Enchanted Serenity of Period Films: based on book

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War Horse (2011) - first look

War Horse is set for release Dec 28, 2011 with anticipation for Oscar season...

Dreamworks synopsis:

From director Steven Spielberg comes “War Horse,” an epic adventure for audiences of all ages. Set against a sweeping canvas of rural England and Europe during the First World War, “War Horse” begins with the remarkable friendship between a horse named Joey and a young man called Albert, who tames and trains him. When they are forcefully parted, the film follows the extraordinary journey of the horse as he moves through the war, changing and inspiring the lives of all those he meets—British cavalry, German soldiers, and a French farmer and his granddaughter—before the story reaches its emotional climax in the heart of No Man’s Land. The First World War is experienced through the journey of this horse—an odyssey of joy and sorrow, passionate friendship and high adventure. “War Horse” is one of the great stories of friendship and war—a successful book, it was turned into a hugely successful international theatrical hit that is arriving on Broadway next year. It now comes to screen in an epic adaptation by one of the great directors in film history.

Based on book written by Michael Morpurgo

Benedict Cumberbatch. Patrick Kennedy, Tom Hiddleston

Jeremy Irvine, Emily Watson

Source: Cinema Blend, Wikipedia, The Film Stage

More on War Horse

The Shunning (2011)

April 16, 2011 on The Hallmark Channel

Based on the best-selling book by Beverly Lewis. (First novel in The Heritage of Lancaster County series: The Shunning, The Confession & The Reckoning)

Directed by Michael Landon, Jr. (Love Comes Softly series)

About the film: A young Amish girl (Danielle Panabaker) struggles with her identity as she prepares for an arranged marriage with the town's bishop. Then, she is stunned to find out she was adopted and her birth mother wants to be reunited with her. As she wonders what could have been and starts separating herself from her community's strict religious customs, the town turns their backs on her just when she needs them the most.

The film was shot on locations in Pennsylvania and North Carolina, and after airing on Hallmark, will be distributed on DVD by Sony Home Entertainment through Affirm Films.

Danielle Panabaker ... Katie Lapp
Sandra Van Natta ... Rebecca Lapp
Bill Oberst ... Samuel Lapp
Sherry Stringfield ... Laura Mayfield-Bennett
Burgess Jenkins ... Bishop John Beiler
Nancy Saunders ... Ella Mae Zook
Jason Loughlin ... Benjamin Lapp

Hallmark: Interview with Beverly Lewis
Hallmark: Interview with Michael Landon Jr.

Photos: Hallmark

We Bought a Zoo (2011)

WE BOUGHT A ZOO is an upcoming comedy-drama (based on real events) directed by Cameron Crowe starring Matt Damon and Thomas Haden Church as brothers Benjamin & Duncan Mee. Ben's wife Katherine will be portrayed by Stephanie Szostak, with Maggie Elizabeth Jones and Colin Ford as their children. Cast also includes Scarlett Johansson, Elle Fanning, Patrick Fugit, and Angus Macfadyen. (I'm assuming that Johansson and Fanning are fictional characters introduced into the plot but hope they don't stray too far from the book.)

Not a period drama but I loved the book!

Matt Damon, Stephanie Szostak, Colin Ford, Maggie Elizabeth Jones

The film is based on a memoir by Benjamin Mee about how the author and his family used their life savings to buy a dilapidated zoo (Dartmoor Zoological Park) in 2006, replete with 200 exotic animals facing destruction, in the English countryside. (The film is set in southern California instead.)

Recreating the zoo:
"On a 450-acre ranch in Thousand Oaks, location manager Chris Baugh is overseeing the creation of that same film's zoo — made from scratch just for the movie. There are horses pastured nearby, and while everything seems bucolic and calm at the moment, that could change: Tigers will eventually populate the zoo set. "Wait till we bring in the big cats," Baugh says." [Feb 25, 2011 NPR]

It is set for release on December 23, 2011.

