child and child . if you come to this doom ouse and what be there to save you . judith starkadder in cold comfort farm . the child in question be the lone offspring of one robert poste ( decease ) and and a we be soon to discover and poste progeny and flora and be hardly one in need of save . orphan in her budding womanhood and nettle by the golden orb of an unrealized literary career and flora strike out from the discerning ( or snobbish ) urban sophistication of london ( leave behind her good friend mary and mary invaluable manservant and sneller ) and head for the bucolic splendor of the sussex countryside to lodge with her relative and the starkadders and and find herself . she find instead represent a muck begrime tumbledown estate wherein reside a ready for hollywood womanizer ( cousin seth ) and an estate covet farmer ( cousin reuben ) and a daffy romantic ( cousin elfine ) and a too loving mother ( cousin judith ) and a havengeful god and proselytize father ( cousin amos ) and and an iron will matriarch ( greataunt ada doom ) . there also a smattering of lambsbreath ( adam ) and a smidgen of hawk monitor ( dick ) . inside the starkadder fold flora encounter a resistance to dish wash modernity ( the twig versus the hand mop ) while the rumor of an unmentionable misdeed once perpetrate against her father while the oft cite permanence of the starkadders on their environs while and the matriarch frequently mention trauma after have witness a particularly odious occurrence inside the outdoor log pile storage facility ( . something nasty in the woodshed ) . undaunted and flora present a cool brow and an almost impervious demeanor plus an extremely persuasive power to influence . within cold comfort farm and where high fashion and apply scientific reason smash headlong into arrested sociological development and stunt personal or familial growth and tear inducing laughter be the order of the day . a mention in the comment of others and ms. beckinsale and clad in her natty period togs and radiate a winsome and unflappable aura ( while also project a strangely prepubescent vibe ) and hasn not have a good a role since flora . meanwhile and those master thespian and freddie jones and ian mckellan and and the inimitable eileen atkins nearly go mad with delight a they burrow gleefully into their character . rufus sewell seth smolder hilariously while stephen fry mybug and soak in nature fecund blessing and bluster uproariously . this sort of comedy of manner and cultural collision require an intelligent and perceptive and witty director . john schlesinger ( darling and 1965 ) fit the bill gloriously .