An entire community risked their lives to put food in their children's bellies...

SHANE MEADOWS AND THE CAST OF HIS NEW DRAMA THE GALLOWS POLE TALK TO NAOMI CLARKE ABOUT ONE OF THE BIGGEST FRAUDS IN BRITISH HISTORY

- NAOMI CLARKE

THE GALLOWS POLE

Wednesday, BBC2, 9pm

AFTER exploring fringe subcultures and working-class communities in England over three decades, director Shane Meadows is trying his hand at his first period drama.

Set in the moorland hills of 18th-century Yorkshire against the backdrop of the coming industrial revolution, The Gallows Pole stars Downton Abbey's Sophie McShera and This is England actor, Michael Socha.

The three-part drama, based on the novel of the same name by Benjamin Myers, tells a fictionalised version of the true story of David Hartley who assembled a gang of weavers and land workers, known as the Cragg Vale Coiners. They embarked upon a revolutionary criminal enterprise producing fake gold that became one of the biggest frauds in British history.

Hidden in the wilderness of the Yorkshire hills and dales, their business is "clipping" - the forging of coins, a treasonous offence punishable by death.

"I really wanted to delve into the history of this story and the circumstances that lead to an entire West Yorkshire community risking their lives to put food in their children's bellies", says writer and director Shane, who was behind the Bafta-winning 2006 film This Is England and its follow-ups.

"It was during the workshopping process with the actors I realised there was also a story to tell leading up to Ben's incredible book.