Season 1 follows the relationship of two contrasting communities: Lark Rise, the small hamlet gently holding on to the past, and Candleford, the small market town bustling into the future. Seen through the eyes of young Laura, their inhabitants endure many upheavals and struggles as the inexorably change comes; their stories by turns poignant, spirited and uplifting.

Season 2 sees the arrival of a dashing and elegant stranger in Candleford. Rich, enterprising, worldly and without a wife, James Dowling is a successful businessman with a string of London hotels, and has come to transform Candleford and bring it new prosperity. But not everyone welcomes his entrepreneurial qualities and it isn't long before he is sparring with the spirited, yet suddenly unusually flustered, Dorcas and aggravating the pride of the male Lark Risers with his superior business acumen and somewhat overbearing manner.

In season 3, a journalist named Daniel arrives to deliver the news that Emma has been left some money. There's a substantial sum to be claimed if Emma can prove her right to the money and there's a rags to riches story in it for Daniel's newspaper. As Robert and Emma contemplate their change in fortunes, Laura, who is fascinated to meet a real writer, shows Daniel around Lark Rise. Elsewhere, the Pratt sisters are keeping secrets from one another; Margaret confides in Dorcas that she and Thomas are trying for a baby, and Minnie - in her attempt to live by Dorcas's advice of always telling the truth - ends up offending almost everyone who comes to the post office.

Set at the end of the 19th century, season 4 sees newcomer Gabriel Cochrane arrive in Candleford with a vendetta against the evil banker Steerforth, who he feels has tricked him into losing his business. Elsewhere, Dorcas makes an ill-judged intervention, Minnie becomes worried that Alfie might fall out of love with her and Emma is left in a precarious financial position.