February 16, 2010 @ 8:55 pm | Filed under: Television
Are any of you watching Lark Rise to Candleford? It’s a BBC period drama that airs here on our PBS station. We’re about halfway through Season 2; I believe the third season started last month in the UK. It’s set in a somewhat vague 1880s-ish time frame, the story of a small farming hamlet (Lark Rise) and the neighboring market town (Candleford). Season One begins with 16-year-old Laura leaving Lark Rise—somewhat reluctantly—to take a job in the Candleford post office, which is owned and run by Laura’s mother’s cousin, the amiable and efficient Dorcas Lane.
I think it was the glimpse of Dorcas on PBS one night that made us add Season 1 to our Netflix queue; she is played—wonderfully, I have to say, with great nuance—by Julia Sawalha, whom you may remember as the maddeningly flighty Lydia Bennet in the BBC’s Pride and Prejudice. We watched the first season on DVD and then tuned into Season 2 already in progress; I think we came in around episode 5. Annoying, our DVR fizzled out during the recording of episode 7, so we didn’t get to see how things played out with Fisher Bloom—not to mention Laura’s father’s stolen tools, a plot development which made me feel sick to my stomach. Robert Timmins is a stonemason. His tools are his livelihood. I think he’s my favorite character—except maybe for Minnie, Dorcas’s young, semi-competent, chatterbox maid—so I really hate to see him suffer a blow like that. He’s an artist, Robert is.
I never see anyone talking about this show online, and every week I’m all sputtery over various developments and yearning to gab. Are none of you watching?
Queenie! I forgot. Queenie is my favorite character. Absolutely. And not just because she’s a beekeeper, though that of course is part of it. But also for her warmth and twinkle, her generosity of spirit, her calm good sense. The way she talks to her bees reminds me so much of Linnets and Valerians.
It was awful to see her so distraught last night over the disappearance of her bees, and (now we enter spoiler territory, so be warned) the memory of her saintly grandmother’s dark secret. I thought the bit about the Lark Rise children destroying the Fordlow gardens was a bit of a stretch—even with Twister riling them up, I can’t imagine those kids laying waste to food like that. Not when we’ve seen how lean the pickings can be in Lark Rise at times.
I have no patience for Mr. Dowland’s self-indulgent moping. Enough already. I did love his reaction when Minnie dropped in with the flimsy, ad-libbed story that Dorcas wanted to borrow, um, a cigar case. For her cigars! That glimmer of amusement in his face was the first really likable thing about him.
I miss Caroline Arliss. What happened to her and the rest of Alf’s family? That must be part of what we missed in the beginning of this season.
Honestly, I could watch this show for the scenery alone. Those lush grain fields, the green hills. Oh my heart.
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Oo-ooo – Me!
Actually, I’m waiting for Season 2 to arrive via DVD (was just released today!) so I can watch it all over three nights (staying up much much too late but loving every minute of it).
I loved Season 1… and I skimmed the details above in case there was a spoiler or two in there. Season 2 – oh, I’m so excited.
I’m even tempted to read the book…
I’ve been recommending the series to anyone I know who has enjoyed the BBC Elizabeth Gaskell (Cranford; Wives & Daughters) or Jane Austen adaptations.
I, too, hope that Caroline Arliss will show up in Season 2. I love Dawn French (Vicar of Dibley) — so vibrant. Great comedienne.
Posted on February 16th, 2010 at 11:59 pmI bought the first season on DVD from Amazon UK. We enjoy it but I have to say I’m glad Caroline Arliss is gone in later seasons (which I haven’t seen yet). That woman gets my goat.
Posted on February 17th, 2010 at 6:27 amWe finished Season 2 via YouTube last month. I enjoyed the series and am looking forward to Season 3, though there were a few things that bug me about the show; the occult practices (seance, tea leaves, etc.) I could do without, for example. The episodic feel of that first season grated on me a tad, but that might be due to my not watching much television–I’m used to films and miniseries. That said, the scenery is gorgeous, the characters are well-acted…they have a lovely ensemble cast, I think.
I love the BBC interconnectedness of it all, as usual: Lydia (Dorcas) and Colonel Forster’s young wife (Ruby) of P&P back together, many years later; Martha (Emma) and Miss Brown (Dorcas, again) of Cranford, this time as cousins. Always fun.
By the way–if I remember right, Caroline Arliss’ husband had a job opportunity in another town that would keep him home with his family instead of at sea–the pair of them left to establish themselves in a new home before collecting the children. I have to admit that she is not a favorite of mine, though the writers certainly made her more likeable at the end of the season that she was at the beginning.
