''Lark Rise to Candleford'' is a
British television
Regular television broadcasts in the United Kingdom started in 1936 as a public service which was free of advertising, which followed the first demonstration of a transmitted moving image in 1926. Currently, the United Kingdom has a collection ...
costume drama
A historical drama (also period drama, costume drama, and period piece) is a work set in a past time period, usually used in the context of film and television. Historical drama includes historical fiction and romances, adventure films, and swa ...
series, adapted by the BBC from
Flora Thompson
Flora Jane Thompson (née Timms; 5 December 1876 – 21 May 1947) was an English novelist and poet best known for her semi-autobiographical trilogy about the English countryside, ''Lark Rise to Candleford''.
Early life and family
Thompson ...
's
trilogy of semi-autobiographical novels about the English countryside, published between 1939 and 1943. The first episode aired on 13 January 2008 on
BBC One
BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, ...
and
BBC HD
BBC HD was a 24-hour high-definition television channel provided by the BBC. The service was initially run as a trial from 15 May 2006 until becoming a full service on 1 December 2007 before its discontinuation on 26 March 2013. It broadcast ...
in the UK. In the U.S., the series began airing on select
PBS stations in the spring of 2009. A third series began airing in the UK on 10 January 2010. The fourth and final series began on 9 January 2011 on
BBC One
BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, ...
and
BBC One HD
BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, p ...
, and was filmed during August 2010.
It was announced on 22 January 2011 that the show would not be returning for a fifth series. The final series concluded on 13 February 2011.
Premise
The series is set in the small
Oxfordshire
Oxfordshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the north west of South East England. It is a mainly rural county, with its largest settlement being the city of Oxford. The county is a centre of research and development, primaril ...
hamlet of Lark Rise, and the wealthier neighbouring
market town
A market town is a settlement most common in Europe that obtained by custom or royal charter, in the Middle Ages, a market right, which allowed it to host a regular market; this distinguished it from a village or city. In Britain, small rural ...
of Candleford towards the end of the 19th century. The series chronicles the daily lives of farmworkers, craftsmen and gentry observing the characters in loving, boisterous and competing communities of families, rivals, friends and neighbours.
The story is seen through the eyes of a young girl, Laura Timmins (
Olivia Hallinan
Olivia Hallinan (born 20 January 1985) is a British actress best known for her role as Laura Timmins in the BBC TV series ''Lark Rise to Candleford'' and also as Kim in the Channel 4 drama '' Sugar Rush.'' She also starred as Ellie in '' Girls ...
), as she leaves Lark Rise to start a new life under the wing of her mother's cousin, the independent and effervescent Dorcas Lane (
Julia Sawalha), who is postmistress at the local post office in Candleford. Through these two characters, viewers experience the force of friendship as Laura and Dorcas see each other through the best and worst of times.
Cast
Main cast
Guest stars
*
Lorraine Ashbourne
Lorraine Ashbourne (born 10 April 1961) is an English actress.
Career
Ashbourne has appeared on British series and television films, including: '' The Street'', ''True Dare Kiss'', '' Thin Ice'', ''In a Land of Plenty'', ''Boon'', '' Playing th ...
as Lil Spicer
(Series 2, 1 episode)
*
Samantha Bond
Samantha Jane Bond (born 27 November 1961) is an English actress, who is best known for playing Miss Moneypenny in four James Bond films during the Pierce Brosnan years, and for her role on ''Downton Abbey'' as the wealthy widow Lady Rosamu ...
as Celestia Brice-Coulson
(Series 2, 1 episode)
*
Rosie Cavaliero
Rosalind Cecilia Cavaliero (born 27 November 1967) is a Brazilian-born English actress. She has appeared in numerous television roles.
