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Cranford (TV series)
Encyclopedia
Cranford is a British
television series directed by Simon Curtis and Steve Hudson. The teleplay
by Heidi Thomas
was adapted from three novella
s by Elizabeth Gaskell
published between 1849 and 1858: Cranford
, My Lady Ludlow
, and Mr Harrison's Confessions. (The Last Generation in England
was also used as a source.)
The series was transmitted in five parts in the UK by BBC One
in November and December 2007. In the United States
, it was broadcast in three episodes by PBS as part of its Masterpiece Theatre
series in May 2008.
Cranford returned with a two-part Christmas special
in 2009.
in the fiction
al village of Cranford in the county
of Cheshire
in North West England
, the story focuses primarily on the town's single and widow
ed middle class
female inhabitants who are comfortable with their traditional way of life and place great store in propriety and maintaining an appearance of gentility. Among them are the spinster Jenkyns sisters, Matty and Deborah; their houseguest from Manchester
, Mary Smith; Octavia Pole, the town's leading gossip
; the Tomkinson sisters, Augusta and Caroline; Mrs Forrester, who treats her beloved cow Bessie as she would a daughter; Mrs Rose, the housekeeper for Dr Harrison; Jessie Brown, who rejects Major Gordon's marriage proposal twice despite her feelings for him; Laurentia Galindo, a milliner who strongly believes men and women are on equal footing; the Honourable Mrs Jamieson, a snob who dresses her dog in ensembles to match her own; Sophy Hutton, the vicar
's eldest daughter and surrogate mother to her three younger siblings, who is courted by Dr Harrison; and the aristocratic Lady Ludlow, who lives in splendour at Hanbury Court and perceives change as a peril to the natural order of things.
The principal male characters are new arrival Dr Frank Harrison, who is smitten with Sophy but unwittingly becomes the romantic target of both Mrs Rose and Caroline Tomkinson, who frequently feigns illness to hold his attention; Dr Morgan, an old-fashioned practitioner who finds himself challenged by the modern ideas of his young partner; Captain Brown, a military man whose common sense earns him a place of authority among the women; Edmund Carter,
Lady Ludlow's land agent, a reformer who strongly advocates free education for the working class; Harry Gregson, the ambitious ten-year-old son of an impoverished poacher, who as Mr. Carter's protégé
learns to read and write; farmer Thomas Holbrook, Matty Jenkyn's one-time suitor, who was considered unsuitable by her family but is anxious to renew his relationship with her; Reverend Hutton, a widower with four children whose religious conviction is sometimes at odds with his instincts as a father; and Sir Charles Maulver, the local magistrate and director of the railway company.
Episode One: June 1842
The handsome and eligible young doctor Frank Harrison arrives to assist Dr Morgan with his practice. His first patient is carpenter Jem Hearne, who has fallen from a tree and suffered a compound fracture. Instead of following the usual custom of amputating the injured limb, Dr Harrison performs a relatively new and risky surgery to save the arm. His successful effort wins the admiration of the townspeople.
Also new to Cranford are Captain Brown and his two daughters, the elder of whom is ill and dies shortly after their arrival. With her father away, the surviving sibling Jessie breaks with tradition and walks behind the coffin accompanied by her neighbour Deborah Jenkyns, who with her sister Matty, is playing host to Mary Smith, the daughter of a friend.
Edmund Carter, estate manager for Lady Ludlow, takes an interest in young Harry Gregson, the bright son of a poor local family, and offers him both work and an education.
When a valuable piece of historic lace belonging to Mrs Forrester is swallowed by a cat, she and Octavia Pole discover a novel new use for a Wellington boot
.
Episode Two: August 1842
Major Gordon proposes to Jessie Brown a second time before leaving for India
, but she refuses him with the excuse she cannot leave her father alone. However, when it is revealed at Lady Ludlow's annual garden party that the railway will be passing close to Cranford, and that Captain Brown will be away on railway business for long periods of time, his daughter regrets her decision.
Also dismayed at the news of the railway's arrival is Deborah Jenkyns, who accuses Captain Brown of deceiving them. She complains of a terrible headache and, moments later, collapses in her bedroom and dies later that night.
Dr Harrison's romance with Sophy Hutton blossoms, only to be stopped in its tracks when he cannot save her brother from the croup
. Here, this adaptation depicts the vicar's daughter as having a crisis of faith that is absent in the original text.
Episode Three: November 1842
Dr Harrison's friend Dr Marshland comes to visit for Christmas
and returns just prior to Valentine's Day
, when he causes mischief by sending a card suggesting marriage to Caroline Tomkinson, who believes it came from Dr Harrison, whose romance with Sophy Hutton reignites. Dr Marshland also seems to take a liking to Mary Smith.
Guilty of poaching
on Lady Ludlow's estate but mistakenly accused of assault and robbery instead, Harry Gregson's father Job finds himself in gaol until Lady Ludlow is persuaded by both Mr. Carter's pleas and seeing for herself the abject poverty in which the Gregson family lives, uses her influence to have the charges dropped.
Thomas Holbrook is reunited with Matty Jenkyns. In their younger years, their marriage plans were disrupted by her family's disapproval and a scandal involving her brother Peter. When Mr. Holbrook contracts pneumonia
on a journey back from Paris
and dies, Miss Matty indicates she now considers herself a widow.
Episode Four: April 1843
Miss Matty learns the bank in which she has invested has failed, but she is determined to keep the news about her financial distress from her friends.
The railway construction approaches nearer to Lady Ludlow's land but, instead of selling acreage to the railway, she mortgages
her property to support her ne'er-do-well son Septimus, who is living in Italy
.
Dr Harrison asks Reverend Hutton for permission to court Sophy. However, both Caroline Tomkinson and Mrs Rose mistakenly believe the doctor is interested in them. During the May Day
celebration, Caroline's sister reveals to Reverend Hutton that Caroline is marrying the young man, an announcement that shocks Mrs Rose, who thought she was his intended. Confronting Dr Harrison (who is nonplussed at to how he gave either woman such an impression), the vicar brings Dr Harrison's courtship of his daughter to an abrupt halt.