Posted on February 17th, 2010 at 8:16 amI love the series!! I don’t live very far from where it’s filmed–so an added bonus! I always liked the British period dramas–so that’s one of the added bonuses of living here now. And yes–much of the country side still looks that lovely!
Did you see Cranford, starring Judi Dench? That is actually filmed in a village where people still live in all the houses-very fun place to visit. (Also within 30 miles of home!)
Posted on February 17th, 2010 at 8:55 amI’d never heard of this! Just added it to my Netflix queue.
Posted on February 17th, 2010 at 12:10 pmI think I’ll add this to my Netflix queue. Right now we’re so glued to the Olympics in the evening that I’ve actually stopped obsessing about Lost!
Those Brits sure know how to do period dramas, though.
Posted on February 17th, 2010 at 12:13 pmAre you watching this with the girls? My 8 year old liked the Masterpiece Emma so much she’s having her Dad read it to her (4 pages at a time!). Would Candleford be appropriate?
Posted on February 17th, 2010 at 12:30 pmNo television, but I just added this to Netflix! We just finished Emma and Cranford, and I’m looking forward to another! Thanks so much!
Posted on February 17th, 2010 at 12:42 pmI’ll have to rent this DVD. Sounds good. And I’m tickled about the character called Queenie. Same name as my grandma!
Posted on February 17th, 2010 at 1:29 pmHalf way through Series 3 over here
. And I loved the books long before the TV series was thought of. It is so very much my grandparents’and great-grandparents’ world, though thoroughly sugar-coated for TV, and getting further and further from the orignal books the longer it runs. We live about 25 miles from the real Lark Rise, a small hamlet called Juniper Hill on the Northamptonshire / Buckinghamshire border. My mother lived for over twenty years in Buckingham, which is the original Candleford. I believe there is a Flora Thompson exhibit in the museum there (which, incidentally, has to be one of the best looking former prisons around: http://englishbuildings.blogspot.com/2008/05/old-gaol-buckingham.html).
To whet your appetite a little … Minnie’s character and role is being developed in the 3rd series; Laura has a new love interest; and there is quite a storyline for Pearl and Ruby. No return for Caroline Arliss though, at least so far.
Posted on February 18th, 2010 at 7:28 amOops. Bother. You need to take the bracket off the end of that link.
Posted on February 18th, 2010 at 7:30 amLucky lady! This isn’t on our local PBS station. I do have it on order from interlibrary loan. Looking forward to it!
Posted on February 18th, 2010 at 8:28 amNormally I eat anything like this up and watch and re-watch. Could. Not. Get. Into. This. Series……I tried. and Tried. Now we have no tv so I’m out of luck. Maybe I’ll get it a shot on dvd!
Posted on February 18th, 2010 at 4:51 pmOh Melissa! I watched the first series on dvd just a few weeks ago. It was my escape when things were hard and I would watch upstairs in bed on my laptop and get totally absorbed. It almost lost me at one point, a few episodes in, when the character of Pearl and Ruby’s father appeared. I feared this was going to be like a Dickens story where the odd characters overwhelm the relationships and subtler story elements….but then it tipped past that into goodness and I immersed myself in its golden, vintage beauty.
I am just waiting for the second season to arrive in my mailbox via Netflix. I will be sure to post about sometime on my blog, for as you said, I haven’t heard much online discussion of it and it is so lovely in so many ways.
Posted on February 20th, 2010 at 9:43 amI love this show and watch it nearly every week – but bizarrely enough, I had NOT realized that Dorcas is played by Julia Sawalha! And yet now that you point it out, it’s OBVIOUS. How did I miss that?
Posted on February 21st, 2010 at 5:02 amKathryn, how utterly cool that you live near the real Lark Rise. As if living in the Borrowers’ village weren’t cool enough!
Caroline Arliss drove me crazy during the first few episodes, but then I realized I was really relishing the scenes she appeared in, even though her antics made me want to shake her.
I’m sorry to hear she has not reappeared in Season 3 (yet?). Though it seems completely consistent with her character to ditch the children and go off with hubby to a new town. Oh, Caroline.
On the Season 1 DVD extras, the actress who plays Caroline (Dawn French) mentioned that the main reason she took the job was to work with the actress playing Queenie.
Lisa, does this mean we’ve found something we *don’t* agree on? LOL, a first! Our tastes always seem to align.
I will say, though, it took a couple of episodes to grow on me—that is, I was interested in the storylines but not really attached to the characters until a few eps in. I really enjoy the dynamic between Robert and Emma Timmins.
