I’ve now watched this Andrew Davies adaptation of Elizabeth Gaskell’s last novel at least three times over the years (it might even be four), and my admiration grows each time. I think it must be one of his very greatest TV adaptations, up there with his takes on Middlemarch, Pride and Prejudice and Vanity Fair - and it [...]
Archive for the ‘Elizabeth Gaskell’ Category
North and South (2004)
Posted in costume drama, Elizabeth Gaskell, tagged Brian Percival, BBC, Sandy Welch, Rupert Evans, Richard Armitage, Pauline Quirke, Peter Greenhalgh, Simon Elliot, Martin Phipps, Daniela Denby-Ashe, John Light, Tim Pigott-Smith, Lesley Manville, William Houston, Sinead Cusack, Anna Maxwell Martin, Brendan Coyle on May 2, 2010 | 24 Comments »
Screenwriter Sandy Welch’s version of Elizabeth Gaskell’s industrial novel has to be one of the best BBC classic adaptations. It’s a series which was an immediate hit on first screening - partly because of Richard Armitage’s brooding portrayal of Thornton, but also I think because of the story itself, since I remember a previous BBC adaptation in 1975 [...]
Elizabeth Gaskell’s bicentenary
Posted in costume drama, Elizabeth Gaskell on April 27, 2010 | 7 Comments »
First of all, apologies to all who read my blog for taking so long about writing my promised review of the BBC North and South - I have watched it all again, and found it even better than I remembered, but I was tempted to reread the book too and haven’t finished yet, though I’m nearly there.:) When [...]
Return to Cranford (2009)
Posted in costume drama, Elizabeth Gaskell, tagged Alex Etel, BBC, Celia Imrie, Claudie Blakley, Dame Judi Dench, Francesca Annis, Heidi Thomas, Imelda Staunton, Jodie Whittaker, Jonathan Pryce, Lesley Sharp, Matthew McNulty, Rory Kinnear, Sue Birtwhistle, Susie Conklin, Tim Curry, Tom Hiddleston on April 10, 2010 | 10 Comments »
I’ve now watched Return to Cranford (that’s the title on the DVD, though on TV it was just billed as the Cranford Christmas special) twice. When I first watched it, over the Christmas holidays, I found myself slightly bewildered, as I didn’t remember who all the characters were or how they tied in with one another. [...]