Dartmoor Zoological Park
IMDb

Interview with author Benjamin Mee

Hugo (2011)

Hugo (originally titled Hugo Cabret) is an upcoming adventure film based on Brian Selznick's bestseller 'The Invention of Hugo Cabret' set in 1930's Paris. It is directed by Martin Scorsese, co-produced by Scorsese, Johnny Depp, and Graham King, and written by John Logan. This is Scorsese’s first film shot in 3D and it is due to be released on November 23, 2011, with distribution by Paramount Pictures. It stars Asa Butterfield (The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas, Nanny McPhee) as Hugo. (Wikipedia)

Watch trailer

From official site:
"ORPHAN, CLOCK KEEPER, AND THIEF, twelve-year-old Hugo (Asa Butterfield) lives in the walls of a busy Paris train station, where his survival depends on secrets and anonymity. But when his world suddenly interlocks with an eccentric girl (Chloe Moretz) and the owner (Ben Kingsley) of a small toy booth in the train station, Hugo’s undercover life, and his most precious secret, are put in jeopardy. A cryptic drawing, a treasured notebook, a stolen key, a mechanical man, and a hidden message all come together...in The Invention of Hugo Cabret."

Asa Butterfield, Chloe Moretz, Ben Kinglsey, Sasha Baron Cohen

"The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick is told in both words and pictures. The Invention of Hugo Cabret is not exactly a novel, and it’s not quite a picture book, and it’s not really a graphic novel, or a flip book, or a movie, but a combination of all these things. Each picture (there are nearly three hundred pages of pictures!) takes up an entire double page spread, and the story moves forward because you turn the pages to see the next moment unfold in front of you."

Book illustrations by Brian Selznick

Cast:
Chloe Moretz .... Isabella

Jude Law .... Hugo's father
Richard Griffiths .... Monsieur Frick
Ben Kingsley .... Papa Georges
Sacha Baron Cohen .... Station Inspector
Christopher Lee .... Monsieur Labisse
Emily Mortimer .... Lisette
Asa Butterfield .... Hugo
Michael Stuhlbarg .... Rene Tabard
Helen McCrory .... Mama Jeanne
Frances de la Tour .... Emilie
Angus Barnett .... Theater Manager
Edmund Kingsley (real-life son of Ben) .... Technician
Catherine Balavage .... Parisian Cafe Woman
Ray Winstone

Interview with author Brian Selznick
Scorcese's website
IMDb

The Serpent and the Moon - miniseries?

Princess Michael of Kent has asked Sir Julian Fellowes to adapt her novel The Serpent and the Moon, set during the French Renaissance, into an 8-part miniseries.

She's quoted in The Telegraph: "It has been picked up by a producer and been optioned to be an eight–part series. I have written an outline and I am hoping Julian will write it. His wife has been my chief lady-in-waiting for 25 years, so no pressure...The agents are talking. If Julian can, I know he will."

Book synopsis from Amazon.uk:
"Set against the stunning backdrop of Renaissance France, The Serpent and the Moon is a true story of love, war, intrigue, betrayal, and persecution. At its heart is one of the world's greatest love stories: the lifelong devotion of King Henri II of France to Diane de Poitiers, a beautiful aristocrat who was nineteen years older than her lover. At age fourteen, Henri was married to fourteen-year-old Catherine de' Medici, an unattractive but extremely wealthy heiress who was to bring half of Italy to France as her dowry. When Catherine met Henri on her wedding day, she fell instantly in love, but Henri could see no one but the beautiful Diane. When Henri eventually became king, he and Diane ruled France as one. Meanwhile, Catherine took as her secret motto the words "Hate and Wait" and lived for the day Diane would die and she could win Henri's love and rule by his side. Fate had another plan. Her Royal Highness Princess Michael of Kent, herself a descendant of both Catherine and Diane, imbues this seldom-told story with an insider's grasp of royal life. The Serpent and the Moon is a fascinating love story as well as a richly woven history of an extraordinary time."

About the Author (from Amazon.uk):
Her Royal Highness, Princess Michael of Kent (born Marie Christine Agnes Hedwig Ida von Reibnitz) studied history and art history, served on the Board of the Victoria and Albert Museum, and for the past twelve years has pursued a successful lecture career, speaking on various historical subjects at museums and universities throughout the Europe, U.S. and Latin America. She lives with her husband Prince Michael of Kent in their apartment in Kensington Palace and their house in Gloucestershire.

What I'd like to know is what about the Titanic miniseries and Season 3 of Downton Abbey? As well as Fellowes' other projects mentioned previously - Emma and Nelson, Greek Fire and The Vanderbilts? I would think he's already busy enough!

