Downton Abbey

Saw this on TV last night in Australia, and apparently it's already showing in England. What do you guys think of it? It's scoring well on IMDB. Stars Maggie Smith! :)

It aired in the UK last year, and was apparently ITV's biggest drama success in some years. Needless to say, there's a second series on its way.

There's an interesting sequence where Maggie Smith unwittingly takes MDMA before going to bed with a chambermaid. Not the sort of thing one normally finds in UK costume drama.

This, Cranford, Lark Rise To Candleford etc all fit into a genre I like to call 'Mum TV'.

Televisual Nytol to myself, I'm afraid.

It had its perks-along the way.

It premiered last night in Australia - it was fantastic. I don't think the gay couple is necessary however. Surely people of that high a class would have suppressed those homosexual feelings back then... But other than that, I thought it was great, and I await next Sunday's episode!

Oh and Maggie Smith is a gem

I refused to watch it, simply on the basis that Channel 7 advertised it with Ke$ho "music."

Good God.

Second series is under production right now, sounds like Lord Fellowes is working up a head of steam with it. That and his Titanic drama, which I'd imagine is Downtown Abbey sinking...or some such.

I would do insane things to Michelle Dockery/Lady Mary.

That is all.

eta: oh yeah, and I like the music.

Ah, Lady Mary.

And there will be a third series.

And a Christmas special in the middle. It's all kicking off downton.

I watched some of the first series the other night - good quality, well done.

Hilly wrote:

And a Christmas special in the middle. It's all kicking off downton.

There is tv for everybody. Quality series like these should be applauded. It is cheaper to make realityshow.

Well, I'm rewatching the first season again, which is, as mentioned, fantastic. Didn't realise how inclined it was to being left wing. Still, very clever and enjoyable, and Maggie Smith's Violet is entertainingly witty and refreshingly conservative (compared to other characters, anyway). I just wish it was more right wing. But anyway, I'll keep watching, and waiting for the second season to air in Australia!

What are you on Fields? The show is about as left wing as a Young Conservative meeting. The Crawleys are kind, treat their servants well, have a clearly articulated belief of noblesse oblige and handle every situation in the most moderate and considerate way possible. Throw in the glamour shots of the women, Highclere Castle, its grounds, shoots, etc and it's a damn post card for the class system of old.

Fellowes himself is a peer. The only 'left wing' thing about it is its modern approach to women's rights and a couple of off-hand comments from characters who are established to be progressive (Isobel, which serves more as a point to contrast with the Dowager Countess)

Anyway, I've seen season two and the christmas special. I would still do Lady Mary. What

I don't know, Vesper... I mean, the Earl himself says he's confused about change, and that he's not entirely against it. But then again, some circumstances display his right wing attitudes, which is a blessing. I think the aristocracy mingle too much with the servants, namely the Earl of Grantham and Sybil. And Matthew Crawley, initially was very liberal, but I think he sort of changed once he fell for Mary.

Then there is the entire saga with Thomas and his sexuality. He's excessively forward for the times, though at least on both counts he's been rejected. Plus, the other servants seem well aware of his sexuality, but there doesn't seem to be any question about it. Both Carson and Mrs Patmore, to name two, have indicated that he isn't straight, but still treat him equally. That said, I think his character is one of the best in the show, along with Violet and Mary. I too, would like to do naughty things with Mary, but I'll happily settle for Sybil, if she doesn't start talking about women's rights.

That side of Thomas seems forgotten in the new series. At least it's not as to the fore. Almost like a change of mind by Fellowes.

I've only seen the first series and enjoyed it very much. I don't think the show is particularly leftist, and I fail to see what is progressive about depicting the one gay character on the show as the most devious and self-serving scrote in the county.

Quote :

I what is progressive about depicting the one gay character on the show as the most devious and self-serving scrote in the county.

Well, that's the other thought I have, which in turn, is rather the opposite of liberalism. Oh well, it's a great show anyway!

That's just bigoted. Nothing to do with conservatism.

The second series was awfully written. I don't know how Fellowes managed to turn a decent middle brow mini-series with great production values into DALLAS IN EDWARDIAN ENGLAND so quickly, but it almost beggars belief.

Still, the acting is good. And the music. And Michelle Dockery is still highly bangable.

Quote :

Fellowes himself is a peer. The only 'left wing' thing about it is its modern approach to women's rights and a couple of off-hand comments from characters who are established to be progressive (Isobel, which serves more as a point to contrast with the Dowager Countess)

And it deserves a mention that the only reason it takes the feminist stance towards entailment is because Fellowes' dear lady wife can't inherit because of it.

Bring back Lady Marjorie, Mr Hudson, Rose and Sarah I say.



