Lark Rise to Candleford

- Season 2

(2009)

When Dorcas and Emma each want to give Laura the same gift for Christmas, an old family wound is opened up and Laura finds herself torn between two mothers. As the inhabitants of Lark Rise and Candleford prepare for the festivities, loyalties are tested and, amid the gift-giving and carol-singing, tensions are building. However, the arrival of a ragged, barefooted young woman, who goes by the name of Cinderella Doe, introduces a note of Christmas mystery. Dorcas also receives a Christmas letter from Sir Timothy.

A handsome stranger rides into Candleford, giving away silver three-penny coins. He has come from London to open his new hotel in the town, and Pearl and Ruby Pratt are delighted to welcome such a sophisticated incomer. However, he is actually James Dowland, a former Lark Rise orphan fostered by the Turrills who, on advice from Dorcas' father, left the area to make his fortune in the capital. In gratitude to his adopted parents he has their leaking roof mended, but Robert Timmins believes that he is not only buying the villagers' affections but also allowing the ...

James Dowland campaigns for the parish council on a promise of house-building but Robert challenges him, claiming that he is motivated by profit. When James' opponent withdraws through illness Dorcas puts herself forward as a candidate. In Lark Rise the battle of the sexes continues when the men complain that Lilly, a butch female itinerant laborer, has invaded the male domain of the local inn. This leads to a bitter row between Emma and Robert. During a public debate James patronizes Dorcas.

Reverend Ellison dies and at his funeral Margaret is extremely hostile when her long-lost younger brother George appears. He is a qualified doctor who believes in science, not God, and she will not give him house room. To Thomas' disgust Dorcas puts him up and he proves popular in Lark Rise, as he has manual skills and is happy to pitch in and help build a foot-path. Eventually Margaret confronts him, admitting that her resentment was caused, not by his beliefs, but by the fact that he escaped to make a life for himself, condemning her to a life of duty to a bullying ...

To help out stressed cousin Emma, Dorcas agrees to look after her baby, Annie, at the post office. Thomas is horrified but proves to be far more expert at child-care than Dorcas and her female friends, who are all very broody at Annie's presence. Thomas shocks Margaret by saying that he does not want them to have children. A cocky young Irishman called Fisher Bloom arrives in town to install a public clock, paid for by James. The foolish Minnie, after an innocent night out with him, thinks she is pregnant, but, after initial, mutual, hostility, he begins to fall for ...

Dorcas gets flu and Laura runs the counter for her very ably but will not tell her that the telegraph machine is malfunctioning, Thomas has started to sleep-walk, and that threatening letters are arriving, in case Dorcas thinks she has failed her. Minnie runs away but Twister finds her and brings her home. Dorcas is still wary of Fisher because she thinks he will make Laura too fond of him and then go on his way.

On the eve of the public opening of the clock, a vital piece does not arrive and Laura's father's tool-bag is stolen. Edmund sells his boots and Dorcas sets up a fund to buy him new tools. He is, predictably, resentful to be regarded as a charity case. Learning that her father was forced to stay in Lark Rise when he first arrived because Emma was so besotted with him she stole and hid his hammer, Laura owns up to hiding the missing piece for the clock. It was to make Fisher stay. Whilst Fisher confesses his love for Laura, Robert gives him a harsh pep talk, asking if ...

Laura is still mourning Fisher's departure so Dorcas sends her home to Lark Rise, where her grandfather Edmund is visiting to celebrate his birthday. He once courted Queenie and annoys Twister with his presence, especially when he lets it drop that the Turrills never married. A sophisticated middle-aged widow, Celestia, sweeps into Candleford to stay at James' hotel and turns heads. Margaret is convinced she has bewitched Thomas as he keeps avoiding her but he is in fact moonlighting as a hotel porter to get extra money for their wedding and does not want her to know....

Following the Turrills' wedding Alf meets Nan, a milkmaid from Fordlow, a neighboring hamlet. There has been a long-standing feud between the two communities and the pair date in secret before Alf, having heard gossip from Twister, stops seeing Nan. Margaret and Thomas set a wedding date and Minnie makes clumsy efforts to reconcile Dorcas with James, whose business is floundering.

Constable Patterson's wife falls ill, as she does every autumn, and gives him permission to re-marry if she passes on. He takes a shine to Pearl Pratt, giving her presents, and, whilst she is initially shocked, she ends up kissing him, to Ruby's horror. Mrs. Patterson makes a miracle recovery, telling Laura her annual illness is due to resentment of her husband's enthusiasm for the Autumn Produce Fair and his obsession with his garden, which has killed their marriage. She resolves to make it work, helping him to win the show. As the couple reconcile, Ruby comforts her...

James discovers he has a ten-year-old son, Sidney, whose mother has just died, but he is reluctant to remove the boy from his boarding school, feeling it would unsettle him. Dorcas argues that Sidney's place is with his father and they fall out over the matter. Laura hurts Alf by telling him she saw Nan kissing another boy. Margaret annoys Thomas by asking Robert, whom he sees as an atheist, to give her away at their wedding.

Whilst James recovers in hospital from his fall Sydney stays with Dorcas, whom he adores, showing no interest in his father, who discharges himself from hospital early, unsuccessfully trying to bully Dorcas into giving him his son. Nan is cruel to Alf, claiming that she prefers bad boys, but Emma discovers that this is only because the girl feels she is not good enough for Alf. Margaret hides from Thomas in Lark Rise when she develops a nervous rash days before their wedding.