Rewatched the first two (of four) episodes of the BBC's brilliant mini-series
North and South. (2004)
Elizabeth Gaskell's story is a superb depiction of the North of the industrial age (Great location work in Edinburgh with Helmshore, Burnley and Keighley filming for the mills) and it's fearsomeness that a young woman from the South (an excellent Daniela Denby-Ashe) must face especially from a local mill owner (a brooding then unknown Richard Armitage in the role that made him a star).
Packed with tension, this is realistic in it's hardship of life in the mills in the 1850's and brutal with it. It's a simple story but beautifully played and social issues that were a constant them remain problematic in the present day getting on for 200 years later.
Look forward to rewatching episodes 3 and 4 on Thursday.
This is genuinely good stuff and is a must for fans of
Bleak House,
Dickensian and other quality historical series.