Klondike

The promise of gold attracts people who have very different ideas about how to obtain it. Klondike follows prospectors entering the Yukon gold rush, where getting to a claim is difficult and holding on to anything valuable can be worse.

Richard Madden provides a straightforward lead for a historical adventure whose strongest asset is its hostile setting. The cold and the journey matter before the more familiar arguments over money begin. The people already established there understand that supplying prospectors can be as profitable as prospecting.

The series is less distinctive in its character writing than in its atmosphere. There are recognisable villains and conventional dramatic turns, but the compact run gives the adventure enough momentum to remain engaging.

Do not expect the depth or language of Deadwood. This is a shorter, more direct frontier story, with hardship and opportunity close together. Frontier offers another business struggle in difficult terrain, while Klondike keeps the lure of one potentially life-changing discovery at its centre.