Judy Dench returns to Cranford **** 4 Stars

By Gabrielle Pantera

Return to Cranford, Judi Dench saves the town

HOLLYWOOD, CA (Hollywood Today) 1/19/2010 – “Judi Dench is a close friend,” says Cranford co-creator Sue Birtwistle. “And once you’ve got her on board, then it’s much easier to get others on board. In fact, when we said we were doing the sequel, all the actors who we hadn’t killed off in the first series said yes. Actually, Imelda Staunton said, ‘Can we do this every year for ten weeks, please?’”

Cranford is a Victorian-era village. Judi Dench returns as Matty Jenkins, minus Eileen Atkins who played her sister in the first miniseries that premiered in 2008. The industrial revolution is already in full swing in England, but in Cranford they are trying to stop the railroad from coming to town. Change is inevitable and Dench’s character helps to herald in the change. Matty is a loving, caring yet strong character. Cranford is steeped in tradition, but as the young start to leave the village she realizes that they need to let the railway come to Cranford.

“As it happened, the first Cranford got a huge audience and [BBC controller of fiction] Jane Tranter said, ‘Will you do some more?” At the time I thought, ‘Yikes, no!’ because we had been editing right up until the last minute and I was exhausted,” says Birtwistle. “About three weeks later, I realized that I loved it so much that it would be silly not to do a sequel.”

Sue Birtwistle is known for her literary adaptations, including Pride and Prejudice (the one with Collin Firth) Wives and Daughters, King Lear, Emma, and Cranford. Return to Cranford is based on the books by Elizabeth Gaskell.

“What I like about Elizabeth Gaskell’s writing is that she’s non-Victorian,” says Birtwistle. “I find her very modern. She’s non-judgmental about her characters, who range from the top to the bottom of society, which is refreshing. She’s also quite funny.”

“One of the things that is wonderful to dramatize is the way tragedy and comedy are so closely intertwined in her work,” says Birtwistle. Important things and trivial things are side by side. That’s so like real life, and that’s one of the things that our cast can do very well. You can be watching a scene and listening to, say, Imelda Staunton or Judi Dench, and you can laugh at them. But, you’re incredibly moved as well, because there’s real feeling there.”

“When we started the second series, Judi found that she was given the same old knitted mittens with no fingers that she’d worn the first time around,” says Birtwistle. “She asked the costume designer, “Am I getting a new pair of mittens?” The costume designer said, “Absolutely not! Elegant economy!” So Judi pulled these mittens around quite a lot during shooting. And when we got to the final scene in the assembly room, she said, “I’m more dressed up. Do you think I can have a new pair of mittens, because it’s Christmas?” And the costume designer said, ‘Absolutely not! You’ve got to make do with those!’ We did that with all the costumes. Where the dresses were worn, they were trimmed with a bit of new ribbon, which is exactly what those women would have done.”

Birtwistle says she came from a market town like Cranford. “My neighborhood was the church, the school, four streets, some fields, and the railway line going through. What was strange, well, similar, was that it was a neighborhood dominated by women just like in Gaskell’s stories.”

Imelda Staunton stars as Miss Pole. Julia McKenzie is Mrs. Forrester. And, Barbara Flynn is Mrs. Jamieson. Also starring Tom Hiddleston, who was in Wallander, and Tim Curry who plays a magician.

Dench’s character is the catalyst in Cranford. Even when other characters seem more forceful, it’s Dench’s character who holds everything together for the town.

Return to Cranford

• DVD: $24.98
• Duration: 177 minutes on 1 Disc
• Release date: 2/9/2010 (available to pre-order now)

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