Episode Five: May 1843
The ladies of Cranford learn about Miss Matty's financial distress and secretly contribute to her welfare, with the sudden influx of cash explained as being due to the discovery of an error in the bank's bookkeeping. Miss Matty opens a shop selling tea in her parlour. Her maid, Martha, marries Jem Hearne, and the newlyweds lodge with Miss Matty.
Mr. Carter discovers that Lady Ludlow mortgaged the Hanbury estate to meet her son's financial demands, even though she may not have the resources to keep up the repayments.
Despite Dr Harrison's protestations of innocence, Dr Morgan advises him to leave Cranford, since patients no longer will see him. Mary Smith helps by confronting Dr Marshland about his mischief with the valentines, and they begin to sort out the misunderstandings that have led to Dr Harrison's predicament. The doctor and Sophy are reconciled when he saves her from a potentially fatal attack of typhoid.
An accident at the site of the railway injures both Captain Brown and Mr. Carter, the latter fatally. In his will he leaves his estate of £20,000 to Harry Gregson, £1,000 is to be used for his formal education at Shrewsbury School
, and the remainder to be used to redeem the mortgage on Lady Ludlow's estate, but eventually to revert to Harry with interest. Major Gordon returns from India to propose yet again to Jessie Brown, who accepts at last, and brings with him Matty's long-missing brother Peter. The series concludes with the wedding of Sophy and Dr Harrison.
Series Two
Episodes Six and Seven: August 1844
Two-part Christmas special, called Return to Cranford
. The railway comes to Cranford.
Although Cranford is supposedly located in Cheshire, none of the exteriors was filmed there. Locations used included Surrey
, Hambleden
, Windsor
, Radnage
, Leighton Buzzard
, Berkhamsted
, Wycombe
, Syon House
in Brentford
, London, and Isleworth
in Middlesex
, and Oxford
. Interiors were filmed in Pinewood Studios
. A large portion of filming was done at Lacock
in Wiltshire
(a location used for many films, including Pride and Prejudice
and Emma for the BBC in 1995 and 1996, respectively, The Other Boleyn Girl , The Wolfman and also for the Harry Potter
films in 2000, 2001 and 2008).
Steve Hudson, the original director, was replaced after six weeks because, according to Eileen Atkins
, "He didn't really understand why it was funny."
said the series "will see you through beautifully until Christmas. Elizabeth Gaskell's perfect little classic, beautifully and minutely observed, has been beefed up with two more stories . . . However, as the extra stories are also by Mrs Gaskell, they transplant pretty naturally ... It has a simply stunning performance from Eileen Atkins . . . The power of her performance is all the more remarkable considering the company she keeps."
Andrew Billen of The Times
stated, "The cast was so strong it was almost distracting. But, as in any great ensemble, when the individuals came together nothing jarred ... This adaptation added up to even more than the sum of its considerable parts."
James Walton of The Daily Telegraph
observed, "Heidi Thomas’s script subtly brought out a more hidden element of Cranford life: that these people are simultaneously proud and ashamed of their provincial status. She also manages the Mrs Gaskell trick of making the town itself the main character ... [T]he result (and of course I mean this as a compliment) sharply recalls another TV portrait of life in a town near Manchester. Admittedly, Cranford features more Annie Walkers and fewer Elsie Tanners than early Coronation Street
. Otherwise, the power of the matriarchs, the centrality of gossip and – when the chips are down – the touching sense of community, are all winningly similar. So too is the ability to subject the characters to clear-eyed scrutiny, while still retaining an obvious affection for them."
In the UK, the first episode was watched by 8.43 million viewers and ranked #6 for the week , outperforming ITV1
's usually dominant I'm A Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!
. By the final episode viewership had dropped to 7.26 million, although the programme remained in the top ten .
and won three, for Best Actress
(Eileen Atkins), Best Production Design, and Best Sound in a Fiction/Entertainment Programme. It was nominated for eight Emmy Awards and won two, for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or Movie (Atkins) and Outstanding Hairstyling for a Miniseries, Movie or a Special. It also won the Television and Radio Industries Club
Award for Best TV Drama Programme. It was nominated for a further three Golden Globe awards (Best Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television and two acting nominations for Judi Dench
and Eileen Atkins
).
was broadcast by BBC as a Christmas special in December 2009. Judi Dench, Imelda Staunton, Julia McKenzie, Deborah Findlay, and Barbara Flynn reprised their roles, with Jonathan Pryce
, Celia Imrie
, Lesley Sharp
, Nicholas Le Prevost
, Jodie Whittaker
, Tom Hiddleston
, Michelle Dockery
, Matthew McNulty
and Rory Kinnear
joining the cast. The program aired on January 10 & 17, 2010 on PBS in the United States
.
The new stories, which were written by Heidi Thomas and directed by Simon Curtis, took place in August 1844; a year after the wedding of Sophy Hutton and Dr Harrison. Filming of the railway sequences took place at the Foxfield Railway
in Staffordshire.
Great Britain
Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
television series directed by Simon Curtis and Steve Hudson. The teleplay
Screenplay
A screenplay or script is a written work that is made especially for a film or television program. Screenplays can be original works or adaptations from existing pieces of writing. In them, the movement, actions, expression, and dialogues of the characters are also narrated...
by Heidi Thomas
Heidi Thomas
Heidi Thomas is an English screenwriter and playwright.-Career:After reading English at Liverpool University, Thomas gained national attention when her play, Shamrocks And Crocodiles, won the John Whiting Award in 1985. Her play Indigo was performed by the Royal Shakespeare Company in their...
was adapted from three novella
Novella
A novella is a written, fictional, prose narrative usually longer than a novelette but shorter than a novel. The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America Nebula Awards for science fiction define the novella as having a word count between 17,500 and 40,000...
s by Elizabeth Gaskell
Elizabeth Gaskell
Elizabeth Cleghorn Gaskell, née Stevenson , often referred to simply as Mrs Gaskell, was a British novelist and short story writer during the Victorian era...
published between 1849 and 1858: Cranford
Cranford (novel)
Cranford is one of the better-known novels of the 19th century English writer Elizabeth Gaskell. It was first published in 1851 as a serial in the magazine Household Words, which was edited by Charles Dickens.-Plot:...
