Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #304 in DVD
• Released on: 2008-04-07
• Rating: Parental Guidance
• Aspect ratio: 1.77:1
• Format: PAL
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 4
• Running time: 582 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Review
The BBC’s costume drama juggernaut struck gold once more when it decided to tackle the work of Flora Thompson. And in adapting her books in the form of the television production Lark Rise To Candleford, it has brought another compelling piece of drama to the screen.

Lark Rise To Candleford is set at the end of the 19th century, and it follows the story of two communities in the midst of a developing Oxfordshire. One is a fast-growing market town, the other a sleepier, quieter place that’s holding more onto the past. Centred on Laura, the eldest daughter in the Timmins house, as she leaves the quieter life for work in the market town, the stage is then set for a quality drama series.

All ten episodes are present and correct on the Lark Rise To Candleford DVD set, and there’s a lot to enjoy. The cast, for instance, is simply terrific, with Julia Sawalha, Dawn French and Olivia Hallinan rightly taking plaudits. And the journey of their characters, along with those of the strong supporting cast, is simply wonderful television.

Mixing in humour, drama and the production values we seem to take for granted from the BBC, Lark Rise To Candleford really is quite a treat. And what’s more, it’s proof positive that when it comes to television period drama, there really isn’t anyway doing it better. Super stuff. --Jon Foster

DVD Description
Flora Thompson's charming love letter to a vanished corner of rural England is brought to life in this warm-hearted adaptation. Set in the Oxfordshire countryside in the 1880s, this rich, funny and emotive BBC series 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 (Olivia Hallinan - Sugar Rush, Torchwood) the inhabitants endure many upheavals and struggles as the change inexorably comes; their stories by turns poignant, spirited and uplifting. And Laura herself must face great change. Taking a job in the Post Office in Candleford, run by the mercurial Dorcas Lane (Julia Sawalha - Cranford, Pride and Prejudice), Laura turns her back on her childhood hamlet to make her way in the world. With her loyalties divided, she must choose her own path to womanhood...

Dawn French, Julia Sawalha and Liz Smith star alongside Olivia Hallinan in this ten-part adaptation of Flora Thompson's magical memoir of her Oxfordshire childhood.

Synopsis
This ten-part adaptation of Flora Thompson's classic novel tells the story of two Oxfordshire communities at the end of the 19th century. The birth of a new baby brings financial hardship to the Timmins household, obliging eldest daughter Laura (Olivia Hallinan) to leave her home in the quiet hamlet of Lark Rise and embark on a new life in the busy, neighbouring market town of Candleford. Her adventurous cousin, postmistress Dorcas Lane (Julia Sawalha), takes Laura under her wing, and they soon become firm friends, experiencing together the romances, rivalries and comedies of close-knit rural life.

Customer Reviews

A Perfect Delight!
I've been following this series on BBC1 every Sunday evening and as it's so brilliant that I couldn't wait to write a review. It's based on the semi-autobiographical books of Flora Thompson who grew up in Oxfordshire at the end of the 19th century.

The series stars a young woman, Laura, who leaves her family in the poor village of Lark Rise to work as an assistant to the post mistress in the posher town of Candleford. This series has everything. Light-hearted moments, tender scenes, forbidden love across the social divide, hideous snobs in the form of the two brilliantly named and brillinatly played Pratt sisters, and bags and bags of humour. There is grace personified by the post mistress Dorcas Lane who is fantastically played by Julia Sawalha, and the dashing young squire portrayed by Ben Miles.

This is the perfect Sunday evening drama series which you can happily watch with your whole family, both young and old. If you have actually read the books you may be slightly disappointed as some liberties have been taken with the text, but for those of us who haven't it's a perfect delight.

A brilliant Julia Sawalha in a first class period drama
Lark Rise to Candleford is a trilogy of semi-autobiographical novels about the English countryside, written by Flora Thompson, and first published in that form in 1945. This is the 2008 ten-part BBC adaptation, starring Julia Sawalha, Olivia Hallinan, Brendan Coyle and Dawn French.

This is for me the perfect entertainment. Great filming, great language, style, elegance, human relationships, a world changing, extremes in poverty and richness. A world long gone is brought back. This is no trashy entertainment playing to a dump audience. This is just first class.

The cast is just wonderful, all of them, but I have to admit that Julia Sawalha as Dorcas Lane is just fantastic. I am impressed by her as I am impressed by the whole adaption. Most impressive is the setting as well. Creating such a hamlet and market town is just phenomenal. The details are just amazing.Cannot wait for the second part to be filmed. In short this DVD will not be my one weakness -)

A breath of fresh air
I loved everything about this production based on a book I had always meant to read, but somehow had never got around to it.

The series was like a breath of fresh air - an escape from the never-ending diet of real-life violence and murder stories, and the dreaded cheap reality shows that seem to be all pervasive these days. I found myself so looking forward to it, I rearranged my social life so as not to miss it. This is real quality TV, and I only wish there was more of it. This is British drama at its best. Julia Sawalha was absolutely brilliant, as always, and the ladies' costumes were outstanding. I don't usually buy DVD's because I tend to not watch programmes more than once - but this is a classic and I will definitely be watching it again and again.