meagre lifestyle. It’s that journey for her which is the premise of the story, really. (Radio Kent Interview, April 13, 2005)

That was my big TV break, I think. ... I think it was a book which had been studied in schools and people were in love with the book. So, when you realise that book for them, and it's quite faithful to that book. I think it inspired a lot of people. (GMTV Interview, Lorraine Kelly, October 3, 2007)

He certainly very quickly inhabited the character of Thornton. It was quite amazing to see the transformation of Richard from rehearsal stage, really, to getting his costume on and really becoming Thornton. (North & South, DVD commentary, Episode 1)

When North & South came along it was one of those situations where I was right for it and read the novel and was very excited by that character. It had a lot of personal resonances for me, my heritage and my family. My father is from Leeds … His mother worked in a woollen mill in Leeds. There’s stone masons, miners. It’s there in our heritage. It was great to explore that. (BBC Radio 2 Interview, Part 1, March 16, 2005)

The moment … when it completely fell together was when he arrived at the mill. And, it was his mill and he became Thornton. (DVD commentary)

When I was cast in the role of Thornton my initial reaction was shock. It had been a long casting process. I realised it was the role of a lifetime. But then, of course, I was incredibly honoured to have been asked to play it. I’d fallen in love with the novel. And then other emotions kick in like fear. It was a huge mountain to climb and there’s a lot of expectation for that role as well. It’s a big favourite of many people, so that was the next stage to get through before the read-through. (North & South DVD interview with Richard Armitage)

I do think this marks a different sort of costume drama. I think that the style of shooting and the style of playing is very contemporary, even though every department was honouring the accuracy and tradition of the 1850s it wasn’t the aim to make it a documentary or museum-type piece. So, although everyone was attempting to be as accurate as possible I think that if you look at some of the way people look and the way that the camera works it works almost like another character so you get very close to the action and there’s a sort of motion with the photography which we’re very used to when we watch contemporary drama and traditionally with period drama it tends to be more static. So, in that respect, … the leaning was towards making it as contemporary as possible. (North & South DVD interview with Richard Armitage)

The landscape of North & South is incredibly grey and bleak and deliberately so, and then in the middle of it you’ve got this really beautiful blossoming romance ... (The Story of the Costume Drama, ITV3, December 3, 2008)

That’s the scene for me that was the most romantic just because of its simplicity. There are very, very few dialogue lines. It’s all about just their physical presence and him seeing her and needing to take her home. It still makes me tingle. (The Story of the Costume Drama, ITV3, December 3, 2008)

I made a lot of acting breakthroughs for myself because of Daniela, Sinead, Tim, Brendan. And it’s redefined my needs as an actor. My goal posts have moved now so I guess I’m gonna judge everything according to what happened with North and South.
(North & South DVD interview with Richard Armitage)

That was a very nice way to spend an afternoon. (North & South DVD interview with Richard Armitage)

Production details

Cast
John Thornton – Richard Armitage
Margaret Hale – Daniela Denby-Ashe
Richard Hale – Timothy Pigott-Smith
Maria Hale – Leslie Manville
Hanna Thornton – Sinead Cusack
Fanny Thornton – Jo Joyner
Nicholas Higgins – Brendan Coyle
Bessie Higgins – Anna Maxwell Martin
Dixon – Pauline Quirk

Producer
Kate Bartlett

Director
Brian Percival

Screenplay
Sandy Welch

The dvd boxed set of the series may be purchased at:

Amazon.com (region 1)
Amazon.co.uk (region 2)
ABC shop online (region 4)
EzyDVD (region 4)