> read more about Julian Fellowes

The Help (2011) - promo photos, interview with author Kathryn Stockett

Synopsis from Dreamworks:
Set in Mississippi during the 1960s, “The Help” stars Emma Stone as Skeeter, a southern society girl who returns from college determined to become a writer, but turns her friends’ lives—and a small Mississippi town—upside down when she decides to interview the black women who have spent their lives taking care of prominent southern families. Academy Award nominee Viola Davis (“Eat Pray Love”) stars as Aibileen, Skeeter’s best friend’s housekeeper, who is the first to open up—to the dismay of her friends in the tight-knit black community. Despite Skeeter’s life-long friendships hanging in the balance, she and Aibileen continue their collaboration and soon more women come forward to tell their stories—and as it turns out, they have a lot to say. Along the way, unlikely friendships are forged and a new sisterhood emerges, but not before everyone in town has a thing or two to say themselves when they become unwittingly—and unwillingly—caught up in the changing times.

Based on best-selling novel The Help by Kathryn Stockett

Release date: August 12, 2011

Cast:
Emma Stone -Skeeter, Viola Davis -Aibileen, Octavia Spencer -Minnie, Bryce Dallas Howard -Hilly, Ahna O'Reilley -Elizabeth Leefolt, Jessica Chastain -Celia Foote, Allison Janney -Charlotte Phelan, Sissy Spacek -Missus Walters, Chris Lowell -Stuart Whitworth, Mike Vogel -Johnny Foote, Cicely Tyson -Costantine, Aunjanue Ellis -Yule May, Roslyn Ruff -Pascagoula

Alison Janney and Emma Stone

Octavia Spencer and Viola Davis

Cicely Tyson and Lila Rogers

Sissy Spacek

Ahna O'Reilley, Emma Stone, Bryce Dallas Howard, Anna Camp

Author Kathryn Stockett has a cameo appearance

Excerpt from Katie Couric interview...

Full Katie Couric interview

> More information on THE HELP

Photos: Dreamworks

Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy (2011)

Many familiar faces from period drama can be found in this remake of John Le Carré's 1974 British spy novel with Gary Oldman taking on role of George Smiley (previously played by Alec Guiness).

Synopsis:
Set in the 1970s, Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy finds George Smiley, a recently retired MI6 agent, doing his best to adjust to a life outside the secret service. However, when a disgraced agent reappears with information concerning a mole at the heart of the Circus, Smiley is drawn back into the murky field of espionage.

Tasked with investigating which of his trusted former colleagues has chosen to betray him and their country, Smiley narrows his search to four suspects—all experienced, urbane, successful agents—but past histories, rivalries and friendships make it far from easy to pinpoint the man who is eating away at the heart of the British establishment.

Colin Firth - Bill Haydon (Tailor)
Benedict Cumberbatch - Peter Guillam
Mark Strong - Jim Prideaux
Tom Hardy - Ricki Tarr
Ciarán Hinds - Roy Bland (Soldier)
Toby Jones - Percy Alleline (Tinker)

Note: Michael Fassbender, Ralph Fiennes and Jared Harris

were previously mentioned as part of cast but are not in film.

WATCH TRAILER
Video: Profile of Gary Oldman
View movie clip
John Le Carré speaks about remake

IMDb - release date listed Sept 16, 2011 (UK)

Treasure Island (2012) - cast update

Rupert Penry-Jones, Donald Sutherland, Shirley Henderson and Elijah Wood are just some of the familiar faces added to cast of Syfy's upcoming Treasure Island which already listed Eddie Izzard as Long John Silver and Phil Glenister as Smollet.

Phil Glenister, Rupert Penry-Jones, Donald Sutherland, Shirley Henderson, Elijah Wood Keith Allen, David Harewood, Toby Regbo, Nina Sosanya, Daniel Mays

"Treasure Island," the special two-part movie event from RHI Entertainment, will premiere on Syfy, the home of imagination-based entertainment, in early 2012. The production stars Eddie Izzard ("The Riches," "Oceans 12," "Oceans 13") as Long John Silver. Elijah Wood ("The Lord of the Rings," "Everything Is Illuminated"), who has just been cast to reprise his role as Frodo in Peter Jackson's "The Hobbit," stars as Ben Gunn. Donald Sutherland ("Pride & Prejudice," "Ordinary People," "M*A*S*H") will also star as Flint. This new adaptation of the Robert Louis Stevenson classic is currently shooting in Puerto Rico and Ireland.

Toby Regbo, who is set to appear in the final "Harry Potter" film as Young Dumbledore, takes on the role of the gutsy, eager and courageous young Jim Hawkins. Jim is unexpectedly drawn into the world of piracy when he discovers a treasure map and finds himself battling with Silver for the treasure and his life. Shirley Henderson ("Harry Potter," "Bridget Jones") plays his mother and Nina Sosanya ("Love Actually") is Silver's wife.