, My Lady Ludlow
My Lady Ludlow
My Lady Ludlow is a long novella by Elizabeth Gaskell. It appeared in the magazine Household Words in 1858, and was republished in Round the Sofa in 1859, with framing passages added at the start and end.It recounts the daily lives of the widowed Countess of Ludlow of Hanbury and the spinster Miss...
, and Mr Harrison's Confessions. (The Last Generation in England
The Last Generation in England
The Last Generation in England is a non-fiction article by Elizabeth Gaskell, published in the American Sartain's Union Magazine in July 1849, relating memories of a small country town in the generation prior to her own. As such, it is seen as the real-life background for her novel Cranford...
was also used as a source.)
The series was transmitted in five parts in the UK by BBC One
BBC One
BBC One is the flagship television channel of the British Broadcasting Corporation in the United Kingdom. It was launched on 2 November 1936 as the BBC Television Service, and was the world's first regular television service with a high level of image resolution...
in November and December 2007. In the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, it was broadcast in three episodes by PBS as part of its Masterpiece Theatre
Masterpiece Theatre
Masterpiece is a drama anthology television series produced by WGBH Boston. It premiered on Public Broadcasting Service on January 10, 1971, making it America's longest-running weekly prime time drama series. The series has presented numerous acclaimed British productions...
series in May 2008.
Cranford returned with a two-part Christmas special
Return to Cranford
Return to Cranford is the two-part second season of a British television series directed by Simon Curtis. The teleplay by Heidi Thomas was based on material from two novellas and a short story by Elizabeth Gaskell published between 1849 and 1863: Cranford, The Moorland Cottage and The Cage at...
in 2009.
Plot
Set in the early 1840s1840s
- Wars :*Mexican-American War was fought between Mexico and the United States of America. The latter emerged victorious and gained undisputed control over Texas while annexing portions of Arizona, California and New Mexico....
in the fiction
Fiction
Fiction is the form of any narrative or informative work that deals, in part or in whole, with information or events that are not factual, but rather, imaginary—that is, invented by the author. Although fiction describes a major branch of literary work, it may also refer to theatrical,...
al village of Cranford in the county
Counties of England
Counties of England are areas used for the purposes of administrative, geographical and political demarcation. For administrative purposes, England outside Greater London and the Isles of Scilly is divided into 83 counties. The counties may consist of a single district or be divided into several...
of Cheshire
Cheshire
Cheshire is a ceremonial county in North West England. Cheshire's county town is the city of Chester, although its largest town is Warrington. Other major towns include Widnes, Congleton, Crewe, Ellesmere Port, Runcorn, Macclesfield, Winsford, Northwich, and Wilmslow...
in North West England
North West England
North West England, informally known as The North West, is one of the nine official regions of England.North West England had a 2006 estimated population of 6,853,201 the third most populated region after London and the South East...
, the story focuses primarily on the town's single and widow
Widow
A widow is a woman whose spouse has died, while a widower is a man whose spouse has died. The state of having lost one's spouse to death is termed widowhood or occasionally viduity. The adjective form is widowed...
ed middle class
Middle class
The middle class is any class of people in the middle of a societal hierarchy. In Weberian socio-economic terms, the middle class is the broad group of people in contemporary society who fall socio-economically between the working class and upper class....
female inhabitants who are comfortable with their traditional way of life and place great store in propriety and maintaining an appearance of gentility. Among them are the spinster Jenkyns sisters, Matty and Deborah; their houseguest from Manchester
Manchester
Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...
, Mary Smith; Octavia Pole, the town's leading gossip
Gossip
Gossip is idle talk or rumour, especially about the personal or private affairs of others, It is one of the oldest and most common means of sharing facts and views, but also has a reputation for the introduction of errors and variations into the information transmitted...
; the Tomkinson sisters, Augusta and Caroline; Mrs Forrester, who treats her beloved cow Bessie as she would a daughter; Mrs Rose, the housekeeper for Dr Harrison; Jessie Brown, who rejects Major Gordon's marriage proposal twice despite her feelings for him; Laurentia Galindo, a milliner who strongly believes men and women are on equal footing; the Honourable Mrs Jamieson, a snob who dresses her dog in ensembles to match her own; Sophy Hutton, the vicar
Vicar
In the broadest sense, a vicar is a representative, deputy or substitute; anyone acting "in the person of" or agent for a superior . In this sense, the title is comparable to lieutenant...
's eldest daughter and surrogate mother to her three younger siblings, who is courted by Dr Harrison; and the aristocratic Lady Ludlow, who lives in splendour at Hanbury Court and perceives change as a peril to the natural order of things.
The principal male characters are new arrival Dr Frank Harrison, who is smitten with Sophy but unwittingly becomes the romantic target of both Mrs Rose and Caroline Tomkinson, who frequently feigns illness to hold his attention; Dr Morgan, an old-fashioned practitioner who finds himself challenged by the modern ideas of his young partner; Captain Brown, a military man whose common sense earns him a place of authority among the women; Edmund Carter,
Lady Ludlow's land agent, a reformer who strongly advocates free education for the working class; Harry Gregson, the ambitious ten-year-old son of an impoverished poacher, who as Mr. Carter's protégé
Mentorship
Mentorship refers to a personal developmental relationship in which a more experienced or more knowledgeable person helps a less experienced or less knowledgeable person....
learns to read and write; farmer Thomas Holbrook, Matty Jenkyn's one-time suitor, who was considered unsuitable by her family but is anxious to renew his relationship with her; Reverend Hutton, a widower with four children whose religious conviction is sometimes at odds with his instincts as a father; and Sir Charles Maulver, the local magistrate and director of the railway company.
