Downton Abbey

[braex27]

So I came across and devoured this brilliant series in two days. It is A-MAZING and with season two only a few days away, who else is excited?!

For those unfamiliar, it's set in 1912 (and the years that follow) and was created by Julian Fellowes who wrote the brilliant Gosford Park.

Here's the trailer for series 1:

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2M3moEeErr8[/ame]

And for those interested, here's the trailer for series 2:

**** POTENTIAL SPOILERS ****

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yoe3CoxcYm0[/ame]

Excitement.

[jackmanor]

Was giving up hope of ever again seeing anything as brilliant on TV as Brideshead Revisited or The Jewel In The Crown....and then along comes Downtown Abbey. Couldn't agree more.... amazing!

[Ram]

Downton Abbey is amazing. If you are interested in that genre, you might also want to try Upstairs Downstairs...

[aagold76]

is it playing that soon in the US?

[braex27]

Downton Abbey is amazing. If you are interested in that genre, you might also want to try Upstairs Downstairs...

It's quite lazy of me but I've had it sitting on my shelf for a while and just haven't got round to it! Upstairs, Downstairs, that is.

I have seen Brideshead Revisited though, both the one with Jeremy Irons and the newer film. Both very good. I always feel so bad for Sebastian Flyte. Never like Charles. Ever.

is it playing that soon in the US?

According to Wiki, it played on PBS in January 2011. You can get it for cheap on DVD. Check out Amazon... especially the UK site which has it for something ridiculous like £8.

It's worth the buy.

[hubbellgardner]

Love, love, LOVE Downton Abbey and can't wait for the new season to start. `Upstairs..' is another all-time fave that I re-vist, and one other you're likely to delight in is The Duchess of Duke Street, my # 1 series ever, ahead of both Forsyte Sagas ....

[aagold76]

I meant part 2...I saw part 1 last year.....

[Tadaa]

I can't wait for this to come back. I fell in love with it earlier this year.

[jaysizzles]

Downton Abbey was really good...totally worthwhile watching! I'm looking forward to season 2 which is airing in January on PBS. According to their website, Season 1 will air again starting December 18th, 2011...as a prelude to start of season 2.

They used to have full episodes of it on their website..no longer.

[Tadaa]

Downton Abbey was really good...totally worthwhile watching! I'm looking forward to season 2 which is airing in January on PBS. According to their website, Season 1 will air again starting December 18th, 2011...as a prelude to start of season 2.

They used to have full episodes of it on their website..no longer.

The entire first season is on Netflix and you can stream it.

[ChickenGuy]

I downloaded it from iTunes last year - great show, very well made and produced.

They started Series 1 with the sinking of the Titanic and ended with the outbreak of the First World War.

Can't wait for Series 2!


P.S. I love the theme music....

[aagold76]

ah....memories of hot Thomas and the Duke are coming back to me...

spoiler from part 1 if you haven't watched- DON'T READ

since Thomas was leaving the house/about to get fired...any word if his character will be in the series???

[braex27]

I meant part 2...I saw part 1 last year.....

Oops. My bad.

Downton Abbey was really good...totally worthwhile watching! I'm looking forward to season 2 which is airing in January on PBS. According to their website, Season 1 will air again starting December 18th, 2011...as a prelude to start of season 2.

They used to have full episodes of it on their website..no longer.

That's an awfully long time to wait, given that the UK is premiering the second series on 18 September, with the DVDs scheduled to be released on 7 November (the day after airing of the last episode.)

[ame="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Downton-Abbey-Series-2-DVD/dp/B004G5Z0AU/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1316237730&sr=8-2"]Downton Abbey - Series 2 [DVD]: Amazon.co.uk: Film & TV[/ame]


I must say, the US schedule is likely to be earlier than the Australian schedule. We didn't get series 1 until May 2011!!!!

ah....memories of hot Thomas and the Duke are coming back to me...

spoiler from part 1 if you haven't watched- DON'T READ

since Thomas was leaving the house/about to get fired...any word if his character will be in the series???

IMDB lists Rob James-Collier who played Thomas as appearing in 15 episodes so I gather that he'll be in every episode of series 2.

[aagold76]

WOW- it's 15 episode???!!! They seem to be going back to the Masterpiece heydays of long series- Brideshead, Claudius, Upstairs/Downstairs....anyone else thing the 'Downton' Abbey title is a play on Upstairs/Downstairs?

[goldenmoth]

I adore Downton Abbey. Dame Maggie Smith has all the best lines.

