Lark Rise to Candleford: The Complete Season One

Rarely has there been a more winning British period miniseries than this gorgeous 10-hour BBC adaptation of Flora Thompson's semi-autobiographical trilogy about life in the Oxfordshire countryside during the late Victorian period, a time of great social and economic change. Initially published between 1939 and 1943, Thompson's tales center on the often tense relations between the hamlet of Lark Rise and the nearby town of Candleford, both presided over by local squire Sir Timothy Middleton (Ben Miles). They're told from the perspective of the author's surrogate, Laura Timmons (Olivia Hallinan), a village girl sent by her parents to work under her vivacious cousin Dorcas Lane (Julia Sawalha), the Candleford postmistress. Dorcas has been infatuated with the squire (and he with her) since their childhood, but considerations of class compelled him to marry a woman of his own station. Each of the 10 episodes (broadcast January through March 2008) has a self-contained plot—the abandonment of a child in Lark Rise, the prosecution of a local for debt, the discovery of a curious work of art in a graveyard—but together they carry along the stories of the main characters, while also fleshing out the colorful supporting figures, such as Dorcas' religion-obsessed deliveryman, Thomas (Mark Heap). The result is a lovely portrait of a vanished society, wonderfully written and splendidly acted against an impeccable setting (and accompanied by a graceful musical score). An excellent half-hour “making of” featurette completes the package. Highly recommended. (F. Swietek)