Christmas

Sun Dec 20, 9-10.30pm, BBC1

It was ‘Cranford’s misfortune to precede the debut of ‘Lark Rise to Candleford’, giving costume drama-phobes a good excuse to lump them together. Big mistake. ‘Cranford’ offered emotional depth, social comment and a cast way beyond the dreams of the little folk in the cheesy Victorian teatime soap. We rejoin Matty Jenkyns (Judi Dench) and her circle in the summer of 1844, with the town at a crossroads. A new dance craze called ‘the waltz’ is rumoured and a mischievous parrot is wreaking havoc. More significantly, the industrial age is nigh, and battle is soon joined between the forces of progress (led by Captain Brown and newcomers the Buxtons, played by Jonathan Pryce and Tom Hiddleston) and conservatism (almost everyone else). Against such a background are played out themes of social change, death and renewal, beautifully played by a delightful cast and with a studied sprinkling of villainy (particularly from a hissable Rory Kinnear). The pace may flag a little, one particular romance is unsubtly signposted and the narrative engine that drives Boxing Day’s finale only really grinds into action towards the end, but no one does this sort of thing as classily as the BBC. Feature continues