Cranford Christmas Review
Friday, January 22, 2010
, Posted by Should I See It at 2:52 AM
Show: Cranford Christmas (BBC)
Director: Simon Curtis
Starring: Judi Dench, Imelda Staunton, Julia McKenzie, Lisa Dillon, Jonathan Pryce.
Plot: We return to the town of Cranford in 1844, a year after the wedding of Dr Harrison and Sophy Hutton.
This time around we have two ninety minute episodes- but don’t let that fool you; the body count is still rather high.
Of course the Dramatis Personae was seriously depleted after all the people that died or were married off or moved away by the end of series one. So Cranford Christmas introduces a few new characters with new stories intermingled with the old favourites
Among the newbies are Mr Buxton (Jonathan Pryce) a wealthy owner of a local salt mine, his son William (Tom Hiddleston), who longs to be an engineer, despite his father’s wishes that he go into politics, and Mr Buxton’s wealthy ward Erminia Whyte (Michelle Dockery). Also debuting is local widow Mrs Bell (Lesley Sharpe), her good-for-not-very-much son Edward (Matthew McNulty) and daughter Peggy (Jodie Whittaker), who's trodden on daily by her mother and brother.
Lady Ludlow’s son Lord Septimus (Rory Kinner), makes is long awaited appearance, if only to stir up trouble for a few of Cranford’s residents. He seems to have inherited all of his mother’s snobbery, without any of her humility.
As too be expected, the railway features heavily in Cranford Christmas, tying all the plot points together. The railway plot is particularly well handled. One of the show’s finest moments is when Miss Matty realises that the railway MUST come to Cranford, or the town won’t survive. It is moments like these where we see the woman Miss Matty might have been had she not lived under Miss Deborah’s thumb for all those years between William Buxton and Peggy Bell fails slightly, mainly because Peggy is far too bland to be of any real interest.
There is something wonderful about the scene where the ladies (and a few others) ride in the train for the first time. For us to day, trains are such commonplace objects that you forget what that very first experience must have been like.
Cranford Christmas allows more development for characters who were relatively minor players first time around, particularly Jim Hearne and Mrs Jamieson. But the romance falls flat, mainly because Peggy is far too bland to be of any real interest.
Lady Ludlow’s son Lord Septimus (Rory Kinner), makes is long awaited appearance, if only to stir up trouble for a few of Cranford’s residents. He seems to have inherited all of his mother’s snobbery, without any of her humility.
As too be expected, the railway features heavily in Cranford Christmas, tying all the plot points together. The railway plot is particularly well handled. One of the show’s finest moments is when Miss Matty realises that the railway MUST come to Cranford, or the town won’t survive. It is moments like these where we see the woman Miss Matty might have been had she not lived under Miss Deborah’s thumb for all those years between William Buxton and Peggy Bell fails slightly, mainly because Peggy is far too bland to be of any real interest.
There is something wonderful about the scene where the ladies (and a few others) ride in the train for the first time. For us to day, trains are such commonplace objects that you forget what that very first experience must have been like.
Cranford Christmas allows more development for characters who were relatively minor players first time around, particularly Jim Hearne and Mrs Jamieson. But the romance falls flat, mainly because Peggy is far too bland to be of any real interest.
I must confess myself disappointed in the development of Miss Smith. Perhaps that’s because I always considered Miss Mary Smith to be the sort of unofficial narrator of the first series, a role which has passed onto Miss Matty, so it seemed strange to be arriving in Cranford without her. But the thing that annoyed me most of all was her determination to be a writer. Why must every ‘forward thinking,’ ‘independent’ woman in period dramas must always want to be a writer? I confess, I have not read the novellas on which the television series is based, so I don’t know whether this is true to the book, but on screen it just seems like a bit of a lazy use of a well worn cliché.
Performances are as strong as ever. Cranford’s ladies are, of course, superb. Judi Dench does excel herself. And i wuld like to take this opportunity to recognise Emma Fielding (Miss Galindo), who is always wonderful. Of the Newcomers, it is the males who stand out. Jonathan Pryce is as fabulous as always, Tom Hiddleston has an endearing youthful eagerness, and Matthew McNulty clearly relishes playing evil.
Performances are as strong as ever. Cranford’s ladies are, of course, superb. Judi Dench does excel herself. And i wuld like to take this opportunity to recognise Emma Fielding (Miss Galindo), who is always wonderful. Of the Newcomers, it is the males who stand out. Jonathan Pryce is as fabulous as always, Tom Hiddleston has an endearing youthful eagerness, and Matthew McNulty clearly relishes playing evil.
What Cranford Christmas really brings to the fore is that Cranford (the town) is not a place for married women. Newly married Sophy Hutton has left the town. Caroline Tompkinso, who was engaged to the town butcher at the end of series one, is in confinement and is absent for the entire series two. The story cannot even contain Martha, Miss Matty's maid, who married Jem Hearne also in the last series. The show clearly prescribes the power to the single ladies of Cranford. Even in terms of basic narrative power, if the married women aren't there, then the can't have a story. (for a more academic reading of the first series of Cranford, particularly in relation to he rol of women, see here.
Technically, theoretically, Cranford Christmas achieves what it’s predecessor did: a mixture of laughter and tragedy and social commentary. But there is something missing. It doesn’t have the same ease about it. It feels slightly forced and doesn’t flow as well as the original. It’s almost as if it is trying too hard to capture the magic of the first series, which is is impossible to do, since season one was so near perfection, there is no way you can top it.
Should I See It?
If you enjoyed the first series, than yes it is a lovely companion piece, but don’t hold your expectations too high.
