DVD/150: TWENTY THOUSAND STREETS UNDER THE SKY (Simon Curtis, 2005, tv)

A perfect adaptation of Patrick Hamilton's trio of novels, published between 1929 and 1934, by the late playwright Kevin Elyot and directed by Simon Curtis.

In the early 1930s, Bob and Ella are co-workers in The Midnight Bell pub in Euston. Their easy friendship hides Ella's unrequited love for him, made worse by them being in adjacent rooms above the pub.

One night Bob starts chatting to young prostitute Jenny in the bar; when she goes to leave to work for her rent money, he gives her the cash if she promises to meet the next day.

Jenny doesn't appear but Bob later tracks her down in Soho; she acts contrite and soon they start an unbalanced relationship with Bob giving her cash from his diminishing savings and Jenny occasionally showing up, sometimes loving, sometimes dismissive.

Meanwhile Ella finds herself pursued by pub customer Ernest Eccles, a patronising bore.

Shelf or charity shop?  A definite keeper thanks to the spot-on 1930s design - although the sepia, drained-colour cinematography makes you pine for just one single primary colour - Kevin Elyot's marvellous adaptation, Simon Curtis' nuanced direction, and the painfully sad performances of Bryan Dick as Bob, Sally Hawkins as Ella and Zoe Tapper as Jenny.  The wonderfully chosen supporting cast, lead by Phil Davis as the emotional bully Ernest Eccles, include Marcia Warren, Doreen Mantle, Tony Haygarth, Susan Wooldridge, Ruth Sheen, Neil Stuke and Geoffrey Streatfeild.  All the more special too when I remember that it was filmed outside Flashbacks, the shop I used to work in, one weekend!

DVD/150: RETURN TO CRANFORD (Simon Curtis, 2010, tv)

It's time to revisit Cranford, Elizabeth Gaskill's Victorian Cheshire village, where modernity threatens to arrive by the advancing railway.

It is 1844, two years on from the previous series, and the Cranford matrons still have much to gossip about, like the arrival of two new families: prosperous Mr Buxton, his son William and ward Erminia, and widowed Mrs Bell with son Edward and put-upon daughter Peggy.

 

Miss Matty, the gentle heart of Cranford, introduces the families where Peggy is an instant hit with the Buxtons, particularly William.

 

The railway stops five miles from Cranford as the land ahead is owned by Lady Ludlow, but when she dies her profligate son Septimus arrives and quickly signs her whole estate to the railways for cash.

 

Mix together thwarted lovers, an unexpected marriage, a derailed train, a runaway schoolboy, an Italian magician, and a Christmas waltz and you have a worthy sequel.

Shelf or charity shop? Joining it's predecessor on the shelf.  Sue Birtwhistle and Susie Conklin's production is slightly more sentimental as it was shown as part of the BBC's Christmas programming but the quality of the production and adaptation by Heidi Thomas from several Gaskill novellas is excellent.  Once again Simon Curtis' remarkable cast blend into a seamless ensemble: Judi Dench, Julia McKenzie, Imelda Staunton, Lisa Dillon, Francesca Annis, Tim Curry, Emma Fielding, Jim Carter, Alex Etel, Rory Kinnear, Jonathan Pryce, Tom Hiddleston and a luminous Jodie Whittaker all shine.

 

 

DVD/150: CRANFORD (Simon Curtis/Steve Hudson, 2007, tv)

"You're not in London now, you're in Cranford"

In 1842, the residents of the Cheshire market town of Cranford know their place in Victorian society and in God's eyes.  But slowly the modern world is coming...

The formidable spinsters and widows of Cranford spend their days seizing on any gossip and the sight or two women walking quickly usually means new scandal.  The arbiter of moral rectitiude is Miss Deborah Jenkyns, who lives with her younger, more gentle sister Matty but both can be relied upon to do the right thing.

The spinsters welcome in Mary Smith, the daughter of an old Manchester friend, when she is forced out by her step-mother and, together they experience new neighbours, new joys, but also new sadnesses because for all of them, death can come unexpectedly. 

Heidi Thomas' adaptation of Elizabeth Gaskill's novellas is a superb mix of comedy, tragedy and class.

Shelf or charity shop? Definite shelf.  Sue Birtwhistle and Susie Conklin's production would have seemed a natural for the BBC but it was hit by the corporation's budget cuts, postponed for a year and having to thin down from 6 episodes to 5 and then changing directors halfway through filming but luckily they persevered.  It goes without saying that the cast give excellent performances but they also provide a seamless ensemble: Judi Dench, Eileen Atkins, Julia McKenzie, Imelda Staunton, Lisa Dillon, Francesca Annis, Barbara Flynn, Deborah Findlay, Lesley Manville, Emma Fielding, Jim Carter, Philip Glenister, Michael Gambon and Alex Etel are all memorable.