Archive for November, 2009
Cranford Christmas Special
The multi-award-winning Cranford returns to entertain and enthral BBC One audiences this Christmas with a two-part special. Dame Judi Dench reprises her role as Cranford’s much cherished Miss Matty Jenkyns, and heads a cast that boasts Britain’s top film, television and stage talent including Cranford newcomers: Jonathan Pryce, Celia Imrie, Lesley Sharp, Nicholas Le Prevost, [...]
Cranford Christmas Special – Interview with Dame Judi Dench
Moving on in Cranford As the critically acclaimed, multi-award-winning drama Cranford returns to BBC One this Christmas for a two-part special, Dame Judi Dench tells Programme Information’s Sarah Ward how she couldn’t wait to reprise her role as the much-loved Miss Matty Jenkyns – so much so that she immediately set aside 10 weeks in [...]
Mr Buxton played by Jonathan Pryce
Mr Buxton (Jonathan Pryce) Recently widowed, Mr Buxton has returned to his native Cranford with his son William and niece Erminia after a two-year absence. He can be blunt and volatile, often speaking and acting before thinking, but he is loyal, generous and down to earth. Though personally happy to live a quiet, unassuming life [...]
William Buxton played by Tom Hiddleston
William Buxton (Tom Hiddleston) Mr Buxton’s only child, William is bright and capable but, having dropped out of Cambridge when his mother fell terminally ill, he now struggles to find direction for himself without her gentle guidance. What is certain is that he has no interest in his father’s political ambitions for him. He’s far [...]
Peggy Bell played by Jodie Whittaker
Peggy Bell (Jodie Whittaker) The younger child of Mrs Bell and the deceased Curate of Cranford, she lives in an isolated cottage outside of town with her family. Though she’s bullied by older brother, Edward, and ignored by her mother, she seems to have accepted her lot in life with good grace because she has [...]
Lady Glenmire played by Celia Imrie
Lady Glenmire (Celia Imrie) A character from the original novel, Cranford, Lady Glenmire is the sister-in-law and social superior of Mrs Jamieson, though by far the more down-to-earth of the two. A genteel Scotswoman on the surface, she is intelligent, lively and very sociable – the exact opposite, therefore, of Mrs Jamieson. The Amazons are [...]
Lord Septimus Ludlow played by Rory Kinnear
Lord Septimus Ludlow (Rory Kinnear) Lady Ludlow’s seventh and last-remaining child, Septimus is much talked about in the novel My Lady Ludlow but never actually appears, so he is a newly-created character. He arrives in Cranford from Italy after many years absence, bringing his bored and louche companion, Giacomo, with him. Lord Septimus is beautifully [...]
Edward Bell played by Matthew McNulty
Edward Bell (Matthew McNulty) Peggy’s older brother, Edward, is selfish and full of a sense of his own importance. His father left the family with little money in his will, and so Edward’s education has been limited to home tutoring and a correspondence course. Ambitious to make money and a name for himself, he aims [...]
Mrs Bell played by Lesley Sharp
Mrs Bell (Lesley Sharp) A widow, Mrs Bell is quietly mocked by Cranford’s ladies for her dramatic display of grief at her husband’s graveside each Sunday. Though genuinely bereft by his death, she has not only locked herself into this weekly ritual but refuses all social invitations, thereby dooming her children to a lonely life [...]
Erminia Whyte played by Michelle Dockery
Erminia Whyte (Michelle Dockery) The orphaned daughter of Mr Buxton’s younger sister and now his ward (and William’s cousin), Erminia has lived abroad and has recently finished an expensive education in Brussels. She is pretty, musical and full of life. At first Erminia befriends Peggy Bell out of a sense of kindness and duty, but [...]