Bringing Gaskell to BBC One

Kimberley Nixon in Cranford (Photo: BBC/Nick Briggs)

In The Times, Jenny Uglow looks at the long process of bringing Elizabeth Gaskell’s Cranford to BBC TV.

Bringing Cranford to the screen has been difficult, partly because of this vexed issue of tone and partly because Gaskell fixes her eye, with great humour, but also anger and compassion, on the dramas of daily life rather than on a single grand plot. In this, it is unlike any other classic serials. Persuading people of its power and veracity was the first problem that faced Sue Birtwistle, producer of the BBC’s famous Pride and Prejudice.

Cranford (adapted by Heidi Thomas) starts on BBC One next Sunday.