“Cranford”

Where have I been? I wonder too. But among other things, I've been watching more of those awesome BBC period dramas. Including 2007's Cranford, a mashup adaptation of three of Elizabeth Gaskell's novels, penned by one Heidi Thomas. It was excellent watching, and beyond that, I am fast running out of things to say about BBC period dramas based on A-list 19th century British literature (and Gaskell, from what I've read of her, belongs on the same list as Charles Dickens, in a heartbeat). So let me run through the things I say every time that isn't Vanity Fair:

• The actors are uniformly excellent and a perfect mix of old and new fances — here we have Imelda Staunton and Michael Gambon in recurring roles, which incidentally fills our “every BBC period drama will have at least one (1) actor with a role in the Harry Potter films” quota, as well as Judi Dench, Jonathan Pryce, Jodie Whittaker, and, of all people, Tom Hiddleston (who's actually quite good); and we have some younger faces who nevertheless succeed at being excellent; and we have old reliables like Jim Carter, Francesca Annis and Julia McKenzie who aren't household names but frankly deserve to be. 

• The script is full of wit and true human sentiment and neither too slow nor too quick; it bears deep criticial analysis if you care for it (there's very interesting dilemmas there about the coming of modernity) but doesn't beat you over the head with a hammer of moral superiority. It succeeds beautifully in carrying over Gaskell's stunning handle on humanity.
• [Related: the adaptation is a very clever mix of three different Gaskell novels, and while this does at times jar just a little bit (the medical-drama bits are operating on an entirely different system of priorities from the properly Cranfordian bits; there's more than a bit of whiplash when the stakes of one subplot are life-and-death for a recurring child character who's caught the croup, and the other is whether Judi Dench will swallow her pride and deign set up a tea shop, you know?), you certainly wouldn't guess that those were originally unrelated stories without reading the Wikipedia page]

• It's beautifully shot. I lack the technical knowledge to go more into detail than that, but it is. The angles, the lighting especially, the choice of locations make it into a marvelous experience on a purely aesthetic level. 

• The music's quite good, with a theme song that's pleasantly quirky and unhummable. 

Look, there is nothing else to say. Go watch it. Also read the original Cranford if you like, it's a brilliant little book. 

Ye Inevitable Olde Post-Scriptum:

• The last episode of Return to Cranford (the two-part Christmas-special epilogue in 2009, which I watched alongside the main series and consider more or less of apiece with it) ends with a cameo-ish appearance by… well, I won't spoil it. But the identity of the man, and the circumstances of it, are absolutely the last thing you'd expect as the conclusion of an Elizabeth Gaskell-based BBC Christmas drama, let me tell you. I have no clue how they even got him. He's predictably excellent, mind you, if you can get over the shock of his sheer presence. 

• Bessie is one of my favorite recurring gags in a BBC period drama, ever. 

• Oh yeah, Jodie Whittaker's in this, I should probably say something. Well, she's very good at being cute, flustered and slightly out-of-her-depth. I see no evidence that she has in her that which critics keep finding missing in her Doctor, though, namely the slightest drop of toughness. Not that you'd expect it to come out in such a part, you understnad; Peggy Bell shouldn't be in any way, shape, or form, tough. It would go against the whole point of her. But while it confirms that Whittaker is a good actress, it does little convince me that she has very much in the way of range.