Cast
Listed in alphabetical order:| Actor | Role |
|---|---|
| Francesca Annis Francesca Annis Francesca Annis is an English actress, known for her film and television appearances, most recently in the BBC series Wives and Daughters, Cranford, and Deceit.-Early life and education:... |
Lady Ludlow, the Lady of Hanbury Court |
| Eileen Atkins Eileen Atkins Dame Eileen June Atkins, DBE is an English actress and occasional screenwriter.- Early life :Atkins was born in the Mothers' Hospital in Clapton, a Salvation Army women's hostel in East London... |
Deborah Jenkyns, the moral guardian of the town |
| Claudie Blakley Claudie Blakley Claudia "Claudie" Blakley is an English actress.Her father was Alan Blakely, a member of the 1960s pop band The Tremeloes, and her sister Kirsten Blakley is lead singer of the indie band Little Spitfire. Blakley trained at the Central School of Speech and Drama... |
Martha, a maid to the Jenkyns sisters |
| John Bowe | Dr Morgan, the appreciated surgeon of the town |
| Andrew Buchan Andrew Buchan -Early life:Buchan was born in Stockport, Greater Manchester, and brought up in the suburb of Lostock in Bolton. He attended the nearby Rivington and Blackrod High School in Horwich.... |
Jem Hearne, a carpenter and Martha's fiancé |
| Jim Carter | Captain Brown, retired officer on half-pay |
| Judi Dench Judi Dench Dame Judith Olivia "Judi" Dench, CH, DBE, FRSA is an English film, stage and television actress.Dench made her professional debut in 1957 with the Old Vic Company. Over the following few years she played in several of William Shakespeare's plays in such roles as Ophelia in Hamlet, Juliet in Romeo... |
Matilda 'Matty' Jenkyns, Deborah's sister |
| Lisa Dillon Lisa Dillon Lisa Dillon is Critics Circle Award-winning English actress.-Theatre:Whilst training at RADA, Dillon appeared in several training productions, including: Hamlet and The Tempest by William Shakespeare, The Devils by John Whiting, The Devil's Law Case by John Webster, Yentl by Leah Napolin and The... |
Mary Smith, a guest to the Jenkyns sisters |
| Alex Etel Alex Etel Alexander Nathan "Alex" Etel is a British child actor.-Early life:Alexander Nathan Etel was born at 3:33AM on September 19, 1994 in a hospital on the outskirts of Manchester. Etel is the middle child of his family, he has a younger brother and an older sister.-Career:Etel was born in Manchester... |
Harry Gregson, a boy of poor parentage |
| Emma Fielding Emma Fielding Emma Georgina Annalies Fielding is an English actress.-Biography:The lapsed Roman Catholic daughter of a British Army soldier, Fielding spent much of her childhood in Malaysia and Nigeria, and a period in Malvern above her grandparents' betting shop... |
Laurentia Galindo, a milliner |
| Deborah Findlay Deborah Findlay Deborah Findlay is an English actress.Her TV credits include Gillian in the ITV drama The Last Train , the recurring character Greer Thornton in 4 of the 6 episodes of State of Play, and in the episode The French Drop in Foyle's War. She also appeared in 4 episodes of the 2001 series of The... |
Augusta Tomkinson, a spinster |
| Barbara Flynn Barbara Flynn Barbara Flynn is an English actress. She first became known for her appearance in the ITV drama A Family at War, that followed the fortunes of a lower middle class family living in Liverpool from 1938 and through World War II.During the 1980s Flynn's acting skills led to her being cast in several... |
The Honourable Mrs Jamieson, a widow with aristocratic pretensions |
| Michael Gambon Michael Gambon Sir Michael John Gambon, CBE is an Irish actor who has worked in theatre, television and film. A highly respected theatre actor, Gambon is recognised for his roles as Philip Marlowe in the BBC television serial The Singing Detective, as Jules Maigret in the 1990s ITV serial Maigret, and as... |
Thomas Holbrook, a farmer and Miss Matty's admirer |
| Philip Glenister Philip Glenister Philip Haywood Glenister is an English actor, known for his role as DCI Gene Hunt in British television series Life On Mars and its sequel Ashes To Ashes.-Television and films:... |
Edmund Carter, Lady Ludlow's land agent |
| Selina Griffiths Selina Griffiths Selina Griffiths is a British actress. She trained at the Central School of Speech and Drama and has appeared in many plays as a result of this. She is the daughter of actors Annette Crosbie and Michael Griffiths. Her only brother, Owen Griffiths, is a sound engineer at a post production sound... |
Caroline Tomkinson, Augusta's sister |
| Hannah Hobley Hannah Hobley Hannah Hobley is an English actress and classical singer. She is best known for playing Chantelle "Telle" Garvey in ITV's Benidorm Her character featured in the pilot episode, and was a regular for the first 3 seasons before leaving with love interest "The Oracle"... |
Bertha, a maid to Miss Pole |
| Alex Jennings Alex Jennings Alex Jennings is an English actor whose roles have included Charles, Prince of Wales in The Queen .-Early years:... |
Reverend Hutton, the vicar of the town |
| Dean Lennox Kelly Dean Lennox Kelly Dean Lennox Kelly is an English actor, He is the brother of actor Craig Kelly.Dean is best known for his role as Kev Ball in Channel 4’s Shameless.-Career:... |
Job Gregson, Harry's father |
| Lesley Manville Lesley Manville Lesley Manville is an award-winning English actress.-Early life:Born in Brighton, Manville was raised in Hove, East Sussex, one of three daughters of a taxicab driver. Training as a soprano singer from age 8, she twice became under-18 champion of Sussex... |
Mrs Rose, Dr Harrison's housekeeper |
| Joe McFadden | Dr Jack Marshland, Dr Harrison's friend |
| Julia McKenzie Julia McKenzie Julia McKenzie is an English actress, singer, and theatre director. She is best-known for her performance in Fresh Fields, but to current television audiences, she is best known for her role as Miss Marple in Agatha Christie's Marple... |
Mrs Forrester, a widow |
| Kimberley Nixon Kimberley Nixon Kimberley Nixon is a Welsh actress.-Early and personal life:Born in Bristol, Nixon and her six brothers were brought up in Pontypridd, Wales, where she attended Coedylan Comprehensive School, now known as Pontypridd High School.In October 2011 Nixon was announced by Wales Online as number one in... |
Sophy Hutton, Rector Hutton's daughter |
