Lark Rise to Candleford
Plot Summary
Set in the small hamlet of Lark Rise and the wealthier neighbouring market town, Candleford, the series chronicles the daily lives of farm-workers, craftsmen and gentry at the end of the 19th Century. Lark Rise to Candleford is a love letter to a vanished corner of rural England and a heart-warming drama series teeming with wit, wisdom and romance.
Cast & Characters
Cast
Olivia Hallinan
Laura Timmins
Julia Sawalha
Dorcas Lane
Claudie Blakley
Emma Timmins
Brendan Coyle
Robert Timmins
Ruby Bentall
Minnie Mude
John Dagleish
Alf Arless
Mark Heap
Thomas Brown
Dawn French
Caroline Arless
Victoria Hamilton
Ruby Pratt
Matilda Ziegler
Pearl Pratt
Linda Bassett
Queenie Turrill
Karl Johnson
Twister Turrill
Sarah Lancashire
Adult Laura
Thomas Rhys Jones
Edmund Timmins
Hope Yeomans
Lizzie Arless
Richard Harrington
Gabriel Cochrane
Where to watch free (US)
Seasons (5)
Season 1
10 episodes
Aired: 2008
Season 1 follows the relationship of two contrasting communities: Lark Rise, the small hamlet gently holding on to the past, and Candleford, the small market town bustling into the future. Seen through the eyes of young Laura, their inhabitants endure many upheavals and struggles as the inexorably change comes; their stories by turns poignant, spirited and uplifting.
Season 2
12 episodes
Aired: 2008
Season 2 sees the arrival of a dashing and elegant stranger in Candleford. Rich, enterprising, worldly and without a wife, James Dowling is a successful businessman with a string of London hotels, and has come to transform Candleford and bring it new prosperity. But not everyone welcomes his entrepreneurial qualities and it isn't long before he is sparring with the spirited, yet suddenly unusually flustered, Dorcas and aggravating the pride of the male Lark Risers with his superior business acumen and somewhat overbearing manner.
Season 3
12 episodes
Aired: 2010
In season 3, a journalist named Daniel arrives to deliver the news that Emma has been left some money. There's a substantial sum to be claimed if Emma can prove her right to the money and there's a rags to riches story in it for Daniel's newspaper. As Robert and Emma contemplate their change in fortunes, Laura, who is fascinated to meet a real writer, shows Daniel around Lark Rise. Elsewhere, the Pratt sisters are keeping secrets from one another; Margaret confides in Dorcas that she and Thomas are trying for a baby, and Minnie - in her attempt to live by Dorcas's advice of always telling the truth - ends up offending almost everyone who comes to the post office.
Season 4
6 episodes
Aired: 2011
Set at the end of the 19th century, season 4 sees newcomer Gabriel Cochrane arrive in Candleford with a vendetta against the evil banker Steerforth, who he feels has tricked him into losing his business. Elsewhere, Dorcas makes an ill-judged intervention, Minnie becomes worried that Alfie might fall out of love with her and Emma is left in a precarious financial position.
Production
BBC