"'Treasure Island' is one of the greatest tales in all of literature," said RHI Entertainment's Robert Halmi Sr. "We have retained the adrenaline-charged atmosphere and action from the original work, while adding an edgier, darker tone that will resonate with contemporary audiences. It is a thrilling experience to be able to take this story and re-interpret it for today's viewers."

Phillip Glenister ("Ashes to Ashes," "Mad Dogs") plays Captain Smollet. Rupert Penry-Jones ("Spooks," "Whitechapel") takes on the role of Squire Trelawney and Daniel Mays ("Made in Dagenham," "Plus One," "Red Riding") is Dr Livesey who all lead the voyage with Jim aboard The Hispaniola. David Harewood ("Strike Back," "Mrs. Mandela," "Blood Diamond") and Keith Allen ("Robin Hood," "Bodies") are the pirates, Bones and Pew, who lead Jim into the murky world of piracy.

Produced by Laurie Borg ("Made in Dagenham," "Sense and Sensibility," "Little Voice") and it is written by Stewart Harcourt ("Hearts & Bones," "Poirot," "Marple"). "Treasure Island" is directed by Steve Barron ("Merlin," "Arabian Nights").

Update quoted from Seat42f

More information on Treasure Island

Neverland (2011) - trailer & preview videos

Here are the trailer, two preview videos and new images from Neverland,

a prequel to Peter Pan co-produced by Syfy and Sky Movies.
Directed by Nick Willig (Alice, Tin Man)

Premiere: 2 - 90 minute episodes on Sky Movies UK (July 8 & 15 2011)

Rhys Ifans as James Hook, Anna Friel as Captain Elizabeth Bonny

Bob Hoskins as Smee

Charlie Rowe as Peter Pan.

I'm also thrilled to find out that Charles Dance is on board!

Description of part 1:
In this first instalment of the classic story, orphaned Peter Pan (Charlie Rowe) runs a gang of London pickpockets who are rounded up by the scheming Jimmy Hook (Rhys Ifans) and given the job of stealing a magical treasure that can transport them to another world - Neverland. There they come across a band of 18th century pirates led by the power-mad Elizabeth Bonny (Anna Friel) and the Native American Kaw tribe led by a Holy Man (Raoul Trujillo).

Teaser Trailer

Behind the scenes and preview videos...

More information on Neverland

South Riding - Interviews with Anna Maxwell Martin & David Morrissey

New interviews for upcoming South Riding,

Novel by Winifred Holtby, screenplay by Andrew Davies
BBCOne - week of February 19-25th?
PBS May 1,8 and 15, 2011

Anna Maxwell Martin plays Sarah Burton, a modern career woman who returns home to take up the headmistress-ship of a struggling Yorkshire high school for girls.

Full of ambition, passion and fire to take her life into her own hands, Sarah falls for the man least likely to have won her heart, in Andrew Davies's new three-part drama serial South Riding for BBC One.

"Sarah Burton is a teacher who was born and brought up in South Riding, which is technically East Yorkshire," says Anna Maxwell Martin. "She left to go to work in London and she returns to be a Headmistress of a local girls' school.

"She is a very opinionated woman. I suppose she is verging on being a feminist, quite left-wing and very progressive and she has big plans for the girls of the South Riding.

"When Sarah returns to the South Riding and is offered the post of Headmistress, she sort of goes in guns blazing, a bit too much perhaps, and rubs a lot of people up the wrong way in an attempt to encourage young girls to think for themselves, and to hope for more than just being a wife and mother and make their own choices about life!"

Sarah's costume, hair and make-up also make an audacious statement which flies in the face of the more traditional attire worn by the local women.

"Sarah's got bright red hair; wears a red dress and little waistcoats," continues Anna. "She's supposed to be this kind of bold presence amongst these people who are quite conservative and set in their ways. I think that translates in terms of the costumes which are quite bright and out there."

The two-time BAFTA award-winning actress, who won critical acclaim for her performances in the theatre production His Dark Materials and television dramas Bleak House and Poppy Shakespeare, reveals why playing a teacher was a scary experience.

"It was terrifying," laughs Anna. "I had to do lots of scenes with young girls playing my pupils and it's quite frightening trying to be inspirational – but they were all very sweet thankfully. I would never dare be a teacher, I would be far too scared."

