Lark Rise to Candleford

Lark Rise to Candleford is a British television costume drama series, adapted by the BBC from Flora Thompson's trilogy of semi-autobiographical novels about the English countryside, published between 1939 and 1943. The first episode aired on 13 January 2008 on BBC One and BBC HD in the UK. In the U.S., the series began airing on select PBS stations in the spring of 2009. A third series began airing in the UK on 10 January 2010. The fourth and final series began on 9 January 2011 on BBC One and BBC One HD, and was filmed during August 2010. It was announced on 22 January 2011 that the show would not be returning for a fifth series. The final series concluded on 13 February 2011. Premise The series is set in the small Oxfordshire hamlet of Lark Rise, and the wealthier neighbouring market town of Candleford towards the end of the 19th century. The series chronicles the daily lives of farmworkers, craftsmen and gentry observing the characters in loving, boisterous and competing communities of families, rivals, friends and neighbours. The story is seen through the eyes of a young girl, Laura Timmins (Olivia Hallinan), as she leaves Lark Rise to start a new life under the wing of her mother's cousin, the independent and effervescent Dorcas Lane (Julia Sawalha), who is postmistress at the local post office in Candleford. Through these two characters, viewers experience the force of friendship as Laura and Dorcas see each other through the best and worst of times.