Filmography
Theatre work
* ''Dracula'' at the Everyman, Cheltenham – Florrie (February 1995)
* ''Airswi ...
as Mrs Mullins
(Series 3, 1 episode)
*
Camille Coduri
Camille Coduri (born 18 April 1965) is an English actress. She is best known for playing Jackie Tyler, the mother of Rose Tyler, in ''Doctor Who'', and also for her roles as Faith in '' Nuns on the Run'', Miranda in ''King Ralph'', and Dot Clapt ...
as Patty
(Series 1, 1 episode)
*
Tom Conti
Tommaso Antonio Conti (born 22 November 1941) is a Scottish actor, theatre director, and novelist. He won the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play in 1979 for his performance in '' Whose Life Is It Anyway?'' and was nominated for the Academy Aw ...
as Mr. Reppington
(Series 3, 1 episode)
*
Ben Daniels
Ben Daniels (born 10 June 1964) is a British actor. Initially a stage actor, Daniels was nominated for an Olivier Award for Best Supporting Actor for ''Never the Sinner'' (1991), the Evening Standard Award for Best Actor for ''900 Oneonta'' ...
as Mr. Rushton
(Series 1, 1 episode)
*
Phil Davis as Arthur Ashlow
(Series 1, 1 episode)
*
Oliver Dimsdale as George Ellison
(Series 2, 4 episode)
*
Michelle Fairley
Michelle Fairley (born 1964–1965) is an actress from Northern Ireland. She is best known for playing Catelyn Stark in the HBO series ''Game of Thrones'' (2011–2013). She has since appeared in the USA Network series '' Suits'' (2013), the ...
as Elizabeth Patterson
(Series 2, 10 episode)
*
Burn Gorman
Burn Hugh Winchester Gorman (born 1 September 1974) is an English actor and musician. He is known for his roles as Owen Harper in the BBC series '' Torchwood'' (2006–2008), Phillip Stryver in '' The Dark Knight Rises'' (2012), Karl Tanner in t ...
as Benedict Marley
(Series 4, 1 episode)
*
Nigel Harman
Nigel Derek Harman (born 11 August 1973) is an English actor, best known for his role as Dennis Rickman in the BBC soap opera '' EastEnders''. He has worked mostly in theatre. He starred in the final series of '' Hotel Baby ...
as Samuel Braby
(Series 1, 1 episode)
*
Stephen Campbell Moore
Stephen Campbell Moore (born Stephen Moore Thorpe, 30 November 1979) is a British actor. He is best known for his roles in Alan Bennett's play '' The History Boys'' and the film based on it. Since 2019, he has starred in the sci-fi television ...
as James Delafield
(Series 1, 1 episode)
*
Hattie Morahan as Miss Enid
(Series 3, 1 episode)
*
Ronald Pickup
Ronald Alfred Pickup (7 June 1940 – 24 February 2021) was an English actor. He was active in television, film, and theatre, beginning with a 1964 appearance in ''Doctor Who''. Theatre critic Michael Billington described him as "a terrific sta ...
as Old Peg Leg
(Series 3, 1 episode)
*
Robert Pugh
Robert Pugh (born 11 October 1950) is a Welsh actor, known for his many television appearances, including the role of Craster in the HBO series ''Game of Thrones''.
Life and career
Pugh was born in the Tynte, Mountain Ash and grew up in Cilf ...
as Walter Arless
(Series 2, 1 episode; mentioned throughout Series 1)
*
Paul Ritter
Simon Paul Adams (20 December 1966 – 5 April 2021), known professionally as Paul Ritter, was an English actor. He had roles in films including ''Son of Rambow'' (2007), ''Quantum of Solace'' (2008), ''Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince'' ...
as Mr Steerforth
(Series 4, 1 episode)
*
Claire Skinner
Claire Skinner (born 1965) is an English actress, known in the United Kingdom for her television career, particularly playing Sue Brockman from the BBC television series '' Outnumbered''.
Early life
Claire Skinner was born and brought up in ...
as Mrs Macey
(Series 1, 2 episodes)
*
Sheridan Smith
Sheridan Caroline Sian Smith OBE (born 25 June 1981) is an English actress, singer and television personality. Smith came to prominence after playing a variety of characters on sitcoms such as ''The Royle Family'' (1999–2000), ''Two Pints of ...
as Cinderella Doe
(Series 2, 1 episode)
*
Maggie Steed
Maggie is a common short form of the name Magdalena, Magnolia, Margaret.