| Alistair Petrie Alistair Petrie Alistair Petrie is an English actor. In 2007 he has appeared in The Mark of Cain, The Whistleblowers and Cranford. As well as other TV work such as Emma and The Forsyte Saga: To Let, he has also appeared in the music video for "Bellissimo" by Ilya, directed by the Guard Brothers... |
Major Gordon, Captain Brown's friend |
| Julia Sawalha Julia Sawalha Julia Sawalha is an English actress well known for her roles as Saffron Monsoon in Absolutely Fabulous, Lynda Day, editor of The Junior Gazette in Press Gang and Lydia Bennet in the 1995 television miniseries of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice. She also played Dorcas Lane in the BBC's costume... |
Jessie Brown, Captain Brown's daughter |
| Martin Shaw Martin Shaw Martin Shaw is an English actor. He is best known for his roles in shows such as The Professionals, The Chief, Judge John Deed and Inspector George Gently.-Theatrical background:... |
Peter Jenkyns, The Jenkyns sisters' long-lost brother |
| Imelda Staunton Imelda Staunton Imelda Mary Philomena Bernadette Staunton, OBE is an English actress. She is perhaps best known for her performances in the British comedy television series Up the Garden Path, the Harry Potter film series and Vera Drake... |
Octavia Pole, a town gossip |
| Finty Williams Finty Williams Tara Cressida Frances Williams is an English actress who performs under the name Finty Williams.... |
Clara Smith, Mary's stepmother |
| Greg Wise Greg Wise Greg Wise is an English actor and producer. He has appeared in many British television works, as well as several feature films .- Early life :... |
Sir Charles Maulver, a magistrate |
| Simon Woods Simon Woods Simon Woods is an English actor best known for his role as Octavian in Season 2 of the British-American television series Rome and the 2005 Pride & Prejudice as Mr. Charles Bingley... |
Dr Frank Harrison, a new doctor |
Episode guide
Series OneEpisode One: June 1842
The handsome and eligible young doctor Frank Harrison arrives to assist Dr Morgan with his practice. His first patient is carpenter Jem Hearne, who has fallen from a tree and suffered a compound fracture. Instead of following the usual custom of amputating the injured limb, Dr Harrison performs a relatively new and risky surgery to save the arm. His successful effort wins the admiration of the townspeople.
Edmund Carter, estate manager for Lady Ludlow, takes an interest in young Harry Gregson, the bright son of a poor local family, and offers him both work and an education.
When a valuable piece of historic lace belonging to Mrs Forrester is swallowed by a cat, she and Octavia Pole discover a novel new use for a Wellington boot
Wellington boot
The Wellington boot, also known as rubber-boots, wellies, wellingtons, topboots, billy-boots, gumboots, gummies, barnboots, wellieboots, muckboots, sheepboots, shitkickers, or rainboots are a type of boot based upon leather Hessian boots...
.
Episode Two: August 1842
Major Gordon proposes to Jessie Brown a second time before leaving for India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
, but she refuses him with the excuse she cannot leave her father alone. However, when it is revealed at Lady Ludlow's annual garden party that the railway will be passing close to Cranford, and that Captain Brown will be away on railway business for long periods of time, his daughter regrets her decision.
Also dismayed at the news of the railway's arrival is Deborah Jenkyns, who accuses Captain Brown of deceiving them. She complains of a terrible headache and, moments later, collapses in her bedroom and dies later that night.
Dr Harrison's romance with Sophy Hutton blossoms, only to be stopped in its tracks when he cannot save her brother from the croup
Croup
Croup is a respiratory condition that is usually triggered by an acute viral infection of the upper airway. The infection leads to swelling inside the throat, which interferes with normal breathing and produces the classical symptoms of a "barking" cough, stridor, and hoarseness...
. Here, this adaptation depicts the vicar's daughter as having a crisis of faith that is absent in the original text.
Episode Three: November 1842
Dr Harrison's friend Dr Marshland comes to visit for Christmas
Christmas
Christmas or Christmas Day is an annual holiday generally celebrated on December 25 by billions of people around the world. It is a Christian feast that commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ, liturgically closing the Advent season and initiating the season of Christmastide, which lasts twelve days...
and returns just prior to Valentine's Day
Valentine's Day
Saint Valentine's Day, commonly shortened to Valentine's Day, is an annual commemoration held on February 14 celebrating love and affection between intimate companions. The day is named after one or more early Christian martyrs named Saint Valentine, and was established by Pope Gelasius I in 496...
, when he causes mischief by sending a card suggesting marriage to Caroline Tomkinson, who believes it came from Dr Harrison, whose romance with Sophy Hutton reignites. Dr Marshland also seems to take a liking to Mary Smith.
Poaching
Poaching is the illegal taking of wild plants or animals contrary to local and international conservation and wildlife management laws. Violations of hunting laws and regulations are normally punishable by law and, collectively, such violations are known as poaching.It may be illegal and in...
on Lady Ludlow's estate but mistakenly accused of assault and robbery instead, Harry Gregson's father Job finds himself in gaol until Lady Ludlow is persuaded by both Mr. Carter's pleas and seeing for herself the abject poverty in which the Gregson family lives, uses her influence to have the charges dropped.
Thomas Holbrook is reunited with Matty Jenkyns. In their younger years, their marriage plans were disrupted by her family's disapproval and a scandal involving her brother Peter. When Mr. Holbrook contracts pneumonia
Pneumonia
Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung—especially affecting the microscopic air sacs —associated with fever, chest symptoms, and a lack of air space on a chest X-ray. Pneumonia is typically caused by an infection but there are a number of other causes...
on a journey back from Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
and dies, Miss Matty indicates she now considers herself a widow.
