(PG)
This BBC dramatisation of three of Elizabeth Gaskell's novels captures the small absurdities and tragedies in the lives of the people of Cranford, a small rural Cheshire town, inhabited largely by women.
This is a community that runs on cooperation and gossip, at the very heart of which are the daughters of the former rector: Miss Deborah Jenkyns (Eileen Atkins) and her sister Miss Matty (Judi Dench). But domestic peace is constantly threatened in the form of financial disaster, imagined burglaries, tragic accidents, and the reapparance of long-lost relatives.
Imelda Staunton, Julia McKenzie, Alex Etel, Deborah Findlay, Barbara Flynn, Jim Carter, Claudie Blakley, Francesca Annis, Emma Fielding, Simon Woods, Lisa Dillon.
To my mind this is simply the best period drama the BBC has ever done, I just couldn't find a single fault with it at all. I know that English as a spoken language is constantly changing but in Cranford it was a delight to listen to. I watched this with my husband and daughter they totally enjoyed this. Really an excellent period drama.
