Friday, April 10, 2009

Right chuffed with the BBC

I just had to share my latest discovery! The new mini-series (well, really not so new but new to me) put out by the BBC:  CRANFORD.


I'm appalled that this movie was put out in 2007 and I just found it now. Where have I been? I even trawl the BBC site on occasion looking for stuff. How did I miss this? I've even read the Elizabeth Gaskell book it's based on. Such a moving weave of stories that shows the strength of women with humor and clarity.

Cranford and Cousin Phillis by bookphe
In the end I finally found it on Netflix. Now I've had to send both discs back and am going to have to buy them for myself. I want to see it again and share it with my daughters and friends.

There is an all-star cast headed up by Dame Judi Dench. She is amazing in it! As well as Dame Eileen Atkins, Imelda Staunton, Lisa Dillon, Michael Gambon, Greg Wise, Julia Sawalha, Simon Woods, Joe McFadden, Philip Glenister, Kimberly Nixon. 

Actually the list goes on and on. Everyone does such an amazing job. One of the ones I was most impressed with, though, was one of the youngest in the cast, Alex Etel (of Millions and The Water Horse fame). Such an inspired and heartfelt performance from one so young! 

It is done in 5-1 hour episodes. There are changes from the original book. The writers actually wove 3 of Gaskell's novels together to provide enough material for the mini-series length. Cranford is a fairly short novel. They do it so well that, even though I've read the book, I'd have to go back and reread to see for sure what they added.

Kudos BBC! 

23 comments:

Unknown said...

Ah! I, too, watch the BBC, but have not heard of this!!! Thanks for the heads up!

Alyssa said...

Sounds good. I want to see it!

Traci said...

:-O I didn't know about that either!!!

lotusgirl said...

Beth, I'm a HUGE fan of the BBC. I'm glad I could fill you in.

A, Yep. You'll love it. Somehow, I just know. Hehe!

Litgirl, you'll have to check it out.

J.R. Johansson said...

That looks awesome and right down my alley! Have to send hubby to the other room to watch his BUILDING FAST CARS shows so I can get me some culture! ;)

Danyelle L. said...

Thanks for the info! I've been meaning to pick up some books by G, but keep forgetting. THe series looks beautiful. Is there any language in it? (Well, language I should be aware of. ;))

lotusgirl said...

Jenn, I know what you mean about the hubby. Mine was watching baseball for a large portion of my Cranford viewing. He hates these kind of movies. He calls them my geeky shows. I rejoice in my geeky shows.

Windsong, Gaskell is wonderful. I've read all but one of her books, and I have it on my TBR list. As far as the language, I can't really remember any. There might be a couple of random things, but nothing really bad. There were a couple of surgical things that could bother those with a low threshold for blood, and broken bones, etc. but it didn't bother me.

Danyelle L. said...

Thanks! *sigh* I love the costumes from your pictures. I'll have to check this out. Thanks again for the information. :)

lotusgirl said...

Windsong, My pleasure!

Unknown said...

I need to rent this too. Love the pictures. Thanks for the recommendation :-)

lotusgirl said...

Diva, You are so welcome!

Rebecca Ramsey said...

I will check this out. I'm a big Judi Dench fan!

Sherrie Petersen said...

I hadn't heard of this and I'm a BBC fan, too. I loved the Water Horse. Alex Etel is a great little actor. And Judi Dench, well, I'll watch anything she's in!

I like the new look for your blog!

Michelle D. Argyle said...

The cat and boot scene is THE BEST. I'm still giggling about that.

"LACE IS AT STAKE!!!!"

LOL! I still need to see the second half of this. Dang, I wish we lived closer!

Pen Pen said...

I LOVE BBC shows and movies ---and especially the ones written to show this "era". My fav movie like this is 'Pride and Prejudice'-the one with Keira Knightly---not a BBC make, but I feel like it would fit n there :)

lotusgirl said...

Becky, I love her too. She's a master!

Sherrie, Glad to fill you in.

Glam! I LOVE that scene! I laughed my head off! That and the cow in flannel! LOL! I wished we lived closer too!

Pen Pen, The BBC knows how to do quality! That is for sure!

Alix said...

I love BBC adaptations they just do them so well. Look out for Little Dorrit and if you like The No.1 Ladies detective agency books then they have made a fabulous job of them. The casting is perfect!!!!

Kasie West said...

Oooh, awesome. I haven't seen this and I'm always looking for good hidden gems. You do the searching and I'll reap the benefits. :) Can't wait to watch.

Stina said...

Sounds good. Unfortunately I don't have cable (no time to watch TV), so I won't get to see it. :(

I see you're also into photography. That seems to be true for many writers. And I also love Shannon Hale. Enna Burning is one of my fav books of hers.

See you again soon on MSFV. :)

lotusgirl said...

Alexa, Those sound great! I'll have to check them out!

Kasie, Glad to search for you and fill you in.

Stina, I watched it on DVD. So if you have a DVD player, it's worth the watch. I can understand though avoiding the TV. It can be a sink hole of time.

Unknown said...

This sounds like a great watch. Must look out for it.

Caryn Caldwell said...

This sounds fantastic - exactly the sort of thing I'd love watching! I'm off to Netflix it myself.

lotusgirl said...

Damyanti and Caryn, Happy watching!