The residents of Lark Rise and Candleford return for a second season of heart-warming adventures in this critically acclaimed adaptation of Flora Thompson’s novels. The second season sees the arrival of a dashing and elegant stranger in Candleford. Rich, enterprising worldly, and without a wife, James Dowland is a successful businessman with a string of London hotels and has come to transform Candleford and bring it new prosperity. But not everyone welcomes his entrepreneurial e Read more…
February 15th, 2010 on 6:38 pm
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I was able to watch this thanks to my friend who lives in the UK (it hasn’t been released in the US yet), and I just pre-ordered the DVD. Lark Rise to Candleford: The Complete Season One is a charming series that tackles myriad themes, and is adapted from Flora Thompson’s semi-autobiographical novel. In the first season, young Laura Timmins (Olivis Hallinan) leaves her village of Lark Rise to work as an assistant to the postmistress in Candleford, Dorcas Lane (Julia Sawalha who was also brilliant in her role as Lydia Bennet in Pride and Prejudice – The Special Edition (A&E, 1996)). Through the course of the first season, Laura discovers that she enjoys living in the more affluent town of Candleford, and experiences the pangs of adolescence, including romantic entanglements. Dorcas Lane, the kind-hearted and sensible postmistress also goes through some pangs of her own, largely to do with her friendship with squire, Sir Timothy Midwinter (Ben Miles) who is married to the beautiful and composed Lady Adelaide (Olivia Grant). In the first season, viewers got to see the themes of marital strife, conflicts between the upper and lower classes, romantic entanglements, and other issues played out. By the second season, both Sir Timothy and Lady Adelaide have moved to London, but there is still plenty of drama in Dorcas’ life with the arrival of James Dowland (Jason Merrells), a former inhabitant of Lark Rise, a local boy who has done well in life. Being a self-made and wealthy man, James settles in Candleford, though he reacquaints himself with the residents of Lark Rise, especially Queenie Turrill (Linda Bassett) who used to take care of him as a young boy. James opens a fashionable hotel in Candleford, and tries to ‘improve’ the lives of the Lark Rise residents with mixed results. There is also a strong chemistry between James and Dorcas, though their relationship flounders between attraction and rivalry/conflict. Laura seems more mature and wiser, having learned a couple of enlightening things about the pitfalls of romance, and is taking on more responsibilities at the post office. But then, a young clockmaker, Fisher Bloom (Matthew McNulty) comes to town, and Laura finds herself attracted to Fisher, though he seems oblivious to her charms, initially. Laura’s parents, Robert and Emma Timmins (Brendan Coyle & Claudie Blakley) who have always been a very close and loving couple find themselves facing some marital strife in their marriage, and this second season takes an intimate look at their dynamics as a couple. There is also plenty of drama amongst the other inhabitants of Lark Rise – the sisters Pearl and Ruby Pratt (Matilda Ziegler, Victoria Hamilton) who have a dressmaking/drapery store continue to pry into others’ affairs whilst dealing with their own emotional dramas. Postman Thomas Brown’s (Mark Heap)romantic (mis)adventures continue, and many more. This is truly a gem of a series, and I am hopelessly addicted to it. Each episode is well-crafted and credibly acted, drawing viewers into the lives of these mostly endearing & flawed characters, and making one feel at home in both Lark Rise and Candleford. I am so glad that the BBC has okayed a third season (to be telecast in the UK in 2010), and look forward to repeat viewings of both Seasons 1 & 2!
February 16th, 2010 on 2:07 am
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Such places as Lark Rise and Candleford are towns most of us can only dream of living in. Darling Laura Timmins (Olivia Hallinan), oldest child of a Lark Rise family, is sent off to Candleford to learn the trade of postmistress. That all began in Series One which I recommend you view first. See my review. I ordered my copy of this DVD set as soon as I saw it was available. English country life could never have been as poetic, pictorial, and enchanting as this dramatization of the lives of those living in and around the two 1880’s towns of Lark Rise and Candleford. Even the DVD’s music puts a sanguine sugarcoating on the period. All of this is to the delight of the viewer of this masterfully done TV series sure to endear any North American who has a tender video heart toward Victorian Britain. Perhaps, consider it a British mutation of “Little House on the Prairie” or “The Waltons.” Filmed locations and sets are to-die-for your next vacation spot. Costumes to dazzle, delight, and disgust, depending upon the event. Every emotion you have ever felt in your past will be repeated sometime throughout this English town saga. The adapted books by Flora Thompson have never been read by this reviewer, but I can’t imagine them being as fine as this TV series (and I’m a book lover). A superb British cast has perfected this story.