Lark Rise To Candleford
Dawn French plays Caroline Arless
Caroline is one of the Timmins' neighbours. She is married to Walter who is away at sea. They have four children, and another on the way. Caroline is easily the biggest and most controversial character in Lark Rise.
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Her husband, Walter, has gone away to sea, leaving her to care for her ever-growing brood. But Caroline doesn't let this get her down. She may not have much money but what little she gets she spends in style – treating herself to barrels of beer and steak dinners for the family on payday, even if her children have to live on bread and dripping for the rest of the week.
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Some of her neighbours may disapprove of Caroline's thoughtless and reckless ways but, because of her considerable charm and genuine love for her children, they usually end up digging deep to help her out of trouble.
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"I wouldn't describe my character as a rebel, more of a bit of drunk!" says Dawn. "I'm quite a vibrant character, Caroline Arless is a lusty woman. She has a lust for life and for her husband who is away at sea. She's quite extreme, in that she drinks too much, laughs too much and sings too much. But she loves her family very much, it's just that she goes over the top sometimes."
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Dawn adds: "They scrabble for every penny but they do share and the Lark Rise community really look out for each other. My character's forever at someone's door borrowing some bread. Flora Thompson describes that in the book as part of community life; everything is used and used again.
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"Flora Thompson's books are such a wonderful insight into how life was, because they are so full of detail," continues Dawn. "There are all these great words that you just don't hear anymore. In one of the episodes they all go out 'spagering' which is where they throw a net over a hedge to catch all the sparrows."
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Dawn says: "There are few feisty characters in Lark Rise but you have to remember these people survived on a rural existence, who were farm hands and really relied on the local squire for their living."
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