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Cranford

Judi Dench as Miss Matty
  • Posted at 12:39pm
  • 22 November 2007
  • by AlisonGraham-RT
  • 4 comments

I love Christmas. As far as I'm aware, it's the only time of the year when Alan Hansen tries to sell me cheap chocolate (from Morrisons) and the Spice Girls attempt to convince me that they shop, en masse, in Tesco. And has Antonio Banderas actually heard of M&S, I wonder?

But let's put to one side the joys of celebrity-packed Christmas commercials as we head along the home straight on our TV toboggan. The wonderland of Christmas telly is just around the corner as we hurtle down the snowy slopes towards the time of year when TV goes into the loft, brings down the fairy lights and pours us all a glass of Baileys as it urges us to sit down and do nothing else but watch telly.

But first, there are the dying embers of November to damp down before we can deck our halls with tinsel-covered My Family and The Green Green Grass Christmas specials (which, in my experience, are anything but special).

Cranford (Sundays, 9:00pm, BBC1) is the drama that's currently making my life worthwhile. I hate the phrase "watercooler television" because I've never heard a single British person ever refer to a "watercooler". We all know what they are, but I've never knowingly gathered around one to talk about telly. So we shall call Cranford "corridor television" based on my experience of being stopped in corridors by people who simply want to tell me how much they love it.

Cranford is wonderful. Keep your Heroes and your 24, this is a proper, grown-up drama, full of light and shade, characters so real and animated that they just about dance off the screen and story strands that mesh into a delightfully satisfactory whole. It's a drama for adults who like humour and subtext, and who think life would be so much better if we all wore bonnets.

None of the above brings us neatly to Boy A (Monday, 9:00pm, Channel 4), a harrowing, difficult drama about a child who murdered another child, and the killer's attempts to join, as an adult with a new identity, a society of which he knows little. It's worth watching for Andrew Garfield's stunning central performance as the young man trying to forge his place in an unfamiliar world, all the time fearing discovery.

Evicted Update (Wednesday, 10:40pm, BBC1) is hardly cheering, either, but it's an important look, a follow-up to Brian Woods's Bafta-winning documentary of last year, at the shameless way Britain treats its homeless children.

And finally, Monarchy: the Royal Family at Work (Monday, 8:30pm, BBC1) will doubtless be the talking point of the week, as it's the documentary that caused a convulsion at the BBC, resulting in the resignation of BBC1 controller Peter Fincham.

**

Alison Graham is TV editor of Radio Times.

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Comments

  • Posted on 10 December 2007
  • at 8:35pm
  • by wrinklyone
Alison Graham always writes a lot of sense, and she's right about Cranford. What a delight it is to be able to hear every word spoken, because the actors in this production have learnt their trade properly. Also to see, as noted in RT recently, that they have studied the deportment appropriate for a period piece. Compare and contrast with some recent productions in which the 'celebrity' names moved and spoke in the normal slovenly 21c manner. Think Kate Beckinsale and Keira Knightley, who obviously believe that it is sufficient to look pretty. If you enjoyed this, you might like to search out the (1999?)DVD of 'Wives and Daughters' by the same author which, coincidentally also starred the incomparable Michael Gambon and Francesca Annis.
  • Posted on 29 November 2007
  • at 4:11pm
  • by Limey_7@hotmail.com

"I hate the phrase "watercooler television" "

Given that two-thirds of Cranford's audience is over 55 I would have thought "tea tray television" might be more appropriate.

  • Posted on 26 November 2007
  • at 10:20am
  • by Tellyhead

Yes! I agree it makes life worth living.

Cranford has eclipsed all others as my new passionate love. Somebody please send for the doctor and the smelling salts...I feel faint.

The last time I felt like this about a TV programme was during my love affair with Spooks (which I admit is still an ongoing relationship).

How is it that TV can make you feel so good?

  • Posted on 22 November 2007
  • at 2:37pm
  • by Ionaclio

Cranford is absolutely wonderful. Not much happening at the moment so could be re labelled "Much ado about Nothing!" BUT just can't wait for the next episode. In spite of a cast hooching with famous actors, surely the pussycat should be awarded THE best actor in episode 1. The BBC sound effects dept should also have an award for the life like noises emanating from the cat during its gastric incident, shall we say? Thanks to the BBC for yet another winner in Sunday evening viewing.

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