Daniella Denby-Ashe as Margaret Hale (BBC Worldwide photo)

"North and South" Comes to BBC America

Set against the backdrop of Victorian England's industrial north, Daniela Denby-Ashe and Richard Armitage star in Sandy Welch's four-part adaptation of Elizabeth Gaskell's passionate love story.

BeansTalk’s already addicted (and we’ve only seen the first two episodes) of the BBC period drama “North and South." Gaskell’s “Wives and Daughters” (also made into a mini-series starring Justine Waddell) introduced a new generation to a largely underrated author.

North and South premieres on BBC America in two, two-hour episodes, Saturday, July 2, and Sunday, July 3, 2005 from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. ET and 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. PT. Viewers will have another chance to see the miniseries in its entirety when a special encore presentation of North and South airs on Sunday, July 17, 2005 from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. ET and 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. PT.

Armitage starred (in a very different kind of role) in one of our guilty indulgences, the 2002 British melodrama “Sparkhouse” (a modern-day “Wuthering Heights” – loved “Sparkhouse” even though “Wuthering Heights” is overrated. Armitage steals all the scenes he's in, btw.)