Major new drama for BBC One,The Cranford Chronicles, will star Judi Dench The Cranford Chronicles began filming a couple of weeks ago in the Wiltshire village of Lacock. Some of the best names in period drama are on board, and the five part series will be another undoubted triumph for the BBC. The list of luminaries starring in this massive production is too long to record in its entirety- let's just say that Judi Dench, Francesca Annis, Barbara Flynn and Philip Glenister are among the cast, and you get the idea of the stature of this production.
Jane Tranter, Controller, BBC Fiction is obviously thrilled: 'Cranford Chronicles is a beautifully big and ambitious period drama- just the way we like them ! ' Elizabeth Gaskell was a mid nineteenth novelist whose work includes Cranford, My Lady Ludlow and Mr Harrison's Confessions, and these three novels have supplied the stories behind this new series. Producer Sue Birtwistle, who was behind Pride and Prejudice, and another Gaskell adaptation, Wives and Daughters, conceived the idea for Cranford about five years ago.
All she had to do was persuade Dench to take the pivotal role of Miss Matty, and she had: 'a dream come true'. Set in 1842, The Cranford Chronicles, adapted by the wonderful Lilies writer Heidi Thomas, explores some of the great tragedies, minor mishaps and gentle comedic episodes that befall the inhabitants of a small Cheshire town. Cranford is a town on the verge of huge change.
The railway is progressing toward Manchester, heralding not only a new era of quick travel, but bringing with it fears of the breakdown of the social order. A new doctor, played by Simon Woods, arrives from London, and causes quite a bit of muttering in the town. Not only does he have some radical new methods, but he's setting a few ladies' hearts a flutter.
At the heart of the drama is Miss Matty Jenkins, played by the incomparable Dame Judi Dench, in a triumphant return to the BBC. Miss Jenkins is a woman who has grown old and embittered as her hopes and lively spirit were crushed as a girl, when she was forced to give up the love of her life, Mr Holbrook (Michael Gambon). She has lived her life perpetually in the shadow of her elder sister, Deborah (Eileen Atkins), whose example sets the tone of morality in the town.
Dench has expressed her excitement at the project, and has been quoted as saying it will be 'a summer of fun to look forward to.' Filming has been taking place in the lovely Wiltshire village of Lacock, which has become quite used to the presence of film crews in recent years. Pride and Prejudice was filmed here, and the abbey featured in the first Harry Potter movie.
Viewers can look forward to this BBC One/ WGBH co-production airing later this year.
News RSS