Source: CCTV.com

05-12-2008 09:30

The BBC's period mini-series "Crandford" earned high acclaim from critics and viewers when it aired last November. Starring Judi Dench, Imelda Staunton, Eileen

Atkins and a host of other top British talent,the small screen drama is headed for the United States. It's likely to stand out on American network-TV schedules, crammed with reality shows and reruns, resulting from the long writers' strike.

Earlier this spring, there was HBO's "John Adams". Now PBS serves up "Cranford," which boasts three leads widely considered among the world's greatest living actresses in Atkins, Dench and Staunton.

The production is based on the generally forgotten novels of Elizabeth Gaskell. The film captures the author's witty and astute observations of mid-19th century village life in Northern England, where a group of spinsters dominate social mores.

The fictional Cranford is inspired by the author's home of Knutsford in Cheshire.

Judi Dench, Actress of "Cranford", said, "It's about a town, which was Knutsford in Cheshire, and the oncoming industrial revolution and what the railway will do and how it will dissipate that community, they believe. That's what is about, and, on the way, there are a lot of not exactly births, marriages and deaths, not bad."

Director Simon Curtis said "Cranford" may be a success because it has a lot to say to modern audiences, despite its 19th-century setting.

"Cranford" debuted in the U.S. on PBS stations last Sunday. It is available in the U.K. on DVD.

 

Editor:Yang Jie