Product Details

• Actors: Linda Bassett, Claudie Blakley, Brendan Coyle, John Dagleish, Fergus Drysdale
• Directors: Alan Grint, Charles Palmer, David Innes Edwards, David Tucker, John Greening
• Format: Box set, Color, NTSC
• Language: English
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1
• Number of discs: 14
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Studio: BBC Home Entertainment
• DVD Release Date: April 5, 2011
• Run Time: 1892 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (169 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B003WEAW18
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #5,553 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
• Learn more about "Lark Rise to Candleford: Complete Collection" on IMDb

Editorial Reviews

Flora Thompson's charming love letter to a vanished corner of rural England is brought to life in this heartwarming, critically acclaimed BBC adaptation, now available in a complete series collection. Set in the late 19th century, this rich, funny and emotional series follows the relationship of two contrasting communities: Lark Rise, a small hamlet gently holding onto the past, and Candleford, a neighboring market town bustling into the future. When young Laura Timmins leaves Lark Rise for a job at the Candleford post office, she discovers an eye-opening, exciting new world. In the face of scandals and feuds, she must leave her childhood behind and forge her own path to womanhood.

Seasons: 1-4

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

213 of 216 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Everything wholesome, charming, delightful, funny, touching and more! March 2, 2011

By Kerri Williamson

Format:DVD

Charmingly entertaining, this series is a wholesome delight to the vintage senses, from darling start to sudden finish. (The only true downside being that this series was just stopped short at essentially a half of season four - for some strange and unanswerable reason, having absolutely nothing to do with and seemingly ignoring the fact that the show has enjoyed very high ratings and passionate fans in the UK - to the US and beyond.)

I discovered this engaging series about a year ago and was entirely thrilled to have stumbled upon it. I couldn't watch every episode of the first three seasons fast enough and then promptly watched every show once more at a more leisurely and enjoyable pace. I couldn't wait for season four to arrive this year and have recently seen every episode once (and I'm about to watch them all again for the second satisfying time). I'm glad that many storyline threads were wrapped up quite nicely at the end, but still wish this series had continued through the few more seasons that it was meant to be in the first place. (Could fans bring this back in any way any time soon - either side of the pond - maybe a co-production?!)

Adorned with lovely late Victorian dresses and details, complete with wonderful actors and their perfect performances, abounding with cute and quirky characters running the gamut from silly to snarky to sweet: this series of episodes (in basically three and a half seasons) offers plenty of thought-provoking and interesting themes while it evokes smiles, laughter and even some tears (at least to the sensitive of heart).

The women I know who have seen it have loved it like I do, and even some men I know have watched and enjoyed it too. This series is certainly family fare. There is plenty to think about... Poverty contrasting against monetary ease. A poor hamlet sometimes in contest with a thriving town. Class structure. Old traditions versus new ideas. Neighborly and not always so very neighborly folks. Human nature and divine beliefs. Conservative thoughts opposing liberal views of that late nineteenth century day. Religion and politics, business and love. It's a cornucopia of fulfilling fun.

Miss Lane and young Laura each fall in love their several times throughout, as they both think on marriage: to be or not to be. Many families and individuals take their turns facing their financial troubles and personal challenges. Characters of many types come and go within the storylines. There are wise women, careless ones, loveable but flawed individuals, caring parents, good and bad fathers, and the list goes on. Many of the actors were gone too much or too soon for my tastes. One thing for sure: what I've seen has left me wanting more; but I will thank my blessings and enjoy what was done of this wonderful series.
Kerri Bennett Williamson, Author

91 of 92 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Possibly the best television series of shows I've ever seen. April 25, 2011

By Dusty Rhoads

Format:DVD|Amazon Verified Purchase

If you've ever wanted to turn on the television and be thoroughly uplifted, entertained, touched, made to laugh, possibly even inspired, and, generally, just allowed to escape and be pulled in to a very good story...time and again, each and every episode, then don't look any further than the 'Lark Rise' series. My wife and I are in our late 20s/early 30s, and this is easily the best program we have ever watched. Hands down.

