Lark Rise to Candleford

I was made aware of the BBC Series, "Lark Rise to Candleford," through other blogs. It received high praise for viewers loved the acting, characters, beautiful cinematography, experiences of a simpler time, lack of violence, and all around good story telling.

I took the bait and clicked here. All four seasons have been put on You Tube in approximately 10 minute segments (six segments make up one episode.) Unfortunately, the series ended mid-February 2011.


I especially enjoyed watching Lark Rise on the ipad as we traveled this Spring. Ipads have amazing visuals and the you tube segments look stunning on it. One of the joys of this series is that each shot looks like it could be a painting. Olivia Hallinan plays Laura Timmins (Flora) in the BBC series.

I soon found myself researching more and found the series is based on a trilogy of the same name written by Flora Timms Thompson, pictured above, in the late 1930's and early 40's. The trilogy is a loose memoir of Flora's (Laura in the series) which expounds upon life in the countryside of England in the late 1800's.

I found a copy through my countywide library system. It was a yellowed paperback from the 1970's but it served my purpose well. I began the book halfway through watching the 42 episodes and that actually seemed like a good time to start. I knew enough about the characters to pick them out in the book as well as the development of story lines. My viewing enriched the book and the book my viewing.