I caught the first series of this last year on 4 OD and thought it fantastic. As a history graduate with an ongoing passion for social history I get tired of seeing series with a polite nod to the realities of the day and then taking their characters down some nice 21st century lifestyle & morality trip.
Plus, rarely have I come across anything contemporary that takes the point of view of the industrial revolution worker. And they did it so well in this!
They managed to really capture the detail of their daily lives. The minutiae of how life actually was for a mill worker at that time. But in a witty, sad or otherwise poignant way.
And in to all of this well researched history of conditions & of the Mill in question were wonderfully woven human stories of fellowship, sorrow, courage & cowardice. And the humour attached to the 'small stories'.. wonderful! And some I know have come straight from the archives of the Mill in question (I googled it).
The character Esther, or the actress who played her (Kerrie Hayes), or probably a mixture of the two made for compelling viewing especially.
I'm very sad there won't be a third series, it's probably because of the reviews about it 'being too grim'. Obviously 'the enlightened' won't accept such subject matter being depicted at any level lower than Oliver The Musical or Eastenders.