Episode Four: April 1843
Miss Matty learns the bank in which she has invested has failed, but she is determined to keep the news about her financial distress from her friends.
The railway construction approaches nearer to Lady Ludlow's land but, instead of selling acreage to the railway, she mortgages
Mortgage loan
A mortgage loan is a loan secured by real property through the use of a mortgage note which evidences the existence of the loan and the encumbrance of that realty through the granting of a mortgage which secures the loan...
her property to support her ne'er-do-well son Septimus, who is living in Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
.
Dr Harrison asks Reverend Hutton for permission to court Sophy. However, both Caroline Tomkinson and Mrs Rose mistakenly believe the doctor is interested in them. During the May Day
May Day
May Day on May 1 is an ancient northern hemisphere spring festival and usually a public holiday; it is also a traditional spring holiday in many cultures....
celebration, Caroline's sister reveals to Reverend Hutton that Caroline is marrying the young man, an announcement that shocks Mrs Rose, who thought she was his intended. Confronting Dr Harrison (who is nonplussed at to how he gave either woman such an impression), the vicar brings Dr Harrison's courtship of his daughter to an abrupt halt.
Episode Five: May 1843
The ladies of Cranford learn about Miss Matty's financial distress and secretly contribute to her welfare, with the sudden influx of cash explained as being due to the discovery of an error in the bank's bookkeeping. Miss Matty opens a shop selling tea in her parlour. Her maid, Martha, marries Jem Hearne, and the newlyweds lodge with Miss Matty.
Mr. Carter discovers that Lady Ludlow mortgaged the Hanbury estate to meet her son's financial demands, even though she may not have the resources to keep up the repayments.
An accident at the site of the railway injures both Captain Brown and Mr. Carter, the latter fatally. In his will he leaves his estate of £20,000 to Harry Gregson, £1,000 is to be used for his formal education at Shrewsbury School
Shrewsbury School
Shrewsbury School is a co-educational independent school for pupils aged 13 to 18, founded by Royal Charter in 1552. The present campus to which the school moved in 1882 is located on the banks of the River Severn in Shrewsbury, Shropshire, England...
, and the remainder to be used to redeem the mortgage on Lady Ludlow's estate, but eventually to revert to Harry with interest. Major Gordon returns from India to propose yet again to Jessie Brown, who accepts at last, and brings with him Matty's long-missing brother Peter. The series concludes with the wedding of Sophy and Dr Harrison.
Series Two
Episodes Six and Seven: August 1844
Two-part Christmas special, called Return to Cranford
Return to Cranford
Return to Cranford is the two-part second season of a British television series directed by Simon Curtis. The teleplay by Heidi Thomas was based on material from two novellas and a short story by Elizabeth Gaskell published between 1849 and 1863: Cranford, The Moorland Cottage and The Cage at...
. The railway comes to Cranford.
Production
The series, set to begin filming in 2005, originally was scheduled for six episodes, but budget cutbacks resulted in it being trimmed to five, with filming postponed until early 2007 .Although Cranford is supposedly located in Cheshire, none of the exteriors was filmed there. Locations used included Surrey
Surrey
Surrey is a county in the South East of England and is one of the Home Counties. The county borders Greater London, Kent, East Sussex, West Sussex, Hampshire and Berkshire. The historic county town is Guildford. Surrey County Council sits at Kingston upon Thames, although this has been part of...
, Hambleden
Hambleden
Hambleden is a small village and civil parish within Wycombe district in the south of Buckinghamshire, England. It is about four miles west of Marlow, and about three miles north east of Henley-on-Thames in Oxfordshire....
, Windsor
Windsor, Berkshire
Windsor is an affluent suburban town and unparished area in the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead in Berkshire, England. It is widely known as the site of Windsor Castle, one of the official residences of the British Royal Family....
, Radnage
Radnage
Radnage is a village and civil parish in the Wycombe district of Buckinghamshire, England. It is in the Chiltern Hills about two miles north east of Stokenchurch and six miles WNW of High Wycombe....
, Leighton Buzzard
Leighton Buzzard
-Lower schools:*Beaudesert Lower School - Apennine Way*Clipstone Brook Lower School - Brooklands Drive*Greenleas Lower School - Derwent Road*Dovery Down Lower School - Heath Road*Heathwood Lower School - Heath Road*Leedon Lower School - Highfield Road...
, Berkhamsted
Berkhamsted
-Climate:Berkhamsted experiences an oceanic climate similar to almost all of the United Kingdom.-Castle:...
, Wycombe
High Wycombe
High Wycombe , commonly known as Wycombe and formally called Chepping Wycombe or Chipping Wycombe until 1946,is a large town in Buckinghamshire, England. It is west-north-west of Charing Cross in London; this figure is engraved on the Corn Market building in the centre of the town...
, Syon House
Syon House
Syon House, with its 200-acre park, is situated in west London, England. It belongs to the Duke of Northumberland and is now his family's London residence...
in Brentford
Brentford
Brentford is a suburban town in west London, England, and part of the London Borough of Hounslow. It is located at the confluence of the River Thames and the River Brent, west-southwest of Charing Cross. Its former ceremonial county was Middlesex.-Toponymy:...
, London, and Isleworth
Isleworth
Isleworth is a small town of Saxon origin sited within the London Borough of Hounslow in west London, England. It lies immediately east of the town of Hounslow and west of the River Thames and its tributary the River Crane. Isleworth's original area of settlement, alongside the Thames, is known as...
in Middlesex
Middlesex
Middlesex is one of the historic counties of England and the second smallest by area. The low-lying county contained the wealthy and politically independent City of London on its southern boundary and was dominated by it from a very early time...
, and Oxford
Oxford
The city of Oxford is the county town of Oxfordshire, England. The city, made prominent by its medieval university, has a population of just under 165,000, with 153,900 living within the district boundary. It lies about 50 miles north-west of London. The rivers Cherwell and Thames run through...