As the previous reviewer eloquently said, it is excellent family viewing, but ONLY because it's naturally wholesome, clever, fun, beautifully shot (the cinematography is truly breathtaking -- each frame looks like a painting from this period), handsomely scored, and all of those other attributes she mentioned -- it doesn't "try" too hard to fit into the family genre -- it just naturally fits. So much of "family entertainment" seems like it was put together by a committee who are very fickle and trendy, as if the committee's #1 goal and bottom line was to ensure to appeal to the "flavor of the month" themes in entertainment (Where's the originality in that?). THIS show, on the other hand, was clearly written by those who recognize the enduring and universal themes of family, friends, community, love, and basically, the things that make a memorable, good story -- the kind of story that brings you back for more.

The acting is superb. The Brits seem to have this natural ability encoded in their genome. You don't even feel like you're watching good actors -- you feel like you're a fly on the wall watching REAL people with real emotions, real interactions, real losses, real senses of humor, real relationships...oh, it's so refreshing. One of the only other television series that comes close to the superior quality of LRtoC are the "All Creatures Great and Small" series (All Creatures Great & Small: The Complete Collection (Repackage)) another family favorite which also happens to be a BBC production, starring Robert Hardy (of "Harry Potter" movies and Sense & Sensibility (Special Edition) fame).

Having the time to write a review for products you really appreciate, and to do it some justice, takes time I wish I had more of. As they say, you vote with your dollar, but you also vote with your time. So, I've cast in my vote!

I hope that many others will be introduced to this excellent program about the many charmingly told comings and goings of two Oxfordshire communities, and the individuals who lived there (in Flora Thompson's memoirs), set in the late 1800s. I only wish that more seasons were in the works, but I am indeed grateful for what they have made in these four seasons. Many of our home videos in our collection we grow tired of after a few viewings. However, I know that "Lark Rise to Candleford" will be a rare treasure in our household for years, if not decades.

58 of 60 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars 6-star collection but WHY the $$$ ??? May 7, 2011

By Harold Wolf TOP 50 REVIEWER

Format:DVD

I've reviewed each of the 4 sets in detail. All excellent period drama. One of the best series ever produced, as a matter of fact. But the "collection" price is strange at $134.49 (today's price).
Sets 1,2 & 3 sell for 30.99 with 4 at 26.49 for a total of:
119.46.
Why is the combined set worth more? Buy them separately on Amazon and SAVE $$$.

English country life could never have been as poetic, pictorial, and enchanting as this dramatization of the lives of those living in and around the two 1880's towns of Lark Rise and Candleford. Even the DVD's music puts a sanguine sugarcoating on the period. All of this is to the delight of the viewer of this masterfully done TV series sure to endear any North American who has a tender video heart toward Victorian Britain. Each episode has multiple plots so it is impossible to break down the episodes into short summaries. And with carryover from one episode to another, it's more like moving to Lark Rise or Candleford and living with the good people (and the bad). A delightful scenic experience even Disney has never matched. Every emotion you have ever felt in your past will be repeated sometime throughout this English town saga.

Subtitled. It is romance, nostalgia, saga, suspense, drama, well...it's a cornucopia of viewing that is not to be missed. It continues with a great and large nucleus cast, but the stories and depth of characters grow with the show's movement. Darling Laura Timmins (Olivia Hallinan), Lark Rise born, was sent to Candleford to learn the trade of postmistress. She is the spark caught between the two towns (sometimes world's different.) Her mentor is Dorcas (Julia Sawalha.)
The cast is an assortment of either the die-hard, disheveled, working class or the Candleford higher class, shy of nobility range. Cast individuals make this memorable. Also, be warned. Expect belly laughs too. Those Pratt sisters, Twister (OK tears too) and wife, Queenie, not to mention, Thomas the Bible-quoting, bike-riding, mail-deliverer, and his wife, Margaret could put together a comedy show every bit as good as this dramatic series has been--from day one. There is an abundance of fine British dramatic programming available, but this has to be one of my favorite.

Watch them in order. It's worth every wee farthing.