History Series / Cranford

* AerithAndBob: There's a few Latin names (Septimus, Erminia, Octavia, Laurentia) thrown in among your standard English (Matty, Peggy, Mary, Jessie, etc). TruthInTelevision -- Latin names were rather popular in the Victorian era.

** Miss Matty is an older example; she was this in her youth, and still retains the personality (and the hair). She's extremely meek and kind-hearted.

** Sophy Hutton has blond curly hair and she's very good-hearted, taking care of her younger siblings after they lost their mother. She's quite the feminine ideal.

** Miss Matty is an older example; she was this archetypal feminine character in her youth, and still retains the personality. She's extremely kind-hearted and a meek woman.

* OldFashionedRowboatDate: Mary Smith's embarrassing and match-making step-mother tries to invoke this trope and forces Mary to have a boat date with Dr. Harrison at Lady Ludlow's garden party. Mary doesn't want to get married and knows that Dr. Harrison likes Sophy Hutton. However, they're on friendly terms and have a pleasant conversation about Sophy and Cranford.

* HairOfGoldHeartOfGold: Sophy Hutton, then Peggy Bell. Miss Matty is an older example; she was this in her youth, and still retains the personality (and the hair) by the time the story takes place.

* BrokenBird: Miss Matty. She'd already had a rough go of it even before the BreakTheCutie began.

* OldFashionedRowboatDate: Mary Smith's embarrassing and match-making step-mother tries to invoke this trope and forces Mary to have a boat date with Dr. Harrison at Lady Ludlow's garden party. Mary doesn't want to get married and knows that Dr. Harrison likes Sophy Hudtton. However, they're on friendly terms and have a pleasant conversation about Sophy and Cranford.

* OldFashionedRowboatDate: Mary Smith's embarrassing and match-making step-mother tries to invoke this trope and forces Mary to have a boat date with Dr. Harrison at Lady Ludlow's garden party. Mary doesn't want to get married and knows that Dr. Harrison likes Sophy Hudson. However, they're on friendly terms and have a pleasant conversation about Sophy and Cranford.

* BechdelTest: Passes with ''flying'' colours -- in the first five minutes. The whole focus of the programme is on the women of Cranford and their relationships with each other.

* BechdelTest: Passes with ''flying'' colours -- in the first five minutes.

* CostumeDrama

* FashionsNeverChange: Notably averted. The older ladies (Miss Matty, Miss Pole, Mrs Forrester, etc.) wear dresses from the early 1830s, though the series is set in the 1840s. Mrs Jamieson, with her aristocratic pretensions, is much more fashion-forward, as are the younger women (Sophy, Peggy). Meanwhile, Erminia, who has come from finishing school in Brussels, is wearing a clothing style (the skirt and jacket, as opposed to dress) that would not be seen in England for another year or two.
* GorgeousPeriodDress: From the very early Victorian era.

The original mini-series was followed two years later by a sequel, ''Return to Cranford''. Wealthy widower Mr Buxton returns to live in Cranford with his son William and ward Erminia. Peggy Bell finds friends outside the circle of her unappreciative family, but must hold fast in the face of adversity. Mrs Jamieson is highly gratified when her sister-in-law, Lady Glenmire, comes to visit, but finds that nothing goes as she expected. Harry Gregson struggles with unforeseen difficulties along the path on which he was set by Mr Carter. The railway approaches Cranford, and with it many signs of change; Matty Jenkyns comes to believe that change must be embraced for the sake of Cranford's future, and persuades her friends to share the belief, with seemingly disastrous consequences.

The original mini-series was followed two years later by a sequel, ''Return to Cranford''. Wealthy widower Mr Buxton returns to live in Cranford with his son William and ward Erminia. Peggy Bell finds friends, and love, outside the circle of her unappreciative family, but must hold fast in the face of adversity. Mrs Jamieson is highly gratified when her sister-in-law, Lady Glenmire, comes to visit, but finds that nothing goes as she expected. Harry Gregson struggles with unforeseen difficulties along the path on which he was set by Mr Carter. The railway approaches Cranford, and with it many signs of change; Matty Jenkyns comes to believe that change must be embraced for the sake of Cranford's future, and persuades her friends to share the belief, with seemingly disastrous consequences.

The original mini-series was followed two years later by a sequel, ''Return to Cranford''. Wealthy widower Mr Buxton returns to live in Cranford with his son William and ward Erminia. Peggy Bell finds friends outside the circle of her unappreciative family. Mrs Jamieson is highly gratified when her sister-in-law, Lady Glenmire, comes to visit, but finds that nothing goes as she expected. Harry Gregson struggles with unforeseen difficulties along the path on which he was set by Mr Carter. The railway approaches Cranford, and with it many signs of change; Matty Jenkyns comes to belive that change must be embraced for the sake of Cranford's future, and persuades her friends to share the belief, with seemingly disastrous consequences.

* TheBechdelTest: Passes with ''flying'' colours.

* StarCrossedLovers: Miss Matty and Thomas Holbrook. And just when it looked like they could rekindle their relationship as DecemberDecemberRomance, another blow hit them.

* BreakTheCutie: Miss Matty gets her heart broken at ''least'' once an episode. Seeing as how she's played by JudiDench, [[TearJerker tears from viewers follow]].

* StarCrossedLovers: Miss Matty and Thomas Holbrook.

* TheBechdelTest: Passes with ''flying'' colours.

''Cranford'' is a [[Creator/TheBBC BBC]] television series based on four books by Creator/ElizabethGaskell: ''Cranford'', ''Mr Harrison's Confessions'' and ''My Lady Ludlow'', with themes from ''The Last Generation in England''. The teleplay was written by award-winning playwright and screenwriter Heidi Thomas.

''Cranford'' is a [[Creator/TheBBC BBC]] television series based on four books by Creator/ElizabethGaskell: ''Cranford'', ''The Last Generation in England'', ''Mr Harrison's Confessions'' and ''My Lady Ludlow'', with the teleplay written by Heidi Thomas.