The year is 1936 and the era of the Bellamy's has ended yet their legacy (the house) remains. Rose, a former maid of forty years to the Bellamy family, returns to be housekeeper to the Holland's.
Over three consecutive nights the Holland family settled into their new way of life and we, the viewing British public, were allowed to turn back the clock to a time of political upheaval and social change.
Having been a huge fan of the original series I found myself excited at the prospect of its return. I trust the BBC with all of their period dramas and once again they excelled themselves.
The actors were superb, most especially Dame Eileen Atkins as Lady Maud Holland and Jean Marsh as the wonderful Rose Buck. The plots were well thought out and touching and provided a few surprises along the way.
A lot of people would prefer it if period dramas were not commissioned by the like of the BBC anymore. However, I adore watching these interpretations of the past. The majority of modern TV is dark and dangerous and almost always ends badly for the characters involved. However the likes of Larkrise to Candleford are always full of sunshine, flowers and beautiful landscapes with small problems that are always solved within the hour. And what is wrong with that? Enough of reality is depressing, we do not always need it shoved through our television screens as well.
It is also important as a teaching tool. It ignites an interest for the young who are often massive fans of crinolin and whale-bone corsets. As a child I was brought up on the likes of Wives and Daughters and the many Dickens adaptations that have been produced over the years. And I am glad for this. There is nothing wrong with escaping to a comfortable place and if it is possible to do this through period drama then so be it. I have doubtless been influenced through television and drama in my choice of studies and career, so it is a good thing to encourage people to remember the past.
Sometimes I wonder what future we have and what past people will portray of us in dramas thrity, forty, fifty years from now; but then my living my life is not about pleasing writers in half a century's time, it is about being happy, and costume dramas always make me happy.
Congratulations to the BBC for doing an excellent job at broaching the return of a much loved British institution.
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