Based on the works of Victorian novelist Elizabeth Gaskell, and featuring an incredible cast of British actors including Dame Judi Dench, Dame Eileen Atkins, Sir Michael Gambon, Francesca Annis, Philip Glenister, Julia McKenzie, Imelda Staunton, Julia Sawalha and Simon Woods, the Cranford films have all the trappings of conventional British TV period pieces - gorgeous, lush location filming, impeccable costuming and set design, and of course a roster of exemplary performers. However, those viewers sated with the sometimes staid, almost rote rhythms and tones of such U.K. period dramas will be delighted at producer Sue Birtwistle, writer Heidi Thomas, and director Simon Curtis' care in crafting two thoroughly beguiling period comedy/dramas.