Programme Information

Moving on in Cranford

Cranford

BBC ONE

• www.bbc.co.uk/drama
• Programme copy

As the critically acclaimed, multi-award-winning drama Cranford returns to BBC One this Christmas for a two-part special, Dame Judi Dench tells Programme Information's Sarah Ward how she couldn't wait to reprise her role as the much-loved Miss Matty Jenkyns – so much so that she immediately set aside 10 weeks in her busy schedule for filming.

"We thought that was it after the last series," says Judi, who was delighted at the prospect of returning to Cranford once more. "But it's lovely that it did come back. It's so beautifully created again from Elizabeth Gaskell's novels – really, really well-written.

"I initially wanted to do Cranford because it seemed like a very different proposition. I knew the book, because I had to read it at school. I was very bored reading it, but I was very intrigued by the script when it arrived."

The story picks up in the late summer of 1844 and Miss Matty is adjusting to life following the loss of her beloved sister, Deborah, two years ago. Having longed for marriage and children, but never achieved either, she is relishing being at the centre of a busy household once more.

For Judi, there was a wonderful feeling of the old gang being back together again and while old favourites return to Cranford, a host of newcomers arrive.

"Oh we gave the newcomers a really horrible time – especially Jonathan Pryce [who plays Mr Buxton]!" she laughs.

The returning cast donned their same costumes from the last series, although Judi did have one small complaint about her period attire.

"We begged for more mittens – for new mittens – but we didn't get our way!" laughs Judi. "They're woollen mittens and if you wear them for a long while, they stretch. So consequently, between takes, you find yourself picking at them and then they stretch.

"I could have knitted or crocheted a couple of pairs, now I come to think of it!"

While the world continues to change in Cranford, the shadow of the railway still looms over the town.

"The town is resistant about the railway, which they want to bring into Cranford," explains Judi. "Mr Buxton, his son, William, and his ward, Erminia, all come back to Cranford, so suddenly there's a lot of young blood about the place, which is lovely, but we spend a lot of our time resisting the railway – so there's a tremendous kind of fight."

As she talks affectionately about her time filming Cranford, Judi recalls one particular moment when she lost a crown in her tooth on set and had to be sent to a dentist in Ealing.

"There wasn't time for me to change," she laughs. "So I was in my wig and bonnet and all my clothes. I went into the waiting room and sat and registered, and everyone kept looking at me. When I got in to see the dentist, he said: 'Are you busy working at the moment?!' I was wearing a full wig with curls!"

So does living in a town like Cranford in the 1840s sound appealing to Judi?

"Oh no," she says shaking her head. "No – I wouldn't have liked to have lived back then – all that washing! Mind you, when I was little we didn't have a dishwasher, we didn't have a washing machine – we didn't have any of those things, so we had a bit of that at the end of the Thirties.

"But I don't think I would have liked it, other than to experience the community of the people, which is what is important."

Judi is full of praise for one of Cranford's stars of the four-legged variety – Sykes the dog, who makes an appearance in a couple of scenes.

"You know what they say about not working with children or animals; well, I'd like to have a two-hander with Sykes the dog – he was sensational and never put a paw out of line. He was wonderful!"

One of Britain's most respected and distinguished actresses, Judi's glittering career has encompassed stage, screen and television and has earned her numerous Oscar, Golden Globe, Olivier and Bafta awards and nominations.

Judi, however, confesses that her true passion is the theatre, compared to TV and film, but is full of praise for the crew of Cranford.

"I prefer the theatre," she says. "This takes quite a long time. It's an enormous amount of work to do in a very short schedule, so you really have to be on the ball. But the crew was phenomenal – I don't know how they do it. They were brilliant."

Early next year sees her reunite with director Peter Hall, a theatrical partnership that has lasted some 50 years, as she prepares to play a role she first performed as a schoolgirl – Titania, in A Midsummer Night's Dream.

Over on the silver screen, meanwhile, Judi will soon be seen alongside Daniel Day-Lewis, Penelope Cruz, Nicole Kidman, Kate Hudson and Sophia Loren in Nine, a vibrant and provocative musical that follows the life of world-famous film director Guido Contini.

So will Judi be watching Cranford over the festive period?

"I'll be spending Christmas at home with the family and friends," she says. "It'll be lovely. If I'm not actually doing anything then I will be watching Cranford. I don't like watching myself, though, but I don't mind watching television."

A million miles away in the quiet village of Cranford, meanwhile, life is set to change in some very unexpected ways. Let's hope the trials and tribulations of life in the small Cheshire market town don't take their toll on Miss Matty.

"She deserves a bit of happiness – it's about bloody time!" laughs and jokes Judi. "Poor old Miss Matty! She starts to have a really nice time, though – wait until Cranford 3!"