Poldark (2015)

The 2015 series, not the 1975 original. Yes, it is a swoony costume drama, but the engine of the story is a mine. Ross Poldark comes home to 1780s Cornwall and stakes everything on reviving Wheal Leisure, and the miners, their pay and their families' hunger keep pulling him into conflict with the bankers who want the industry for themselves. Five series and 43 episodes give it room to show how a whole district rises and falls with its mines. Come for Aidan Turner and Eleanor Tomlinson; stay for the engine houses on the cliffs.