A/V Veteran

Cranford is an outstanding 2007 BBC series-length drama in multiple episodes spanning a total of 291 minutes (approximately 5 hours). It's U.S. broadcast at that time was on PBS' Masterpiece Theater. I first watched it years ago on Blu-ray. For this blog re-watched it again from beginning to end.

It's certainly no action adventure story. Don't expect to see a sequel, Aliens in Cranford at your local multiplex. But even if historical dramas aren't your thing it's nevertheless well worth a trial run. You can find the entire Chapter 1 of the seven chapters on YouTube. The picture quality there is a definite step or two below the quality on the Blu-rays, but it's watchable. Note that there are 2 very short breaks on the YouTube transfer that might lead you to think that it's only a teaser. But it continues with the entire chapter after two interruptions of a few seconds.

Don't be surprised if you're hooked and immediately buy the Blu-ray to experience the entire story in significantly higher video quality. If you watched and liked any part (or all) of Downtown Abbey, Cranford will be in your wheelhouse. Perhaps even more so, as Cranford takes place almost a century earlier than Downtown Abbey and before the industrial revolution changed everything. Railroads, for example, have a small but important role here, but are even more significant in Return to Cranford a shorter, 2009 sequel (more on that later).

Cranford is about the comings, goings, quirks, and firmly-held (and often obsessive) traditions in a small, 1840s English village. The characters include poor squatters living in the surrounding countryside, the residents of the town itself (the middle class of that era), and the nominal aristocrat of the region, Lady Ludlow, who lives on her large estate, mortgaged to the hilt to support her wastrel son living in Italy for his "health" (not shown here, but he's in the sequel).

Cranford is based on a book by English writer Elizabeth Gaskell who lived in the same era as the characters she depicts, making her writings contemporaneous with the fictional events in the story.

Cranford is clearly a town dominated by women, many of them of a certain age. The latter are clearly headed by two spinster sisters, Miss Deborah (Eleen Atkins) and her less rigid but still reserved sister, Miss Matty (Judi Dench). As the story opens, drop-in visits by friends and neighbors are welcomed by the sisters but such "visiting hours" are only between noon and 3PM. Only a stay of a quarter of an hour (neither more nor less) is considered proper. Candles are expensive, so only two (one at a time) are used by the sisters each evening. Mentioning one's, financial situation is considered rude, sucking on an orange is only done alone in the privacy of one's own room, and women never attend funerals (even for a close relative).

Some have called Cranford a feminist tale. What we know of the book's author appears to confirm that description. Or perhaps it's feminist for the 1840s, particularly since Britain crowned one of its rare queens in that decade. Yes, the women here are central to much of the story. But the arrival of a young, single doctor, straight out of his London training and full of new ideas, is the catalyst for many events in the plot. As he notes at one point how helpful the locals have been in a medical emergency compare to the more impersonal attitudes of Londoners, Miss Deborah comments "This is not London doctor, this is Cranford."

One of the delights of this series is its near endless string of some of the best British actors. Leading the group is Judi Dench, who as Miss Matty has the lead role. She's irresistible here. For those unfamiliar with her past work, Dench played "M" in many of the Bond films. And that was only a sliver of her past work.

Other familiar actors in the huge cast include Francesca Annis as Lady Ludlow (fans David Lynch's Dune will remember her as Lady Jessica in that 1984 film), Jim Carter as Captain Brown (Mr. Carson, the butler in Downton Abbe), Michael Gambon as Miss Matty's one-time (and nearly so again) suitor (Dumbledore in some of the Harry Potter films), and Imelda Staunton as Miss Poole, one of the Village ladies (she played Queen Elizabeth in later episodes of The Crown). The important role of Miss Deborah (Miss Matty's sister) is played by Eleen Atkins, well known in Britain but perhaps less so in the U.S.

The audio on the Cranford Blu-ray (DTS HD 5.1) is fine, but not particularly showy. The picture quality, however, is reference quality. It shifts easily from candlelit near-darkness to bright daylight scenes. Its color and detail are good enough to be one of the test discs I might choose for judging a television.

Return to Cranford, the 2009 sequel, covers similar ground with much of the same cast plus some interesting additions. These include Jonathan Pryce, Tom Hiddleston (known best to superhero fans as Loki, Thor's evil brother), Michelle Dockery (in a small role here but who later played Lady Mary in Downton Abbey), and Tim Curry in a brief turn as the magician Signor Brunoni.

The two chapters in Return to Cranford aren't as cohesive as those in the original. There's more than a little confusion for the viewer as the plot moves unevenly between upbeat and near-tragic. The same transitions are frequent in the original, but its longer running time gives them more room to breathe. Here it's almost as if cuts were made to shorten the runtime.

But there is a bit more action here than in the original, with two scenes involving the new railroad. There's an amusing scene in which the ladies of Cranford, previously adamant in their opposition to the railroad going anywhere near their town, are cajoled into taking a short train ride to convince them that it's not the end of the world. One of the ladies has been told that the 30 MPH speed could damage the optic nerve! But she goes anyway and of course comes away unscathed.

The audio here is similar to that in the original, given a little more excitement by those train scenes (the old steam engine puts out a genuine racket). The video quality is fine; the original is superior and more consistent, but the average viewer is unlikely to notice anything amiss.

If you enjoy Cranford you might find the sequel to be a bit less involving, but there are pleasures to be found in the latter as well.