Maggie may refer to:
People
Women
* Maggie Adamson, Scottish musician
* Maggie Aderin-Pocock (born 1968), British scientist
* Maggie Alderson (born 1959), Aust ...
as Mrs Herring
(Series 2, 1 episode)
*
Peter Vaughan
Peter Vaughan (born Peter Ewart Ohm; 4 April 1923 – 6 December 2016) was an English character actor known for many supporting roles in British film and television productions. He also acted extensively on the stage.
He is perhaps best known ...
as Reverend Ellison
(Series 1, 2 episodes)
*
Danny Webb as Mr Macey
(Series 1, 1 episode)
Filming
Interior scenes were shot in a warehouse on Beeches Industrial Estate, in
Yate
Yate is a town and civil parish in South Gloucestershire, England. It lies just to the southwest of the Cotswold Hills and is northeast of Bristol city centre and from the centre of Bath, with regular rail services to Bristol and Gloucester. ...
,
South Gloucestershire
South Gloucestershire is a unitary authority area in the ceremonial county of Gloucestershire, South West England. Towns in the area include Yate, Chipping Sodbury, Thornbury, Filton, Patchway and Bradley Stoke, the latter three forming ...
. The villages of Lark Rise and Candleford were both created from scratch on farms in
Box and
Neston Park
__NOTOC__
Neston Park is an English country house and estate in the village of Neston, some 2 miles (3 km) south of Corsham, Wiltshire. The name of the village of Neston is derived from the name of the house.
The present house dates fr ...
, near
Corsham
Corsham is a historic market town and civil parish in west Wiltshire, England. It is at the south-eastern edge of the Cotswolds, just off the A4 national route, southwest of Swindon, southeast of Bristol, northeast of Bath and southwest of ...
in
Wiltshire
Wiltshire (; abbreviated Wilts) is a historic and ceremonial county in South West England with an area of . It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset to the southwest, Somerset to the west, Hampshire to the southeast, Gloucestershire ...
. According to the BBC planning application, Hatt Farm in Box was used because of its proximity to existing cornfields and farm buildings, and Park Farm in Neston Park was chosen for its unspoilt character and attractive traditional buildings.
The outdoor filming at these locations for the first series took 25 days, spread over a 5-month period.
The country scenes, including all the comings and goings of the lord of the manor, were shot at
Chavenage House
Chavenage House, Beverston, Gloucestershire is a country house dating from the late 16th century. The house was built in 1576 and is constructed of Cotswold stone, with a Cotswold stone tiled roof. David Verey and Alan Brooks, in their Glouceste ...
north of
Tetbury, Gloucestershire.
Episodes
Series 1 (2008)
Series 2 (2008–2009)
Series 3 (2010)
Series 4 (2011)
Cancellation
It was announced on 22 January 2011 that the show would not be returning for a fifth series. The decision caused viewer complaints, prompting
BBC One
BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, ...
controller
Danny Cohen to say, "''Lark Rise to Candleford'' has been a truly wonderful part of the BBC One schedule and we are incredibly grateful to writer Bill Gallagher and the team. But we feel the time is right to make room for new dramas which we hope will be taken to the nation's hearts in the same way."
Following that announcement, many viewers took to setting up and signing online campaigns to see the show recommissioned. In response, Ben Stephenson of the BBC finally announced the decision was based on the departure of writer and executive producer Bill Gallagher, whose "creative energy" was considered essential to the series.
The Bath Chronicle, 28 February 2011
Notes
References
External links
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lark Rise To Candleford (Tv Series)
2000s British drama television series
2010s British drama television series
2008 British television series debuts
2011 British television series endings
BBC television dramas
Costume drama television series
Television series set in the 19th century
Television shows set in Oxfordshire