Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ

Lark Rise To Candleford, Bill Gallagher's adaptation of Flora Thompson's charming memoir of her Oxfordshire childhood, is the perfect winter warmer for the New Year on Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ One.

The drama sees the welcome return of favourite characters including Julia Sawalha as post mistress Dorcas Lane; Olivia Hallinan as Laura Timmins, her assistant in the Post Office; Claudie Blakley as Laura's mother, Emma; Ben Aldridge as handsome journalist and Laura's sweetheart Daniel Parish; John Dagleish as Alf Arless; and Ruby Bentall as Minnie. Victoria Hamilton is Ruby Pratt, back to help run the fashionable clothes stores in Candleford with her sister Pearl, played by Matilda Ziegler.

Joining the much-loved cast for the fourth series is Richard Harrington (Holby Blue, Collision), who plays Gabriel Cochrane, the handsome and once-wealthy owner of a large iron foundry. Here, Richard tells Programme Information about his character and writer and executive producer Bill Gallagher explains how Gabriel fits into the drama. "He is a very interesting character. He comes to Candleford down on his luck, having suffered a tragic loss in his life with the death of his wife, which culminated in him losing his family business," says Richard.

"Prior to his wife's death, he was offered a loan by the bank to expand. He didn't really want the loan but went along with it because his business may have been under threat if he hadn't. Then his adored wife became desperately ill, and instead of expanding the business, he did what his heart told him to do and made sure that the last months of her life were spent seeing and doing as much as she could."

Gabriel, now homeless and penniless and grieving his wife, arrives in Candleford looking for a new start. Dorcas offers him a job as blacksmith and a room above the forge. It will tide him over until he regains his wealth and position. As well as restoring his fortunes, Gabriel is determined to bring down the banker who he blames for the loss of his home and business. He quickly wins the support of the people of Candleford as he mounts his campaign against the bank.

"What is striking about Gabriel is that he is a man who acts first and thinks later," says Richard. "Everything he does is for a good cause. He has got a very big heart and he is very considerate of other people. I think that is what his great quality is and why people try and help him."

Executive producer/writer Bill Gallagher explains how the new character came about: "Before I finished writing series three I had some clear ideas of what I wanted to do with the characters in series four, particularly Dorcas. This meant introducing a new character, a man who has lost everything – his wife, his home, his business. I wanted to create someone who had to start life again.

"Gabriel was my invention. We had portrayed a man of wealth and standing in Sir Timothy, and a self-made man in James Dowland, so I felt it might be interesting to look at a man who has lost his position and fortune. However, having created Gabriel we draw on things from the books to bring him to life and make him part of the community that Flora Thompson so vividly depicted.

"The difficulty in creating a love interest for Dorcas is that her situation as post mistress would be affected were she to marry. She would lose her place and would have to leave the Post Office. I decided to turn this to our advantage, to make the drama about her dilemma, and to make this still more interesting by making this man an employee of hers. It created an interesting dynamic that could look at the issues of her situation and the times in which Dorcas lived."

Richard says: "Theirs is a turbulent and charged relationship, and they have a respect for each other as they have both been desperately hurt by love as it transpires that his wife wasn't all that she was made out to be. So they tread very carefully with each other but they gravitate towards each other.

So what is Gabriel's perspective on the folk of Candleford and neighbouring hamlet Lark Rise, and what is in store for him?

"He is a great mediator between the two worlds," says Richard. "He sees past class and doesn't really belong to either, so treats everyone with the same respect. He says what he thinks and he doesn't do that for effect, he just does it because he is a unique man.

With an average of more than 6.8 million viewers for series three, what was it like for Richard joining the cast and crew of such a popular drama?

"They were wonderful and I couldn't have wished for a better welcome," he says. "The crew and the cast are astounding and they give you all the infrastructure and tools to do your job, and if I can't do my job after the welcome I had then there is something wrong with me! It was a great pleasure to come into work and tackle these enormously big scenes."

Talking about his co-star Julia Sawalha, Richard continues: "I think our dynamic as actors together worked really well and I felt safe in her company and respected her completely. She doesn't miss a beat and she is so intuitive and bright so you have to up your game a bit."

Filming took just over three months around Bath and Bristol. "It is stunning there and even though I belong to the Candleford clan there is something magical about the Lark Rise set," recalls Richard. "I particularly loved filming my first episode because it sets me up as a character. It is always very exciting when you play a new character because you don't really know what you are going to do until you open your mouth. You can prepare to a certain extent but until you actually get on to the set with the costumes and stand there with the characters it doesn't really come alive. I think I quickly got into it and that is due to the fact that I was with an esteemed cast and crew who were willing you to do well."