. Interiors were filmed in Pinewood Studios
Pinewood Studios
Pinewood Studios is a major British film studio situated in Iver Heath, Buckinghamshire, approximately west of central London. The studios have played host to many productions over the years from huge blockbuster films to television shows to commercials to pop promos.The purchase of Shepperton...
. A large portion of filming was done at Lacock
Lacock
Lacock is a village in Wiltshire, England, 3 miles from the town of Chippenham. The village is owned almost in its entirety by the National Trust, and attracts many visitors by virtue of its unspoiled appearance.-History:...
in Wiltshire
Wiltshire
Wiltshire is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset, Somerset, Hampshire, Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire. It contains the unitary authority of Swindon and covers...
(a location used for many films, including Pride and Prejudice
Pride and Prejudice (1995 TV serial)
Pride and Prejudice is a six-episode 1995 British television drama, adapted by Andrew Davies from Jane Austen's 1813 novel Pride and Prejudice. Jennifer Ehle and Colin Firth starred as Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Darcy. Produced by Sue Birtwistle and directed by Simon Langton, the serial was a BBC...
and Emma for the BBC in 1995 and 1996, respectively, The Other Boleyn Girl , The Wolfman and also for the Harry Potter
Harry Potter
Harry Potter is a series of seven fantasy novels written by the British author J. K. Rowling. The books chronicle the adventures of the adolescent wizard Harry Potter and his best friends Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger, all of whom are students at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry...
films in 2000, 2001 and 2008).
Steve Hudson, the original director, was replaced after six weeks because, according to Eileen Atkins
Eileen Atkins
Dame Eileen June Atkins, DBE is an English actress and occasional screenwriter.- Early life :Atkins was born in the Mothers' Hospital in Clapton, a Salvation Army women's hostel in East London...
, "He didn't really understand why it was funny."
Broadcast and reception
Nancy Banks-Smith of The GuardianThe Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
said the series "will see you through beautifully until Christmas. Elizabeth Gaskell's perfect little classic, beautifully and minutely observed, has been beefed up with two more stories . . . However, as the extra stories are also by Mrs Gaskell, they transplant pretty naturally ... It has a simply stunning performance from Eileen Atkins . . . The power of her performance is all the more remarkable considering the company she keeps."
Andrew Billen of The Times
The Times
The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
stated, "The cast was so strong it was almost distracting. But, as in any great ensemble, when the individuals came together nothing jarred ... This adaptation added up to even more than the sum of its considerable parts."
James Walton of The Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph is a daily morning broadsheet newspaper distributed throughout the United Kingdom and internationally. The newspaper was founded by Arthur B...
observed, "Heidi Thomas’s script subtly brought out a more hidden element of Cranford life: that these people are simultaneously proud and ashamed of their provincial status. She also manages the Mrs Gaskell trick of making the town itself the main character ... [T]he result (and of course I mean this as a compliment) sharply recalls another TV portrait of life in a town near Manchester. Admittedly, Cranford features more Annie Walkers and fewer Elsie Tanners than early Coronation Street
Coronation Street
Coronation Street is a British soap opera set in Weatherfield, a fictional town in Greater Manchester based on Salford. Created by Tony Warren, Coronation Street was first broadcast on 9 December 1960...
. Otherwise, the power of the matriarchs, the centrality of gossip and – when the chips are down – the touching sense of community, are all winningly similar. So too is the ability to subject the characters to clear-eyed scrutiny, while still retaining an obvious affection for them."
In the UK, the first episode was watched by 8.43 million viewers and ranked #6 for the week , outperforming ITV1
ITV1
ITV1 is a generic brand that is used by twelve franchises of the British ITV Network in the English regions, Wales, southern Scotland , the Isle of Man and the Bailiwicks of Jersey and Guernsey. The ITV1 brand was introduced by Carlton and Granada in 2001, alongside the regional identities of their...
's usually dominant I'm A Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!
I'm a Celebrity... Get Me out of Here! (UK)
I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here! is a British reality television show, first screened in 2002, in which celebrities live in jungle conditions with few creature comforts. The show is filmed in Australia and broadcast on ITV in the UK and on TV3 in Ireland. The show is one of the largest in the...
. By the final episode viewership had dropped to 7.26 million, although the programme remained in the top ten .
Awards and nominations
Cranford was nominated for ten British Academy Television AwardsBritish Academy Television Awards
The British Academy Television Awards are presented in an annual award show hosted by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts . They have been awarded annually since 1954, and are analogous to the Emmy Awards in the United States.-Background:...
and won three, for Best Actress
British Academy Television Award for Best Actress
- 1950s :*1955 Googie Withers*1956 Virginia McKenna*1957 Rosalie Crutchley*1958 Gwen Watford*1959 Catherine Lacey- 1960s :*1960 Catherine Lacey*1961 Billie Whitelaw*1962 Ruth Dunning*1963 Brenda Bruce*1964 Vivien Merchant*1965 Katherine Blake...
(Eileen Atkins), Best Production Design, and Best Sound in a Fiction/Entertainment Programme. It was nominated for eight Emmy Awards and won two, for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or Movie (Atkins) and Outstanding Hairstyling for a Miniseries, Movie or a Special. It also won the Television and Radio Industries Club
Television and Radio Industries Club
The Television and Radio Industries Club is a British institution chartered in 1931 to "promote goodwill in the television and radio industries"...
Award for Best TV Drama Programme. It was nominated for a further three Golden Globe awards (Best Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television and two acting nominations for Judi Dench
Judi Dench
Dame Judith Olivia "Judi" Dench, CH, DBE, FRSA is an English film, stage and television actress.Dench made her professional debut in 1957 with the Old Vic Company. Over the following few years she played in several of William Shakespeare's plays in such roles as Ophelia in Hamlet, Juliet in Romeo...
and Eileen Atkins
Eileen Atkins
Dame Eileen June Atkins, DBE is an English actress and occasional screenwriter.- Early life :Atkins was born in the Mothers' Hospital in Clapton, a Salvation Army women's hostel in East London...
