After watching Cranford last year I was naturally happy to find out that there would be a Return to Cranford (aka Christmas Cranford) in 2009. Now that I’ve watched it I can only hope that the producers or whoever is in charge decides to do a Cranford 3!
In this two part series we return to Cranford and to some of the characters we loved in the first series. Miss Matty and her friends delight us again, Lady Ludlow, Miss Galindo and Mary are also back and there are also new characters introduced like the Bells and the Buxtons.
As hinted in the last series change is coming to Cranford in the form of the railway. The town, however, resists to what they think is a passing mania to quote Mr. Buxton, much to the despair of his son. But Miss Matty eventually realises that her late sister might not have been right and she is the one that leads her friends to try the new train. There are sorrows and joys to live through, some of the characters leave us. Miss Matty sadly suffers another loss. Lady Ludlow’s son finally arrives but too late for his mother, Lord Septimus soon reveals himself as a nasty character not above cheating on a young boy.
It took me just a little while to warm up to the new characters, especially William and Peggy who take up as the romantic couple. Her brother was a nasty piece of work though and I felt Erminia has too little space to be properly developed. However the magic of Cranford remains in the original characters and the anecdotes of their daily lives. Miss Pole’s cage for instance or her fear of fraying the optic nerve, Bessie being evicted from her field, Harry Gregson giving Mrs. Forrester a new heifer or Tilly emerging from the wardrobe were just some of them. Some scenes brought a smile to my faces; others brought a tear to my eyes.
Heidi Thomas did a wonderful job with the script and the direction by Simon Curtis was perfect. If anything there was enough material to make me feel that a third episode would not be amiss just to give more time to William to court Peggy or for Miss Matty to have more time with the changing of her mind. The cast was just as one would expect from such excellent actresses and actors. It is difficult to refer to just one or two interpretations because they were so perfect and all worked so well together. Judi Dench but also Imelda Staunton, Julia McKenzie, Deborah Findlay, Celia Imrie, Andrew Buchan, Jonathan Pryce and all the others really made Cranford came to life.
What is it about this series that makes us want to live in such a small village and know all your neighbours? Everyone knows and judges everyone else’s life yes, but there’s also a friendship and a network of support when it’s needed that makes it seem worthwhile. And Cranford is definitely about women, they are the ones who have the power, who dominate society and who take destiny into their own hands as Mary does. And Cranford’s resistance to change is a timeless problem that seems as appropriate in the XIX as today.
Return to Cranford was a lovely Christmas present!
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I can’t wait. Maybe I’ll be able to watch it very soon, who knows? It looks delicious and I agree with you: why not Cranford 3 ?
I did enjoy Return to Cranford but I didn’t feel quite as connected to the characters this time (partly due to the shorter length). I don’t think we’ll be seeing a Cranford 3 though since I believe I read that Heidi Thomas mentioned this would be the last word. IF she did write another one, they would have to bring back Dr. Harrison and Sophy! And of course, I would love to see Dr. Marshland and Mary reunited!
I missed it so now I have to wait for the DVD I thought it was the original Cranford when I saw it in the guide on Direct tv. I am glad you enjoyed it.
Adorei esta série. Agora que me preparo para ver o episódio de Natal acho que vou mas é começar por rever a primeira e, assim, fazer durar o gosto que me dá vê-las.
:)
To all of you who haven’t watched it yet I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.
Charleybrown, that means that at least for me they ended it with a high note. Speaking of Dr. Harrison did you watch Cranford’s Under The Bonnet? I thought it was really interesting…
Oh, I’m glad you liked it! I look forward to seeing it. Of course, I always want something interesting to happen to Mary.
In case you are wondering, the railway scenes were all filmed at the Foxfield Railway at Blythe Bridge in Staffordshire and I had the pleasure to be the driver for the 5 day shoot. If you want to come and sample the wonderful countryside and visit Hanbury Halt then the railway operates weekends from Easter to October.
Wonderful adaptation and simply delightful to watch!
I adored the 2007 series – Cranford was both well acted and well written, and crucially it captured the spirit of Elizabeth Gaskell’s wonderful writing. When the Christmas special was announced I was excited to see it, and perhaps that’s partially why I was so disappointed with the end result. The 2009 special wasn’t bad, as such, but to me it felt like a soap opera along the lines of Larkrise to Candleford (which is nice enough, I suppose, but I feel it’s a little TOO cheesy) It just isn’t of the same calibre as the 2007 series at all.
My main complaint with the 2009 special is this: aside from the character of Matilda, the special doesn’t deal with the development of any of the characters that we had been introduced to during the series. Instead, we are presented with a series of new characters who are we are supposed to care about instantly, but who haven’t been given the chance to be developed over time. So I didn’t really care about the story arcs of most of the new characters. It would have been much more interesting to see the development of past characters instead – how Dr Harrison and Sophie cope with married life, how Miss Tomkinson and the butcher deal with it, etc.