Cranford

PBS viewers may be familiar with the female-dominated Cheshire village celebrated in Elizabeth Gaskell's titular 1853 novel through the five-part 2007 BBC miniseries starring Judi Dench as sweet spinster Matty Jenkyns (which was followed in 2009 by a two-part sequel). This Cranford, however, presents the four-episode 1972 BBC adaptation, with Gabrielle Hamilton in the role of Matty. While technically less slick—its four-decade age showing in its staginess, long dialogue-driven scenes, and reluctance to venture outdoors—this older version still serves up a charming distillation of Gaskell's perceptive but affectionate portrait of a mid-19th-century town whose population of widows and unmarried women is periodically thrown into a tizzy by the appearance of an occasional male or the introduction of any technological innovation (also a place where the slightest differentiations of class or diminution in financial status receives almost fanatical attention). Writer Michael Voysey and director Hugh David treat the source material with great tact, allowing us to smile at these tradition-bound ladies but never ridiculing them, while the cast—despite an absence of well-known stars—is uniformly delightful. The result is a thoroughly engaging evocation of an era that prized stability and looked on change with a wary eye. While this set can't be preferred to the more recent (and more opulent) BBC remake, it makes a perfect complement for those willing to accept the technical limitations. Recommended. (F. Swietek)