Cranford: The Collection

Oscar©-winner Judi Dench (Notes on a Scandal, Casino Royale) heads a stellar cast including Michael Gambon (Dumbledore in the Harry Potter films), Eileen Atkins (Cold Mountain, Gosford Park), Imelda Staunton (Vera Drake) and more in this witty and poignant story which follows the small absurdities and major tragedies in the lives of the people of Cranford. Cranford in the 1840s is on the cusp of change. The railway is pushing its way relentlessly towards the town, bringing fears of migrant workers and the breakdown of law and order. The arrival of Frank Harrison, a handsome new doctor from London, causes a stir, not only because of his revolutionary medical methods, but also because of the effect he has on many female hearts in the town.

Cranford:
Irresistible characters, a stellar cast and the non-stop liveliness of a 19th-century English country market town capture your heart in this brilliant mini-series based on three novels by Elizabeth Gaskell. Dame Judi Dench (As Time Goes By, Notes on a Scandal, Mrs. Henderson Presents) stars as kind-hearted Miss Matty Jenkyns - the younger sister of Cranford's severe moral guardian, Deborah (Dame Eileen Atkins, Vanity Fair, Cold Mountain, Gosford Park). Share dramatic ups and downs during an exciting year in the life of the town, as Matty meets her long-lost first love (Sir Michael Gambon, Harry Potter films, Amazing Grace, Wives and Daughters), a handsome young doctor makes many hearts beat faster, and alarming rumors of a new railway line prove true. Lushly filmed with period costumes in beautiful historic settings. As seen on Masterpiece Classic.

Return to Cranford:
The big adventures of a small town continue.
Judi Dench, Imelda Staunton, Francesca Annis and Julia McKenzie return in the
award-winning drama based on the novels by Elizabeth Gaskell. Cranford, where all changes and all remains the same, and Miss Matty's house is full of life and bustle. Her dream of having a child in the house has been realised in the birth of Tilly, daughter of her maid Martha and carpenter Jem. Elsewhere the shadow of the railway still looms but the line has been halted five miles outside of Cranford - a disaster as far as Captain Brown is concerned. Miss Matty's friend Mr Buxton returns to town with his son, William, and his niece, Erminia. Miss Matty is concerned about another young person - Peggy Bell - who lives in an isolated cottage with her mother and domineering brother, Edward. She decides to intervene and engineers an invitation that will bring the four young people together. But, as tragedy strikes, she comes to believe that, unwittingly, she has opened Pandora's box and fears that Cranford will never recover.

Cranford

Written by Elizabeth Gaskell, Sue Birtwistle, Susie Conklin, Heidi Thomas
Directed by Simon Curtis, Steve Hudson
Produced by Sue Birtwistle
Executive Produced by Rebecca Eaton, Kate Harwood
Original Music by Carl Davis
Cinematography by Ben Smithard
Film Editing by Frances Parker, Dan Roberts
Costume Design by Jenny Beavan

Return to Cranford

Directed by Simon Curtis
Written by Heidi Thomas
Created by Sue Birtwistle and Susie Conklin
Executive Produced by Kate Harwood

"It is as immediately compelling as Andrew Davies's 2005 adaptation of Dickens' Bleak House, and infinitely more charming." Tessa Gibbs, Sunday Telegraph

"It's very unusual to find a period drama that makes you laugh out loud but Cranford definitely does. Not only is there wit but there are also some great comedy sequences ... However, it's the withering put-downs from Dame Eileen Atkins's character Miss Deborah that completely steal the show." David Stephenson, Express on Sunday

"Predictably, the highlight of the evening, indeed of the weekend's, schedules ... a near-flawless start to an adaptation of three Elizabeth Gaskell novels. The pick of the outstanding cast is Eileen Atkins as Deborah Jenkyns, the self-appointed enforcer of Cranford's unwritten moral code, and this is from the outset rather moving and often hilarious." Karl French, Financial Times

"The BBC's new dramatisation of Elizabeth Gaskell's Cranford has the intimacy of a soap opera, alive with the tug of hopes and fears of daily life, and, at a deeper yet pervasive level, addresses issues we all face - how to cope with change, financial insecurity, new technologies; and how the ripples of world events reach our own backwaters, perhaps misunderstood, but nevertheless directing our lives." Jenny Uglow, Sunday Times

"...utterly delicious..." Daily Mail