Could this be TV's next big thing? Heather helps save Shropshire-made comedy drama

Produced in Gobowen by Rocking Horse Media, Henry House follows the story of a family-run care home and the unlikely friendship formed between a young receptionist and a new resident with dementia.

Starring newcomer Órla Jones and ex-Blue Peter presenter Peter Purves, the pilot had already received top recognition through an endorsement from care provider Radfield Home Care, yet has now been acclaimed even further with an endorsement from another national firm, Swanton Care.

A provider of care and support with a diverse range of services, Swanton Care supported Henry House during production, with this culminating in their giving the finished pilot their official seal of approval. Writer and director Gareth Thomas is delighted with the endorsement - which has come just as he and his team are preparing to pitch to networks - and he credits Swanton’s involvement to the determination, optimism and enthusiasm of one particular lady.

“Swanton Care have been involved in a myriad of ways,” said Gareth, “from assisting us with research to help make our script as authentic as possible, to making a significant financial contribution to help save the show after production was shut down. But all of it started with one of the people they support.”

Heather Meiklem had always wanted to be an actress but never thought she’d get the chance due to living with cerebral palsy. She lives independently but is supported by Swanton Care’s Telford branch.

“Heather was first made aware of our plans for a TV pilot set in a care home when we contacted Swanton Care to ask if they would come on board as story consultants back in 2021,” said Gareth. “We had also asked if any of the people they cared for would be interested in learning more about the project and possibly getting the chance to be in it. 

“Heather jumped at the chance and we first met her at a workshop over in Telford. From the moment we met her, all she would keep on asking was the same question: ‘How many seasons?’. We hadn’t even written the script for the pilot at that point!”

Filming finally got underway in 2023 and, as Gareth tells it, Heather loved being on set and living out her dream as an actress at long last. Staff from Swanton Care supported her every day she was on set, bringing her in from Telford every time she was needed.

But, unfortunately, it wasn’t long before disaster struck. After Purves broke his wrist off set, the future of Henry House was thrown into jeopardy, with Gareth and the production team forced to abandon filming. The team were then faced with needing to raise a monumental amount of funding to allow the pilot to be re-shot at a later date and thus deal with continuity issues.

“We had no way of knowing if we would ever even get to come back,” said Gareth. “But Heather wasn’t about to give up on her dream. She set her staff from Swanton to work and organised, completely off her own back, a fundraiser event on Coronation weekend in May 2023. 

“We had only just come to terms with how much money we were going to have to raise to stand any chance of saving our show so, just to get the ball rolling and inspire us all, Heather set up this whole fundraiser. She even held it at her house! 

“£100 was raised for our cause and, whilst it may seem like a drop in the ocean in comparison to the £50,000 we would need to save Henry House, it gave us our start. Little did we know, though, that the impact of Heather’s hope was about to go a lot further than £100.”

Soon after that, Swanton Care themselves got in touch with Gareth. 

“Whilst their local team supported Heather, Swanton Care as a national care provider had been so inspired by how much our little TV pilot had meant to someone they support that, recognising the value that being on the set had brought to Heather’s life, they donated £2,500 to really kickstart our campaign,” Gareth said.

“We would eventually raise the once impossible target needed to save our show and, in February 2024 Heather returned to the new and improved set of Henry House as we shot the whole pilot from scratch.”

However, as production dragged on for longer than first scheduled due to availability and location conflicts, Henry House was soon running out of budget. With this, Swanton Care came to the rescue once more and put in an additional £1,000, bringing their overall contribution to the saving of Henry House to £3,500.

“With that vital late additional injection of funds, we were finally able to cross the line,” said Gareth. “It might have taken two difficult years to get there but Heather finally got to live out her dream and, no matter what the future holds for Henry House in terms of taking the next step with networks, no one can ever take this experience and this pilot away from Heather.”

As Gareth relates, Heather remains excited for the future of Henry House and hopes there is more to come.

“Back in our darkest days after production shut down, it was only Heather’s hope that kickstarted the saving of our show,” he said. “So perhaps we could all do with manifesting some of Heather’s hope as we look forward to what the future of Henry House has in store for us all. Maybe we should start confidently once we sit down with networks and open, as Heather would, with, ‘So… how many seasons?’.”

With Swanton Care now having given the Henry House pilot their full and public endorsement, the firm has been proud to speak about their reasons for supporting the project.

Swanton Care’s Zoe Carter said: “We are really proud of the opportunity this has given the people we support.  It allows people with a learning disability or autism to be represented in the arts in a meaningful way. 

“This is authentic - the people we support are members of the cast being recognised for their individual talents. 

“We want to build on this and foster an ongoing relationship with Rocking Horse. We have so many talented people in Telford and feel that their involvement enables people to show their personalities, drive and commitment to something they enjoy. 

“Swanton has been proud to also provide some financial support to the project because of the positive impact it has for the people we support, those with learning disabilities and autism and the wider community.

“Heather is the leading lady for us in Telford. We cannot wait to see what happens moving forward.”

Thrilled beyond measure, Heather herself simply said this: “Being involved in it makes me feel proud and excited. I never thought I would get an opportunity like this with my disability.”

Also featuring Ian McNeice (Doc Martin), Annette Badland (Bergerac) and Liam Fox (Emmerdale), Henry House has brought together a raft of big names along with burgeoning local talent like Heather to create something special. Gareth and the team are now very excited to begin pitching to television networks, but above all are proud of what the journey so far has achieved.

“This show might have a few famous actors in it, but it wasn’t made for them,” he said. “It was made for people like Heather and it’s only right that now both Heather and Swanton Care get the recognition they deserve for the part they have played in the Henry House story. 

“We wouldn’t have a show without them. It really is that simple.”