Product Description
-------------------
Return to Cranford (2009/DVD)
The two-part saga Return to Cranford opens to a struggling
Cranford, a traditional English village that in autumn 1844 is
airing the conflicts that accompany progress. Miss Matty Jenkyns
(Judi Dench), after having closed her business in the last
series, is happily babysitting the child of her maid, Martha
(Claudie Blakley). This gives the ladies in town something to
gossip about, as does every other small event in this chatty
group. The same women populate this new Cranford--the snooty Miss
Jamieson (Barbara Flynn), nosy Miss Pole (Imelda Staunton), Miss
Forrester (Julia McKenzie), Peggy (Jodie Whittaker), and Erminia
(Michelle Dockery)--while a few new men added into the mix
creates options for love intereststhroughout. In Part One, Peggy,
visiting her dead her's grave, bumps into William Baxton (Tom
Hiddleston), a young and dapper gentleman who becomes a central
character in Cranford's growing divide between those who want a
railroad coming through town and those who don't. While politics
are sorted, scenes alternate between heated public debates and
domestic exchanges to make Return to Cranford as
charming as the first incarnations of this historical drama. The
emphasis on the ways the women in town navigate thorny social
situations remains primary in Return to Cranford. Babies are born
and the elderly pass away while the ladies busily decide what to
make of it all. While Part One focuses on catch-up, showing where
each crone stands on the latest current events, Part Twoattempts
more to challenge outmoded cultural values such as elitism andto
show how the community members toughen up to become a courageous
bunch. Unfortunately, Miss Matty discovers that solidarity is
hard to come by in this small village, and Part Two is as much
about a town falling apart as it is about ways to heal sore
feelings and a violated landscape.Ultimately, life marches on in
this pleasurably fictionalized glimpse into England's past.
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The two-part saga Return to Cranford opens to a struggling
Cranford, a traditional English village that in autumn 1844 is
airing the conflicts that accompany progress. Miss Matty Jenkyns
(Judi Dench), after having closed her business in the last
series, is happily babysitting the child of her maid, Martha
(Claudie Blakley). This gives the ladies in town something to
gossip about, as does every other small event in this chatty
group. The same women populate this new Cranford--the snooty Miss
Jamieson (Barbara Flynn), nosy Miss Pole (Imelda Staunton), Miss
Forrester (Julia McKenzie), Peggy (Jodie Whittaker), and Erminia
(Michelle Dockery)--while a few new men added into the mix
creates options for love interests throughout. In Part One,
Peggy, visiting her dead her's grave, bumps into William
Baxton (Tom Hiddleston), a young and dapper gentleman who becomes
a central character in Cranford's growing divide between those
who want a railroad coming through town and those who don't.
While politics are sorted, scenes alternate between heated public
debates and domestic exchanges to make Return to
Cranford as charming as the first incarnations of this historical
drama. The emphasis on the ways the women in town navigate thorny
social situations remains primary in Return to Cranford. Babies
are born and the elderly pass away while the ladies busily decide
what to make of it all. While Part One focuses on catch-up,
showing where each crone stands on the latest current events,
Part Two attempts more to challenge outmoded cultural values such
as elitism and to show how the community members toughen up to
become a courageous bunch. Unfortunately, Miss Matty discovers
that solidarity is hard to come by in this small village, and
Part Two is as much about a town falling apart as it is about
ways to heal sore feelings and a violated landscape. Ultimately,
life marches on in this pleasurably fictionalized glimpse into
England's past. --Trinie Dalton