The Beverley-born star of BBC dramas Freefall, White Girl and On Expenses also had the opportunity to return home to Yorkshire like her character Sarah Burton, when filming relocated to the sea front in Bridlington, just a few miles away from where she grew up.

"I used to come here as child with my family," recalls Anna affectionately.

The LAMDA-trained actress who studied history at Liverpool University explains why her relationship with Robert Carne (played by David Morrissey) is hostile when they first meet – although that soon changes – and is further complicated by Joe Astell (Douglas Henshall), a rival for Sarah's affections.

"Sarah's relationship with Robert Carne is quite tricky on every level," continues Anna. "He served in the First World War and she's smashing all over that in her quest to encourage young girls to think for themselves.

"Naturally they have an attraction to one another, she's very open sexually to him and it doesn't necessarily end happily ever after. With Douglas Henshall, who plays Joe Astell, they are great comrades and are much more politically like-minded, he is the person she should go for, but as is the way, women never go for men that they are supposed to! So that's sort of fraught as well."

South Riding is Anna's second collaboration with prolific writer Andrew Davies, following her critically acclaimed role as Esther in BBC drama Bleak House in 2005.

"Working with Andrew again was very interesting because obviously I last worked with him on Bleak House which was quite a few years ago. I felt like a baby when I did Bleak House. I suppose I feel like a different person and a bit more mature and more experienced now."

David Morrissey plays landowner Robert Carne, a man on the brink of financial disaster and with love far from his mind when Sarah Burton returns to Yorkshire in Andrew Davies' new three-part drama serial South Riding for BBC One.

"Robert Carne is a gentleman farmer; a middle-class landowner who is not averse to rolling up his sleeves and mucking in," says David Morrissey.

"Carne is under pressure; his world is slipping away from him because he is in great financial difficulty trying to bring up his daughter in a manner she is accustomed to.

"He married above his station, to Muriel, Lord Sedgmire's daughter. But he never felt comfortable in her world. Nevertheless, now he finds himself as a single parent he is trying to cling on to a sort of affectation of a life that he once had, but it's crumbling away in front of him."

The 46-year-old actor, producer and director, who featured in numerous television and film productions including The Deal, Five Days, Blackpool, State Of Play and Captain Corelli's Mandolin, explains why Carne's first meeting with Sarah Burton (played by Anna Maxwell Martin) gets off to a bad start.

"Carne is part of the local council and they decide to advertise the post of a new Headmistress for the local girls' school. He takes his council duties seriously, although the appointment of a new Headmistress he feels is not terribly important!

"Sarah Burton has very strong views about the education of women and how one should be educating the girls to be a different kind of woman in the future. As a traditionalist he is slightly against that, and she therefore rubs him up the wrong way!"

Sarah Burton may not have made a great first impression on Robert Carne, but Anna Maxwell Martin certainly did.

David continues: "Anna is someone I have been a fan of for such a long time. I thought Bleak House was a brilliant piece of work. I have been aware of her but our paths have never crossed, so when I knew Anna was doing South Riding and it was Andrew's [Davies] scripts, it was a no-brainer for me.

"I think Anna gives a wonderfully nuanced performance. She really has the drive, commitment and the ambition that character needs.

"Sarah Burton is somebody who is championing the cause of these girls, but when it comes to her personal life, there is this great confusion about who she is. I think Anna plays that brilliantly. I was in awe of her before, but watching her in this she is certainly one of my top actresses."

The RADA-trained actor explains why novelist Winifred Holtby, who wrote South Riding just before her death 75 years ago at the age of only 37, is such a great loss.

"To my shame I didn't know the novel before I was sent the scripts," admits David. "I thought it was a great story, which then led me to the novel. As a writer, Winifred Holtby was at the top of her game when she wrote South Riding. The tragedy is she died very soon afterwards so a great literary talent was lost to us. We can only speculate about what she might have gone on to write, but I think she may have been one of our great British novelists.

"Andrew has created the world brilliantly, he obviously had to concentrate on some characters more than others, and had to cut whole storylines; but what Andrew has done is succinctly, wittily and movingly paint the world Winifred Holtby had in the book; it's there for a television audience to enjoy.

"What's great about South Riding is it's not the world of chinking crystals and sparkling chandeliers. It's not a rarefied place to be. It's a very real place about people facing very real crises in their lives," says the Liverpool-born actor.

"What's relevant to a modern audience is that it is set in a time when there is great economic hardship. There are cuts hitting people left, right and centre. The banks are closing and calling in debts. The local council is trying to spend their way out of that by creating better conditions for working people by putting them into proper housing. Other people have ulterior motives for doing that, so what you see is the murky world of the dealings of local councils.

"People like Carne are resistant to any sort of change because they believe this is not a time to spend, it's a time to be hunkering down and getting through the next couple of years. I think those debates are very much front page news for us at the moment, particularly when it comes to education, it's about the best way to educate our children; it's about the haves and the have-nots.

"The Yorkshire landscapes and locations where the novel is set are the perfect surroundings for the three-part drama," explains the father of three whose directorial credits include Sweet Revenge and Passer By for the BBC and the feature film Don't Worry About Me.

"We found some great places like Sunk Island which is an amazing landscape. We also used some great public buildings like Morley Town Hall. If you look at the paintings and photographs on the Town Hall walls, the characters from the novel are right there, even their names!

"Morley Town Hall is steeped in the history of the world we were in," recalls David. "One location in the story is the shanty town that people live in called The Shacks. Diarmuid Lawrence [director] and the design team have realised this location brilliantly.

"It is a completely unsanitised, disgusting camp on the cliff tops at the mercy of the elements. It embodies the terrible conditions that many people in pre-war Britain had to live in. It is these conditions and the education of the working class, especially young girls, that is at the heart of Winifred Holtby's novel.

"South Riding is a rollicking great story about unrequited love and social conscience. I hope the drama reintroduces the novel to the public's consciousness because it is a great neglected work.

"What is wonderful for a viewer is that they won't know where the story is going; it's not a classic that we all know and love. It will be absolutely fresh to most people and that's the joy of it."

Courtesy of BBC Press Office

CHRISTY by Catherine Marshall

Set in the Appalachians of Tennessee in 1912,
Christy, compared to Little House on the Prairie or Road to Avonlea
(with a young female teacher in a rural community),
sadly ended after just two seasons.
Based on book by Catherine Marshall, read more in earlier post.
Starring Kellie Martin as Christy Huddleston.

Playlist thanks to enjoyutube2!

Cheerful Weather for the Wedding (2011)

Filming has begun for 'Cheerful Weather For The Wedding' based on the 1932 novella by Julia Strachey, starring Luke Treadaway (Clash of the Titans) and Felicity Jones (Northanger Abbey) with Elizabeth McGovern and Mackenzie Crook also featured. Directed by Donald Rice.
[Screen Daily via Playlist]

This sardonic and beautifully written novella about a family in Forster territory was first published by Leonard and Virginia Woolf at the Hogarth Press in 1932. 'As delightful and perceptive today as it no doubt was seventy years ago: on her wedding day a girl knows she is about to make a serious mistake' (the Bookseller); 'a brilliant, bittersweet upstairs-downstairs comedy' wrote Shena Mackay in the Guardian. (Persephone Books)

Facebook group for publisher Persephone Books

Persephone Books publishes neglected classics by 20th century (mostly women) writers. They also published Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day.

Slated for release - late 2011

Thanks to ms_geekette for mentioning!

Lark Rise to Candleford

If there's one period drama that has been mentioned to me the most frequently (or scolded for not featuring on this blog), it's Lark Rise to Candleford! So let me hereby officially enter LRTC into the "Enchanted Serenity archives" as a period drama that comes highly recommended! (To clarify, I have seen a few episodes of the first season and have had the best of intentions to catch up to date, so hopefully with this new year I'll make that happen!)

From Wikipedia: Adapted by the BBC from Flora Thompson's trilogy of semi-autobiographical novels about the English countryside, published between 1939 and 1943. The series is set in the small Oxfordshire hamlet of Lark Rise and the wealthier neighbouring market town of Candleford towards the end of the 19th century. In Season Two, episode 17, the date carved on the new clock tower in Candleford is 1895. The series chronicles the daily lives of farm workers, craftsmen, and gentry, observing the characters in loving, boisterous, and competing communities of families, rivals, friends, and neighbours.

The narrative is seen through the eyes of a teenage girl, Laura Timmins (Olivia Hallinan), as she leaves Lark Rise to start a new life under the wing of her cousin, the independent and effervescent Dorcas Lane (Julia Sawalha), who is Post Mistress at the local Post Office in Candleford. Through these two characters, viewers experience the force of friendship as Laura and Dorcas see each other through the best and worst of times.