I'm really glad no-one has come in here and said "I hate Downton Abbey because it makes gay people look like villians" because of Thomas but I always really understood where he's coming from.

He's not a nice guy but that's because he hasn't been treated nicely. So his logic is, screw you if the world is going to hate me unreasonably then I will hate it twice as much.

[braex27]

WOW- it's 15 episode???!!! They seem to be going back to the Masterpiece heydays of long series- Brideshead, Claudius, Upstairs/Downstairs....anyone else thing the 'Downton' Abbey title is a play on Upstairs/Downstairs?

I should have clarified, its 15 episodes in total. That's 7 episodes in series 1 and 8 episodes in series 2.

I adore Downton Abbey. Dame Maggie Smith has all the best lines.

I'm really glad no-one has come in here and said "I hate Downton Abbey because it makes gay people look like villians" because of Thomas but I always really understood where he's coming from.

He's not a nice guy but that's because he hasn't been treated nicely. So his logic is, screw you if the world is going to hate me unreasonably then I will hate it twice as much.

I didn't nearly hate Thomas as much as I did O'Brien. I couldn't fathom what bond they had with each other but she fed so much of what Thomas did!!

[Ram]

[unloadonme]

For anyone who wants to visit the real Downton Abbey, they should head for Highclere Castle, near Newbury, Berkshire. Similarly, Brideshead was filmed at Castle Howard near York.

http://www.highclerecastle.co.uk/

http://www.castlehoward.co.uk/

[jaysizzles]

These were hysterical!

Jennifer Saunders, Joanna Lumley, Kim Cattrall, and a few other recognizable faces whose names escape me...really brilliant cast!

I hope this ensemble continues with the parodies of next season.

[unloadonme]

These were hysterical!

Jennifer Saunders, Joanna Lumley, Kim Cattrall, and a few other recognizable faces whose names escape me...

Including Dale Winton and Harry Enfield.

[braex27]

Dame Maggie has won an Emmy for her role on Downton Abbey. Extremely well-deserved, I say!

HUZZAH!!

[braex27]

Such fun. I do love Jennifer Saunders.

[goldenmoth]

These were hysterical!

Jennifer Saunders, Joanna Lumley, Kim Cattrall, and a few other recognizable faces whose names escape me...really brilliant cast!

I hope this ensemble continues with the parodies of next season.

Ha, I never would have known it was Kim Cattrall if you hadn't said something.

Carter is so gross in that lol

[braex27]

^ I didn't recognise Cattrall either until she mentioned Sex and the City. Haha.

Also, Downton won the Emmy for Best Mini-Series. YAY!!

Very exciting.

[jackmanor]

Emmy voters got it right.

[mygaybuffet]

Emmy voters got it right.

It swept the Emmys! So did Modern Family!!

[aagold76]

it lost best actress....

[maxpowr9]

Why do all the British rags refer to the Emmy awards as "gongs"? In the US, a "gong" is referred to as a booby prize (see zonk on "Let's Make a Deal"). Is this another British superiority complex?

I will say I will definitely have to watch this series. I love me some period dramas.

[braex27]

"Gong" is sometimes used in Australia to refer to an award as well - usually a more casual award.

[Ram]

it lost best actress....

To the Good Wife actress right? Another great show, great actress...

[braex27]

To the Good Wife actress right? Another great show, great actress...

No, she lost to Kate Winslet in Mildred Pierce.

[jaysizzles]

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-31749_16...-10391698.html

Kate won for Outstanding Actress in a Mini Series or Movie..Mildred Pierce.

Julianna Margulies won for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series...The Good Wife.


Both fine actresses.

[suck poppet]

It's great to see that the public is still interested in quality scripted drama.
I really miss the days of the grand and lush mini-series like Centennial, Thornbirds and North & South.
But I guess the networks no longer want to invest in expensive productions when they can attract the same amount of viewers with cheaply produced reality trash and talent shows.
Downton Abbey was a sight for sore eyes, so to speak.

[maxpowr9]

It's great to see that the public is still interested in quality scripted drama.
I really miss the days of the grand and lush mini-series like Centennial, Thornbirds and North & South.
But I guess the networks no longer want to invest in expensive productions when they can attract the same amount of viewers with cheaply produced reality trash and talent shows.
Downton Abbey was a sight for sore eyes, so to speak.

Interestingly enough, I read this article on Sunday night...

Downton Abbey: The Underdog Bites Back

Particularly, these lines explain a lot...

