North & South (2004)

The best gateway to the genre, because its romance is fought out over the factory floor. Margaret Hale arrives in the smoky northern town of Milton with southern assumptions, and mill owner John Thornton has to defend his business while his workers strike. The dispute gives both sides real arguments, so neither the masters nor the hands are cartoons. Richard Armitage's Thornton is the reason many people seek it out, but the mill scenes, shot in a real textile museum, are what stay with you. It is only four episodes, made by the BBC in 2004, so it makes an easy weekend.