A man ahead of his time
Ian Wylie 21/11/2007
PHILIP Glenister is resplendent in breeches and boots as he strides across the lawn at a Cheshire garden party.
Manchester may be just 12 miles up the road, but the role of a 19th century estate manager is a universe away from Gene Hunt and Life On Mars.
As Mr Carter walks by, widow Mrs Forrester (Julia McKenzie) turns, looks in his direction and says: "It's all such a sequence of continuous delights."
She could be talking about
Cranford (BBC1, Sunday, 9pm), the costume drama which attracted eight million viewers for its launch last weekend.
Based on three novels by Elizabeth Gaskell, the five-part serial is inspired the people she knew growing up in Knutsford - re-named Cranford in her book.
It's August 1842 as the smoking chimneys of the village herald a second episode featuring Lady Ludlow's (Francesca Annis) annual party at Hanbury Court.
By the end of another absorbing hour, at least one chair is empty in Cranford after news emerges about the planned arrival of the Manchester railway. Meanwhile Mr Carter is set on educating 10-year-old Harry Gregson (Alex Etal), son of a notorious poacher.
"There is a world out there that is full of books and figures and words and rules and symbols, that make all of the parts of our society move together like one great and glorious machine - I'll show you where to start," he tells him.
Philip won the TV performance of the year award at the Variety Club Showbiz Awards this week for his portrayal of DCI Hunt, who returns to the screen next spring in BBC1's Ashes To Ashes.
"Gene seemed to appeal very much to an audience out there, but I wanted to do something different and get away from him," said Phil, still busy filming the Life On Mars spin-off.
"Cranford came up and it's such a brilliantly written piece with a fantastic cast that it just seemed to be the perfect next job for me. It's what the BBC does best."
Self-educated He adds: "Mr Carter is complex, he's self-educated, a reformer who believes in education for the lower classes. I just like the idea of this man being slightly ahead of his time, as opposed to Gene being completely stuck in his.
"Carter sees the potential in this young boy to achieve something and becomes a father figure. He thinks that, through education, anybody, if they really want it enough, can do anything in life.
"Gaskell was a woman ahead of her time in many respects. A social reformer who believed in equality for women.
"She was also extraordinarily underrated as a novelist compared to the likes of Jane Austen and Charlotte Bronte, so I hope Cranford will help to redress the balance.
"She writes incredibly well, with great wit and pathos about an amazing period in our history, when radical changes were taking place. In that sense, there's a lot of relevance to what's happening in today's society."
Widower Mr Carter's attitudes are at odds with those of his employer. "If the series is about resistance and change, then Lady Ludlow definitely represents resistance to change," explains Francesca, who also starred in the BBC's adaptation of Gaskell's Wives and Daughters.
"She is the aristocrat of the village and very aware of her responsibilities. For instance, she employs one person to wind her 70 clocks.
"When Mr Carter asks her to reduce them because she hasn't got the money, she says, `If I don't employ him, he'll be in the workhouse.' Although she's formidable, she's also very kind. The series is about the advent of the railway and it was the time of the corn laws and the industrial revolution. It is political but Gaskell writes without bashing you over the head with it.
"And it's true. She said that when there was movement, there'll be trouble. People moved away."
Philip says all that dressing up helped him get into this latest character. But he's got no desire to time travel back to Victorian England.
"I like all my mod-cons, such as central heating. I suppose they were making some incredible advances at the time, but it still looks incredibly frightening to me.
"If you were going to have your leg chopped off they'd give you a glass of brandy as anaesthetic, which is just not good enough - I'd need a vat to knock me out."
nauseated
happy
energetic
chipper
giggly
cheerful
cranky
uncomfortable
excited
restless