Scandalous!
(Nothing to do with being in the US)
I'm going to miss (but My Beloved will record, on pain of death) what remains of Cranford, BBC1's current period piece (described in Monday's Media Guardian as "a slender period story supported by a stellar cast, enormous bonnets and dirty lace"), but I can't let pass the opportunity to tell anyone who can possibly see what there is left of it to do so.
It's utterly magnificent. The plot, such that it is, revolves around social gaffes, multiple scandals (real and imagined) and the interweaving of the lives of various inhabitants of the town of Cranford, who are collectively faced with the shock of the future, as the railway is coming to town. The cast really is incredible, and brings the already impressive dialogue to life with wit, warmth and humanity. It's harsh to pick one person out, but Imelda Staunton's nosy, judgemental, perpetually scandalised Miss Pole lights up every scene she's in.
There's really nothing to it, but it's got more entertainment value than practically anything else I've seen on TV this year. It's bound to be out on DVD, so look out for it if you can't get caught up on it on TV.
November 29th, 2007 - 02:02
Thank heaven’s I’m not the only one enjoying it! Period dramas can bit a bit hit-or-miss for me, but Cranford is a real gem! Perhaps is because it’s from a slightly different time than many stories we’re familiar with and one of those ‘scandals’ involved chair legs being exposed, but it’s really quite refreshing and lovely. I can almost imagine Guisborough resisting the inevitable march of ‘the railway’ in pretty much the same way!