Mad Men will also have a budget of more than $3 million an episode – double the cost of even an expensive British period drama such as Downton Abbey. Ben Stephenson, the BBC's head of drama commissioning, points out that his entire annual budget would be used up by only a few shows if he matched the American spend per episode – and that the BBC has to provide something for everyone.

But there's one small snag that would give the Dowager Countess of Grantham the vapours: Carnival Films, the London-based production company that makes Downton Abbey for ITV, has been owned for the past three years by NBC.

[suck poppet]

Mad Men is also very good, in an arty/alternative kind of way.
But good drama (expensive or not) has become somewhat rare these days (and I don't consider Crime Investigation and Supernatural shows "drama", btw).

[braex27]

It's great to see that the public is still interested in quality scripted drama.
I really miss the days of the grand and lush mini-series like Centennial, Thornbirds and North & South.
But I guess the networks no longer want to invest in expensive productions when they can attract the same amount of viewers with cheaply produced reality trash and talent shows.
Downton Abbey was a sight for sore eyes, so to speak.

North and South was just stunning. And how HOT is Richard Armitage?!

[unloadonme]

And how HOT is Richard Armitage?!

I'd say 4 out of 10.

[braex27]

I'd say 4 out of 10.

Now you're just stirring.





I rest my case.

[nondescript]

I thought this show was depressing.
everyone locked into their roles in life according to an accident of birth.
are things any different today?

[pat grimshaw]

I thought this show was depressing…locked into their roles …

I'm sure the 1912 reality was much more depressing than this sugar-ish show.

I was wincing how the characters were given unbelievable modern sensibilties to appease modern audiences. There were feminists, and it suggested the notion that the employers and servants were of equal worth and dependent on each other.

Dear Non, you should get the "Seven Up' videos to if you really want to see people locked into their roles.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Up_Series

[aagold76]

I understand what you're saying ^^^ about modern sensibilities, but the Suffragist (women's rights/vote) movement was very big in England around this time...I'm sure some people treated their sefvants like members of the family- like anytime, some people are good, some bad

[Spensed]

I think its possible to enjoy these costume dramas without subscribing to their outdated moralities.

Remains of the Day was better at balancing the attractions of that world with its dangers and limitations.

Downton Abbey, so far, is more just an enjoyable, but romanticized, soap opera, largely ignoring the underlying evil aspects, some of which are dealt with in Gosforth Park.

[aagold76]

coincidence...Gosford Park was written by the same man who wrote Downton....

[pat grimshaw]

No. No coincidence at all.

[Ram]

I'd say 4 out of 10.

This is borderline trolling.

[aagold76]

was answering the post above me, who didn't appear to know this....

[Spensed]

was answering the post above me, who didn't appear to know this....

I did know that Julian Fellowes was involved in writing both Downton Abbey and Gosforth Park.

The point I was making is that Gosforth Park was grittier and did not just accept the world it was portraying on its own terms as Downton Abbey seems to.

Gosforth Park and, indeed, Remains of the Day weren't just costume melodramas, which is what Downtown Abbey has been to date. IMHO.

[goldenmoth]

I wouldn't say it's as modernized as you seem to think it is. I mean Thomas is way in the closet and will probably never be able to come out, Mary is forced into marriage for the sake of her family etc.

As mentioned before, the Suffragettes movement was huge in the early 20th century so the fact that one of the sisters is a feminist is not exactly 2011.

Think of the mother from Mary Poppins.

[suck poppet]

The point I was making is that Gosforth Park was grittier and did not just accept the world it was portraying on its own terms as Downton Abbey seems to.

Gosforth Park and, indeed, Remains of the Day weren't just costume melodramas, which is what Downtown Abbey has been to date. IMHO.

But maybe Downton Abbey wasn't meant to be a realistic, gritty drama....
Personally I think it's refreshing to watch a "pretty" show that doesn't need extreme shock & gore driven plotlines to be entertaining.
The flower contest episode was one of my favourites.
("you don't usually win, you always win!"). Fabulous!

And I think in those days a scandal was still a real scandal.
But now, with everyone's dirt and problems on tv and internet, there's hardly anything that qualifies as a scandal anymore.
Maybe it's better not to watch it with our current...ehm, "morals and values" in mind.

[pat grimshaw]

But maybe Downton Abbey wasn't meant to be a realistic, gritty drama.....

Yes, I think it was designed to be easy entertainment. And I think it succeeds brilliantly, IMO.

It also satisfies those needs which this TV producer was satisfying~

"Knifed in Midsomer: TV boss who keeps out ethnic faces says he is being victimised"

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz...#ixzz1YowRx8C8