MovieChat Forums > Cranford (2008) Discussion > Anyone Wish They Hadn't Watch 'Return'

Anyone Wish They Hadn't Watch 'Return'

posted 13 years ago by Hezzer_Wezzer
21 replies | jump to latest

SPOILERS

Over the summer, I watched the Cranford series from Netflix, though Return to Cranford wasn't yet available. It is now and I watched it last week. I must say that I wished I hadn't.

I was made miserable by all the depressing occurences. Frankly, the whole thing was a downer and I felt that at times I was even a little bored.

Harry and the evils he faces at school . . . his family disappearing . . . the train wreck. Is it weird that I'm very upset with Harry being so careless *again* with Bessie? Does he have a death-wish for that cow or what?!

The situation he caused was awful and resulted in death and injury to many . . . though I don't feel at all bad for Edward. I hated that guy!

And the thing I hated the most was that Martha died with her baby. I just love Claudie Blakely since watching Larkrise to Candleford. It really broke my heart to see her lying there on the bed with her poor little baby swaddled in the crook of her arm.

Anyway, in short . . . I was satisfied with how things were wrapped up - before Return to Cranford came out. I would have preferred to leave everything that way and not know what came after. I wish I could go back and unwatch it. My husband said the same thing.

[–] mrshvd3 13 years ago

My husband and I were very disappointed in "Return", too, for all the reasons you gave and more. We just didn't like the turns the story took. In fact, when we ordered the DVD set, we made it a point to order "Cranford" only and not the one with "Return" included.

...One Nation, UNDER GOD...

[–] alillamb 13 years ago

I'm really glad you posted this. I'm watching the original Cranford now and read this message before I'd finished. I'm just going to skip Return to Cranford and leave people with, for the most part, happier endings! I read the description of Return to Cranford on Wikipedia, and it sounds like such a downer - especially Martha and Jem. Really disappointing, so I'm going to leave them happily expecting their first baby instead.

[–] catwoman1940 13 years ago

I whole heartedly agree! I also felt we didn't have enough of the characters we so loved, in particular Mary. Instead we were punished with new, uninteresting characters, a tepid romance (I for one had expected to see Mary & Jack finally end up together this time around) and the horrible recasting of Miss Matty's brother Peter.

Hopefully, they will make a third installment and fix all the mistakes from the second one.

And was it just me or did they make everyone's hair much worse in "Return to Cranford" ... everyone seemed to have blonder hair that didn't match most of the ladies' skin tone.

[–] 13 years ago

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[–] WeatherViolet 13 years ago

Yes, I also agree completely. I've seen series which lose their way, and turn to the downbeat, but "Cranford" really takes the cake when it comes to entertaining series gone awry.

Well, I'm glad that I didn't suggest for others to watch this before I did, and I certainly don't tell them to watch after I did.

Yes, it's that disappointing, depressing and downbeat, as though they are forced to strike the set and to eliminate many characters because they have no idea what to do here.

Another case of an otherwise promising producition with with great talent and potential, all turning very unprofessional in the wrong hands.

"What we are is God's gift to us; what we become is our gift to God" -- Eleanor Powell

[–] Harold_Robbins 13 years ago

I don't understand all this negativity about RETURN TO CRANFORD, which I enjoyed almost as much as the first production (which I'm in the process of re-watching).

"In my case, self-absorption is completely justified."

[–] angelofvic 13 years ago

I liked it too, Harold. It was of course thinner, as all manufactured sequels are bound to be, and it was missing a few characters, but it was just so nice to see everyone again that it was totally worth it. It's not often that you get such an outrageously good ensemble cast to do such richly rewarding material, so prolonging it for our benefit was a bonus indeed.
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[–] kralvarez1987 13 years ago

I liked it as well, a good deal had to do with Tom Hiddleston. I would have liked to have more of the other characters from the first series- I think the events (Martha's death and her second baby, Lady Ludlow and Harry's bullying problems) showed that stories continue, bad things happen as well as good.

I AM MELON LORD!

[–] Miinerva 12 years ago

It was just a standard that couldn't be met. So they didn't try: wonderful script wasn't waited for.
I really wasn't expecting great again, just good. I can't say I was disappointed.

"Mr. Willoughby, you are not welcome here."

[–] 12 years ago

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[–] Viktorkrumnemesis 12 years ago

I thought it was a good but ultimately disappointing sequel... And why was Peter recast?

[–] angelofvic 12 years ago

Peter wasn't recast. Nicholas Le Prevost played him again.
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[–] booklover181 11 years ago

Peter was recast. He was played by Martin Shaw in the first series.

[–] crazyeightyeight 12 years ago

Me too. I just finished watching and I think I loved it just as much as the first series. Honestly, I liked the new characters--I was glad to be rid of stupid Sophy Hutton and Dr. Harrison, and the only characters who didn't come back that I was sad about happened to have died in the first series (Miss Deborah and Mr. Carter) or left Cranford like Jessie Brown (ha, I almost typed Candleford)!.

"Listen very carefully. I shall say this only once."

[–] EightTenPM 12 years ago

Not exactly, but I was disappointed. It suffered badly from what I call Second Series Syndrome--the writing and story lines seemed rehashed and less credible. The one that really annoyed me was the ladies snubbing Mrs. Forester's sister-in-law, played by Celia Imrie but I can't remember the character's name. There's no way Miss Matty and Miss Tompkinson would have been so obvious about cutting the woman as they left church. But I did love the part where as they're leaving church, Miss Pole urges her maid to tell them what the Lady is wearing. The dog coming in to urinate in church was just plain crass. IMO the first series was so fresh that the second series couldn't possibly live up to the first. But when I watched it many months later on DVD, I enjoyed it much more than I did when I saw it the first time.

Angelofvic, Peter Jenkyns was recast for the second series; in the first he was played by Martin Shaw.

If you don't know what they're saying, turn on the subtitles.

[–] flowergirlz_us 12 years ago

I was disappointed at first, until I watched it again much later. I have to admit I really enjoyed it.

Especially when I saw Tom Hiddleston (The Avengers, War Horse) playing the romantic male lead. I didn't find the movie anywhere near as awesome as the first movie, but there were some very touching moments.

If they do another, I hope they give Greg Wise a romantic storyline too.

[–] ducdebrabant 11 years ago

I missed the doctor and his wife, I soon missed Her Ladyship, and wasn't entirely taken with the new characters. And it seemed to get more cutesy somehow. Surely the cow's hair would have grown back by the time of the sequel, but she's still in thos flannel pajamas, and all those Justice League shots of the ladies walking along in a rank were silly.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ja-0NWXrRGA