Cranford, where everything changes and all remains the same, and Miss Matty's house is full of bustle when her maid Martha gives birth to a daughter. Elsewhere the shadow of the new railway still looms. Miss Matty is concerned about a young girl who lives in an isolated cottage with her mother and domineering brother. Her worries open a Pandora's box and fears that Cranford will never recover.

• Eileen Atkins
• Judi Dench
• Lisa Dillon
• Simon Woods
• Claudie Blakley
• Philip Glenister
• Julia McKenzie
• Lesley Manville