Cranford
Characters
Miss Deborah Jenkyns (Dame Eileen Atkins)
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Grew up during early years of Napoleonic Wars. Older sister of Matty and Peter. Daughter of the (dead) Rector. Cranford women dominated by her. Upholds a rigidly narrow and exclusive code of conduct.
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Miss Matty Jenkyns (Dame Judi Dench)
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The younger sister of Deborah. "We all of us love Miss Matty. And I somehow think we are all of us better when she is near us" (Mary Smith). Gaskell says of Matty: "Her own rebellious spirit was crushed long ago and she remains loyal to her sister as the true arbiter of taste."
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Mary Smith (Lisa Dillon)
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Very early 20s. Visitor from Manchester. Says of herself that she is "indiscreet and incautious". Stays with the Jenkyns sisters. Her mother died when she was eight and her father remarried and has a second family. Her mother grew up in Cranford alongside the Amazons.
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Clara Smith (Finty Williams)
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Mary Smith's step-mother, who is only ten years older than Mary. With four young children at home, Clara is determined to find a suitable bachelor for the troublesomely independent Mary.
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Martha (Claudie Blakely)
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Aged 22. Servant to the Jenkyns sisters. A "rough, honest-looking country girl" from a farm. Courted by Jem Hearne.
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Jem Hearn (Andy Buchan)
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Martha's follower (boyfriend). A joiner. "Six foot one in his stocking feet."
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Rev Hutton (Alex Jennings)
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The vicar of Cranford – successor to Mr Jenkyns (Deborah and Matty's father). A widower with four children – Sophie, Helen, Lizzie and Walter.
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Sophy Hutton (Kimberley Nixon)
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Aged 20. The vicar's eldest daughter and surrogate mother to her three younger siblings since her mother died six years earlier. Has a gentle and loving manner with children and becomes a good friend of Mary Smith's. Love interest of Dr Harrison.
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Helen Hutton (Hester Odgers)
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Aged 14. Sophy's middle sister.
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Lizzie Hutton (Rosy Byrne)
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Aged 12. Sophy's youngest sister.
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Walter Hutton (Haydon Downing)
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Aged six. Sophy's adored younger brother, whom she has raised since he was a baby.
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Dr Frank Harrison (Simon Woods)
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Late 20s. Newly qualified doctor, trained at Guy's in London. Son of Dr Morgan's cousin, newly arrived in Cranford, he sets the ladies hearts a-flutter.
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Dr Morgan (John Bowe)
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Cranford's dapper doctor. Runs the major practice in the area. Takes Dr Harrison as his partner.
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Mrs Rose (Lesley Manville)
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Late 30s. Newly widowed. Her husband was a doctor and friend of Dr Morgan. Sets up lodgings as housekeeper for Dr Harrison.
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Dr Jack Marshland (Joe McFadden)
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Late 20s. Dr Harrison's friend from London. Lively and fun and a great prankster.
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Miss Augusta Tomkinson (Deborah Findlay)
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Age 55. Older sister of Caroline, whom she has brought up since their parents died. Has a surprising amount of money, though very frugal.
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Caroline Tomkinson (Selina Griffiths)
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Aged 35. The indulged younger sister of Miss Tomkinson. Determined not to stay a spinster like her sister (and the rest of the Amazons). Sets her sights on Dr Harrison.
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Thomas Holbrook (Michael Gambon)
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About 70. Miss Matty's suitor from her youth. Though educated, not considered by her family as suitable husband. A "tall, thin Don Quixote looking man". Cousin twice removed from Miss Pole. Yeoman farmer with own estate in Woodley, just outside Cranford.
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Miss Pole (Imelda Staunton)
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Cousin of Thomas Holbrook. A sort of roving ambassador for the Amazons and voluble disseminator of local news. Her peripatetic nature means she is never far from any unfolding incident. Mary Smith says of her: "We looked on her as a kind of prophetess, from the knack of foreseeing things before they came to pass – although she did not like to disturb her friends by telling them of her foreknowledge."
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The Hon Mrs Jamieson (Barbara Flynn)
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Sister-in-law to the late Earl of Glenmire. A great snob. Has a beloved dog, Carlo.
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Mrs Forrester (Julia McKenzie)
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Widow of a Major, with very limited means. She has one beloved cow, Bessie, which she loves as a daughter.
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Sir Charles Maulver (Greg Wise)
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Local aristocrat, magistrate and director of the railway company. He moves Captain Brown to Cranford. Hires Captain Brown, who served under him in the Army and saved his life.
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Captain Brown (Jim Carter)
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Around 60. Father of Miss Brown (ill) and Jessie. Military man. "His excellent masculine common sense had gained him an extraordinary place as authority among the Cranford ladies." Mary Smith writes: "We did not know what to make of a man who would speak of poverty as if it was not a disgrace."
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Jessie Brown (Julia Sawalha)
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Aged 28. "Twenty shades prettier than her older sister," she was a self-sacrificing nursemaid to her mother and her sister. Courted by Major Gordon. "I do not know whether she was pretty or not; but I liked her face, and so did everybody, and I do not think she could help her dimples. She had something of her father's jauntiness of gait and manner."
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Major Gordon (Alistair Petrie)
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"A tall, fine, frank-looking man of 40." An officer and friend of Captain Brown, he has been in love with Jessie Brown for years. An earlier proposal was turned down because Jessie had to look after her ailing mother and sister. He soon returns to Cranford in hopes of winning her a second time.
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Lady Ludlow (Francesca Annis)
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Late 60s. Reigning aristocrat of the area. Lives at Hanbury Court. "She was very small in stature, and very upright." Driven by a rigid sense of duty, can be compassionate but represents the status quo and see change as a danger to the natural order of things. Crosses swords with Mr Carter about reforms to her estate. Longs in vain to see her only surviving son, who lives in Italy.
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Mr Carter (Philip Glenister)
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Land agent to Lady Ludlow. Son of a farmer, a man who has made his way after managing to get an education. A reformer, who nevertheless respects the old order. Passionate about free education for the working classes. Very direct. Sensing the potential of the 10-year-old Harry Gregson he becomes determined to educate him, even against the express wishes of Lady Ludlow.
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Miss Galindo (Emma Fielding)
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A milliner and friend to Lady Ludlow. "Apt to speak more strongly than accurately." Though the daughter of a baronet, she has no money and is forced to work for a living.
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Harry Gregson (Alex Etel)
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Son of a notorious poacher, 10-year-old Harry is desperate for knowledge. Mr Carter recognises the boy's ability and secretly tutors him to read and write. When Lady Ludlow discovers this, Harry's world falls apart.
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Job Gregson (Dean Lennox Kelly)
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Harry's father. A notorious local poacher and ne'er-do-well who lives in poverty with his family in a wretched hovel on the edge of the Hanbury Estate.
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Mr Johnson (Adrian Scarborough)
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Cranford's newly elected mayor and ambitious owner of Johnson's Universal Stores, the main shop in town – and the main gathering point for all the ladies of the town.
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Mrs Johnson (Debra Gillett)
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Co-runs Johnson's Universal Stores with her husband. A ruthless saleswoman.
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