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Episode 1

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Sixteen-year-old orphan Ruth Hilton is apprenticed as a dressmaker. A job as a seamstress for a Hunt Ball and an encounter with a young man have far-reaching consequences.

Dramatisation by Ellen Dryden of the novel by Elizabeth Gaskell.

Sixteen-year-old orphan Ruth Hilton is apprenticed as a dressmaker to the hard-bitten Mrs Mason, because she is too much of an inconvenience for her legal guardian. A job as a seamstress for a Hunt Ball and an encounter with a young man have far-reaching consequences.

Ruth ...... Laura Rees
Bellingham ...... Rory Kinnear
Benson ...... Anton Lesser
Mrs Mason ...... Abigail Thaw
Guardian/Jones/Thomas ...... Richard Hope
Nelly/Mrs Bellingham ...... Alison Skilbeck
Miss Duncombe ...... Aimee Cowen
Jenny ...... Helen Jenkinson
Bessie ...... Daisy Ashford

Directed by Ellen Dryden.

1 hour

Last on

Sat 8 Aug 2009 21:00

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Broadcasts

  • Sun 2 Aug 2009 15:00
  • Sat 8 Aug 2009 21:00

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