Except don't, because besides Eileen Atkins, the monkey and the set design the BBC managed to fuck that up too.

Vesper wrote:

The second series was awfully written. I don't know how Fellowes managed to turn a decent middle brow mini-series with great production values into DALLAS IN EDWARDIAN ENGLAND so quickly, but it almost beggars belief.

Still, the acting is good. And the music. And Michelle Dockery is still highly bangable.

Having only just started watching the show a few days ago, and having started watching the show with the 6th episode of the 2nd series, I don't have a lot to compare it to. My initial observations:

I've never watched a British costume/period piece before. Never watched Pride and Prejudice, or Jane Eyre, etc....but I really like this show.

Yes, there is a moment or two in the episodes I've seen where it comes close to being like a soap opera (ex: Mathew's ability to walk again after having been paralyzed; the love quadrangle between Mary, Mathew, Sir Richard, and Lavinia), but then the show pulls back and it's great again. In fact, some of my favorite moments so far have been when the show is explicitly focusing on the differences in the classes. For example, when the Earl of Grantham tells his manservant, Carson, that the act of dressing is an intimate process and he can't just have anybody helping him get dressed (the comment was made in reference to Thomas being promoted, but now that I'm reading his character is gay, I'm starting to wonder if the Earl knew that and that was why he didn't want Thomas dressing him). I find it odd that rich people in Britain apparently needed/still need help getting dressed. How hard can it be?

Another good moment was Sir Richard complaining about having to 'serve himself' lunch on Christmas Day (the staff were having their lunch downstairs in the basement and would later go back to work to make Christmas dinner). He acted like he had no idea how to put a ladle inside of a dish and get his own food out of it.

Every character is different and all of the acting is top notch. And having seen some of the behind-the-scenes footage and interviews with the actors and actresses, they are really so different in real life from the people they play that it's easy to see why the U.K. turns out the best actors in the world; they're so good they take American jobs away from our actors and actresses.

And the women....Lady Mary has already been mentioned quite a bit, but the girl playing Lady Sybil, Jessica Brown Findlay, is extremely beautiful (though none of the Google images really do her justice).

How long can this show go on? It's already covered 8 years in two seasons. Wonder if they'll go on through World War 2...

I'm in a similar boat to you Gravy, never cared for this sort of stuff but wound up watching the first series out of curiosity and wound up watching it in about a day. The first season really is a lot better. The second's greatest crime is inconsistency. Plenty of great moments but there wasn't really an episode that left me wowed, the first episode had several like that.

Also wasn't a fan of how quickly they rushed through WWI, and how insular it can be at times. But as you said, there's still more than enough good there to watch it. The cast alone is good enough.

And call me schmalzy, but I really dug this scene:



Though having recently discovered Upstairs, Downstairs (the original) I have to recommend you check it out if you never saw it. It's a slow burn at first, it's all on youtube. Despite the vastly lower production values, and how old it is, it's quite a few leagues above Downton on the writing front.

Vesper wrote:

And call me schmalzy, but I really dug this scene:

You're schmaltzy. To me, that love quadrangle is the weakest link of the series. He goes off to WW1, gets injured, and comes home paralyzed. Mary vows to stay with him and comfort him, but is being pressured to marry Sir Richard, because he can still get it up and make a baby. Mathew pushes Mary away because he doesn't want her wasting her life looking after a cripple. Mary's grandmother suggests to someone that an old flame of Mathew's comes back into his life; Lavinia. She comes back to Downton Abbey professing an enduring love for Mathew, even if his wedding tackle doesn't properly work anymore. Sir Richard wants Mary to hurry up and marry him because he's afraid the longer they wait, the more she'll realize she still has feelings for Mathew. Meanwhile, Mathew's spine miraculously heals and he can walk again. Should he now marry his true love, Mary (who essentially abandoned him to be with Richard when he couldn't get it up anymore), or stick with Lavinia, who was willing to overlook the fact that he couldn't make sexy times with her? Fortunately for everyone involved, Lavinia does the honorable thing and contracts Spanish Flu, dies, and that solves everyone's problems. With her out of the way, Mathew and Mary are now free to hump each other, even though they are distant relations.

The only really decent part of that whole story line was the notion that Mary may have to go live in the Unites States for a while and ride out the scandal of having had premarital sex with a Turkish man, but in the end it all worked itself out.

Basically, it sounds like almost anything you could have seen on an American soap opera if they hadn't all been cancelled due to low ratings and repetitive story lines. Let's hope Downton Abbey sees the wisdom of steering clear of some of those story line pitfalls and focus on the things they seem to do best: historical insights and social commentary.