).
Full list of awards and nominations
- BAFTA TV Awards
- Won Best Actress - Eileen Atkins
- Won Best Sound Fiction/Entertainment - Paul Hamblin, Graham Headicar, Andre Schmidt, Peter Brill
- Won Best Production Design - Donal Woods
- Nominated Audience Award (TV)
- Nominated Best Costume Design - Jenny Beavan
- Nominated Best Drama Serial - Sue Birtwistle, Simon Curtis, Heidi Thomas
- Nominated Best Original Television Music - Carl Davis
- Nominated Best Actress - Judi Dench
- Nominated Best Make Up & Hair Design - Alison Elliott
- Nominated Best Editing (Fiction/Entertainment) Frances Parker
- Nominated Best Writer - Heidi Thomas
- Costume Designers Guild Awards
- Nominated Outstanding Costume Design for Television Movie/Mini-Series - Jenny Beavan
- Emmy Awards
- Won Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or a Movie - Eileen Atkins
- Won Outstanding Hairstyling for a Miniseries or a Movie - Alison Elliott (department head hairstylist)
- Nominated Outstanding Miniseries - Kate Harwood (executive producer), Rebecca Eaton (executive producer), Sue Birtwistle (producer)
- Nominated Outstanding Lead Actress in a Miniseries or a Movie - Judi Dench
- Nominated Outstanding Writing for a Miniseries, Movie or a Dramatic Special - Heidi Thomas (written by)
- Nominated Outstanding Casting for a Miniseries, Movie or a Special - Maggie Lunn (casting director)
- Nominated Outstanding Costumes for a Miniseries, Movie or a Special - Jenny Beavan (costume designer), Mark Ferguson (costume supervisor)
- Nominated Outstanding Art Direction for a Miniseries or Movie - Jerry Wanek (production designer), Dan Hermansen (art director), Merlin Dervisevic (set decorator), Donal Woods (production designer), Trisha Edwards (set decorator)
- Golden Globes
- Nominated Best Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television
- Nominated Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Series, Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television - Eileen Atkins
- Nominated Best Performance by an Actress in a Mini-Series or a Motion Picture Made for Television - Judi Dench
- Television Critics Association Awards
- Nominated Outstanding Achievement in Movies, Mini-Series and Specials
- Television and Radio Industries Club Awards
- Won TV Drama Programme
DVD release
The complete series was released in a two-disc set by BBC Video on February 11, 2008. It includes a bonus feature, The Making of Cranford, with interviews with members of both the cast and production team.Sequel
A two-part sequel, Return to CranfordReturn to Cranford
Return to Cranford is the two-part second season of a British television series directed by Simon Curtis. The teleplay by Heidi Thomas was based on material from two novellas and a short story by Elizabeth Gaskell published between 1849 and 1863: Cranford, The Moorland Cottage and The Cage at...
was broadcast by BBC as a Christmas special in December 2009. Judi Dench, Imelda Staunton, Julia McKenzie, Deborah Findlay, and Barbara Flynn reprised their roles, with Jonathan Pryce
Jonathan Pryce
Jonathan Pryce, CBE is a Welsh stage and film actor and singer. After studying at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and meeting his longtime partner English actress Kate Fahy in 1974, he began his career as a stage actor in the 1970s...
, Celia Imrie
Celia Imrie
Celia Diana Savile Imrie is an English actress. In a career starting in the early 1970s, Imrie has played Marianne Bellshade in Bergerac, Philippa Moorcroft in Dinnerladies, Miss Babs in Acorn Antiques, Diana Neal in After You've Gone and Gloria Millington in Kingdom...
, Lesley Sharp
Lesley Sharp
Lesley Sharp is an English stage, film and television actress, particularly well known for her variety of British television roles including Clocking Off, Bob & Rose and afterlife.-Early life:...
, Nicholas Le Prevost
Nicholas Le Prevost
Nicholas Le Prevost is an English actor. He was educated at Shaftesbury Grammar School, Shaftesbury, Dorset from 1957 to 1961 and at Kingswood School, Bath from 1961 to 1964...
, Jodie Whittaker
Jodie Whittaker
Jodie Auckland Whittaker is an English actress, perhaps best known for her work in the film Venus . She also starred in the ITV1 series Marchlands playing the young Ruth who had lost her daughter Alice.-Career:...
, Tom Hiddleston
Tom Hiddleston
Thomas William "Tom" Hiddleston is an English actor. He is perhaps best known for playing Loki in the 2011 Marvel Studios film Thor.-Early life and education:...
, Michelle Dockery
Michelle Dockery
Michelle Dockery is an English actress of stage and screen. She has become best known for her role as Lady Mary Crawley in the ITV drama series Downton Abbey...
, Matthew McNulty
Matthew McNulty
Matthew McNulty is an English actor of film and television.-Film:*Geography of the Hapless Heart as Jamie*Messengers 2: The Scarecrow as Deputy Milton...
and Rory Kinnear
Rory Kinnear
Rory Kinnear is an award-winning English actor who has worked with the Royal Shakespeare Company and the Royal National Theatre.-Early life:...
joining the cast. The program aired on January 10 & 17, 2010 on PBS in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
.
The new stories, which were written by Heidi Thomas and directed by Simon Curtis, took place in August 1844; a year after the wedding of Sophy Hutton and Dr Harrison. Filming of the railway sequences took place at the Foxfield Railway
Foxfield Light Railway
The Foxfield Light Railway is a preserved standard gauge line located south east of Stoke-on-Trent. The line was built in 1893 to serve the colliery at Dilhorne on the Cheadle Coalfield. It joined the North Staffordshire Railway line near Blythe Bridge....
in Staffordshire.
External links
- Official website
- BBC Press release re Cranford
- Pictures from filming of Cranford
- Cranford fan site
- November 10, 2007 Telegraph article
- November 17, 2007 Telegraph article
- Episode guide at Digiguide.com