Pit Pony: Season 01 (1998)

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The first season of the Canadian drama series Pit Pony is comprised of 26 episodes, beginning with the pilot "The Light to the Future", which introduces the people of Cape Breton, a small Nova Scotian mining community in the early 1900s. Two of the town's main families, the MacLeans and the Halls, are brought together when Ned Hall (Shaun Smyth) proposes to Nellie MacLean (Jennie Raymond. Acting as surrogate mother to practically everyone in town is the loquacious Mrs. MacTavish (Mary-Colin Chisholm), whose dispensations of gossip serve to set up many of the storylines and establish the principal characters. The action in the ensuing episodes is largely divided between the everyday dangers and deprivations facing the male mine workers and the patience and fortitude exhibited by their womenfolk. Also, several stories revolve around the antics of the community's children, who just can't seem to steer clear of mischief. And, as is customary in turn-of-the-century mining towns, the sporadic and sometimes violent disputes between management and labor, the perils and occasional tragedies resulting from working deep beneath the earth, and the mundane problems of keeping money in the coffers and food on the table, are all taken in stride. Throughout, the character of Willie (Alex Wrathell, youngest member of the MacLean family, acts as the audience's "eyes", occasionally pausing to accept advice from his headstrong brother-in-law Ned and his surrogate father Charley (Denny Doherty). ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi