An absolutely charming adaptation. An exquisite cast give a brilliant performance. Fun to watch the goings on in this little town, and how people sometimes get the wrong end of the stick… I haven't read the book yet so can't compare it but it was thoroughly enjoyable on it's own. Surprisingly funny as well! Also highly recommended, another Elizabeth Gaskell adaptation, North and South (but this one's is not funny).

The star of this BBC series is the Cheshire village of Cranford in the mid- 1800's. A gem of fine acting and great period detail brings Elizabeth Gaskell's dry and gentle humour to entertaining life. The five episodes follow more of story line than did the books from which they were taken: there's the new doctor's romantic dramas, the threat of the railway arriving in Cranford, the peasant boy's advancement, with births, deaths, fevers, amputations and marriages along the way. Dame Judi Dench and Eileen Atkins are the wonderfully proper Misses Jenkyns. Francesca Annis, Imelda Staunton, Philip Glenister and Simon Woods are other familiar names among the excellent cast. Mrs Gaskell's themes of social justice and the role of women are given the same subtle exposure here as in her writing, revealing but never preaching. Well worth spending the over five hours of watching time.

This is an easy watching series with Judi Dench being one of my favourites. A group of spinsters control Craford and most of the men in it. Worth watching on a wet winter day or two