Posted on February 21st, 2010 at 11:56 amLissa, we are also within half an hour of the locations of Mistress Masham’s Repose (Stowe Gardens), Rumer Godden’s Story of Holly and Ivy, and Roald Dahl’s Matilda (both Aylesbury). There may be more, but those are the ones I can think of
. Push it up to an hour and you get Oxford and London, so zillions of book locations.
I forgot I put Lark Rise into the literary tour I did on my blog years ago. Here is the post: http://ukbookworm.blogspot.com/2006/04/literary-tour-day-16.html
Posted on February 22nd, 2010 at 4:12 amI recently watched the first series, late at night, in bed, with my laptop. I loved it but not at first. I found it a little hard to get into. Probably because I love the books so much and the series has characters of the same name but there the similarity ends. Once I was able to separate books and tv show in my mind, I really enjoyed watching the series.
I also love Julia Sawalha’s performance. I have seen her in many things over the years and even remember her when she was a teenager (and I was a teenager!) in a high school comedy/drama about running a school newspaper (Was it called Press Gang?) She’s a wonderful performer.
I skim read your post in case I read things I shouldn’t concerning series 2. I am saving up to buy it….$60. It hasn’t aired here in Australia.
Posted on February 23rd, 2010 at 6:51 pmI live in Washington, DC and my husband and I are hooked on Larkrise to Candelford. We have already gone through seasons 1 and 2 and cannot wait for season 3 to come out on DVD.
Minnie is my favorite character. Love her to pieces! Queenie is my next favorite.
Posted on March 10th, 2010 at 12:33 pmSnippets — Here in the Bonny Glen says:
[...] Lark Rise to Candleford update: We’re a little behind. I didn’t much care for the Harvest Festival episode, the [...]
Posted on March 13th, 2010 at 2:30 pmWhat happened to Alf’s girlfriend from last season, Nan??
Posted on May 3rd, 2010 at 9:34 amI was wondering that myself. She seems to have been written out between seasons two and three. Which is strange, considering how the season two finale devoted so much time to her—wasn’t that the episode that culminated in Emma’s speech about Nan not believing she deserved a good guy like Alf?
Posted on May 3rd, 2010 at 7:34 pmLark Rise to Candleford: What happened to Nan? — Here in the Bonny Glen says:
[...] left on comment on my Lark Rise post: did anyone know, she wondered, what happened to Alf’s girlfriend [...]
Posted on May 6th, 2010 at 6:14 am“Larkrise to Candleford”. I LOVE this TV series. I happened on it one Sat. nite waiting for “As Time Goes By”and “Doc Martin” to come on and “I was hooked”. All the players are so rich in character. And Minnie! Oh my. She grew on me quickly.If ever I travel “across the pond” from Texas, I want to make the pilgrimage to the area of filming.
Posted on May 18th, 2010 at 7:11 pmI’ve also greatly enjoyed Lark Rise, and am anxiously awaiting season 3 dvd to be available to us in the States. I think there are a number of angles that need to be wrapped up so I sure hope season 4 does occur. I contacted Bill Gallagher (the main writer) via email in March to say how much I have loved the show, writing, characters, acting, etc. and he responded: “We are currently beginning work on Series IV and we will be filming in second half of this year.” I was glad to hear it & hope we get 12 eps (not just 6)! I read a comment by a fan on the BBC site for the show that Julia has commented on another fan board-curious to know which ones as I’d be interested in reading her viewpoints.
Posted on June 5th, 2010 at 2:54 pmMy family and I very much enjoy the show. We can’t wait from episode to episode. We do wonder what happened to Alf’s girl, Nan. But we enjoy it so much that I’m looking into reading the book. Never heard of it til the show. I’ve enjoyed everyone’s thoughts. We have to many favorite characters to list. Emma and Robert remind me of my husband and myself. Glad to here they plan to continue the show. Great for children to watch.
Posted on June 7th, 2010 at 6:39 amWow!!! Was I lucky to find this while googling to see what I can find out about Season 3. We are just into it on Saturday nights on PBS here in Buffalo, NY. something seems to be missing for me with Season 3… there seems to be quite an emphasis on having a musical number in each episode. Dorcas seems to be less important. I miss the Squire and that tension between them. I think Sidney was probably o.k. to add to the series, but probably not so necessary. Altho I don’t like Season 3 so much so far, I don’t think it has jumped the shark yet. What happened to NAN? What a mistake to drop her. and, hopefully. Mr. Dowland will come back (after all he is Sidney’s dad). Greeting to all the Lark Rise fans. Count me in!!!
Posted on July 21st, 2010 at 11:46 am