Cranford

Last night's first part of BBC adaptation was a real pleasure and delight.

The novelist and biographer Elizabeth Cleghorn Gaskell (1810 to 1865), was brought up by her aunt in Knutsford, Cheshire.

Mrs Gaskell's literary output was varied, and included not only numerous short stories, tales of mystery, murder and the supernatural, the anecdotal and amusing Cranford, for which she is perhaps best known, Mary Barton which deals with unemployment, drug addiction and poverty, Ruth the story of an unmarried mother; and the novel North and South, set in Manchester.

The Life of Charlotte Bronte, was a pioneer work of literary biography; Sylvia's Lovers, a historical novel about Whitby; Cousin Phillis, a love story set in the Cheshire countryside; and the novel she had almost completed when she died in 1865, Wives and Daughters. Her letters are full of interest, detail and wit, and make fascinating reading, although none to her husband survive.

Although Elizabeth and her husband were both Unitarians, the wedding took place in Knutsford Parish Church, according to the legal requirements of the time. After her marriage Mrs Gaskell never again lived in Knutsford, but she was a frequent visitor to Knutsford and it occurs again and again in her writings.

'Cranford' was Mrs Gaskell's second book and the first one to represent the sunnier side of her literary nature. It may be seen perhaps as a reaction to the grimness of 'Mary Barton'. It first appeared as a series of essays in Charles Dickens' magazine 'Household Words' and was published in book form in 1853.

On November 12th, 1865, with only a few pages of 'Wives and Daughters' to be written, Mrs. Gaskell was sitting round the fire after tea with her daughters in the country house in Hampshire which she had just bought in readiness for her husband's retirement. Suddenly, in the middle of a sentence, she fell forward and died of a heart attack. Whether she had previous attacks we do not know - if she had, she said nothing about them. She was 55.

The body of Elizabeth Gaskell was brought to Knutsford and buried in the Unitarian Churchyard, where her grave is carefully tended. Here, in the town she loved, her memory is ever green.

TV Review - Cranford, BBC One, Sunday 18 November, 9pm

Stand back ladies and gentlemen, I feel we may have a contender for programme of the year. After just one episode, I hear you cry? Oh yes, it was that good. The fabulous Nancy Banks-Smith thinks it's excellent and if you don't believe me then I'm sure you'll believe her.

You need two basic things for a successful drama - great actors and a great script, and Cranford had an embarrassment of riches in both departments. I had high hopes when I heard that Heidi Thomas was providing the script, as I love her film adaptation of I Capture The Castle, and, while I didn't see it myself, we at TVScoop are collective fans of Lilies, and she didn't fail to deliver - I laughed more at this 'drama' than most comedies that have come out this year.