"Lark Rise to Candleford" (2008) TV series

User Rating:

8.2/10   

Seasons:

1 | 2

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

An adaptation of Flora Thompson's autobiographical novel "Lark Rise To Candleford", set in 19 century Oxfordshire, in which a young girl moves to the local market town to begin an apprenticeship as a postmistress.

Plot Keywords:

Memory

Awards:

1 win

Cast

Claudie Blakley	...	Emma Timmins (22 episodes, 2008-2009)
Brendan Coyle	...	Robert Timmins (22 episodes, 2008-2009)
Fergus Drysdale	...	Frank Timmins (22 episodes, 2008-2009)
Olivia Hallinan	...	Laura Timmins (22 episodes, 2008-2009)
Mark Heap	...	Thomas Brown (22 episodes, 2008-2009)
Sarah Lancashire	...	Adult Laura (22 episodes, 2008-2009)
Thomas Rhys Jones	...	Edmund Timmins (22 episodes, 2008-2009)
Martha Murdoch	...	Ethel Timmins (22 episodes, 2008-2009)
Julia Sawalha	...	Dorcas Lane (22 episodes, 2008-2009)
Linda Bassett	...	Queenie Turrill (21 episodes, 2008-2009)
John Dagleish	...	Alf Arless (21 episodes, 2008-2009)
Karl Johnson	...	Twister Turrill (21 episodes, 2008-2009)
Matilda Ziegler	...	Pearl Pratt (21 episodes, 2008-2009)
Victoria Hamilton	...	Ruby Pratt (20 episodes, 2008-2009)
Sophie Miles	...	Sally Arless / ... (18 episodes, 2008-2009)
Harry Miles	...	Archie Arless / ... (18 episodes, 2008-2009)
Hope Yeomans	...	Lizzie Arless (18 episodes, 2008-2009)
Sandy McDade	...	Margaret Ellison / ... (14 episodes, 2008-2009)
Ruby Bentall	...	Minnie (11 episodes, 2009)
Jason Merrells	...	James Dowland (11 episodes, 2009)
Stephen Marcus	...	Matthew Welby (10 episodes, 2008)
Ben Miles	...	Sir Timothy Midwinter (10 episodes, 2008)
Liz Smith	...	Zillah (10 episodes, 2008)
Olivia Grant	...	Lady Adelaide Midwinter (9 episodes, 2008)

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Certification:

Australia:PG

Filming Locations:

Bristol, England, UK

Company:

British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)

Trivia:

Last TV acting role of Liz Smith.

Movie Connections:

Featured in "Loose Women: (#13.156)" (2009)

They're NOT novels

The BBC really should know better. This trilogy is a wonderful evocation of rural life in Oxfordshire in the late 19th century and for this alone they are an important source document.

However, they are not 'novels'. There is no linear plot, apart from the omniscient narrator recounting events in Laura's life. We are introduced to different characters who come and go as the narrator continues with her observations about different facets of the community and its characters. For the scriptwriter to invent sub-plots and build up characters to be of far more relevance than they actually are is wilfully misleading and leaves those who have never read this marvellous trilogy thinking the whole thing is a prettified romantic tale set in the 'olden days'.

For those of you who want to read about a rural community that was moving irrevocably into the modern industrial age I urge you to read the books. They are not 'happy ever after' affairs. However, they give us one person's reminiscences of a community that she knew intimately and her acute powers of observation have preserved this tiny piece of rural England for posterity.