Longworth as Louisa, Richard Firth as Tom and Eleanor Bron as Mrs. Sparsit. In the theatre, Hard Times was adapted for the stage by Michael O'Brien and directed by Marti Maraden at Canada's National Arts Centre in 2000. In 2018 Northern Broadsides toured an adaptation written by Deb McAndrew and directed by Conrad Nelson. The novel has also been adapted twice as a mini-series for British television, once in 1977 by ITV with Patrick Allen as Gradgrind, Timothy West as Bounderby, Rosalie Crutchley as Mrs. Sparsit and Edward Fox as Harthouse, and again in 1994 by the BBC with Bob Peck as Gradgrind, Alan Bates as Bounderby, Dilys Laye as Mrs. Sparsit, Bill Paterson as Stephen, Harriet Walter as Rachael and Richard E. Grant as Harthouse. References Sources . . . . . . . . . . External links Online editions Hard Times read online at Bookwise Hard Times at the Internet Archive Hard Times—PDF scan of entire novel as it appeared in Household Words 1854 British novels British novels adapted into films British novels adapted into television shows English novels Novels by Charles Dickens Novels first published in serial form Victorian novels Works originally published in Household Words Works about the Industrial Revolution