BBC television adaptation of Elizabeth Gaskell's passionate love story, set across the social divides in the changing world of Victorian industrial society. Margaret Hale (Daniella Denby-Ashe) is a southerner from a country vicarage newly settled in the industrial northern town of Milton. In the shock of her move, she misjudges charismatic cotton mill-owner John Thornton (Richard Armitage) , whose strength of purpose and passion are a match for her own pride and wilfulness. When the workers of Milton call a strike, Margaret takes their side, and the two are brought into deeper conflict. As events spiral out of control, Margaret - to her surprise - finds herself falling in love with Thornton.