Anachronism in Candleford

[puternut]

I know its being picky but the Debt Collectors bill shown a couple of times on tonights ep - by the dress shop owner - showed the telephone number of one of the companies

I think that this is set in the 1880's where it is possible - I think for some phones to have been used but would they have been that common??

[ABerrant]

Anachronisms are not unheard of in the TV adaptation but it should be pointed out that the timeframe for the series appears to be later than the original novels, with clues such as postmarks and several other references indicating the mid 1890s.

I cannot offer evidence as to how commonplace business telephony was by 1895 but this history of the telephone does indicate how rapid was the rise of a national telephone service...

http://www.britishtelephones.com/histuk.htm