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| Most of the cast of ITV's Downton Abbey |
How does one
describe Downton Abbey? Usually referred to as an Upstairs/Downstairs
drama, it revolves around one household comprised of some of the richest and
most affluent people in England pre-WWI and the servants who, behind the
scenes, are entirely responsible for helping the employers “keep up appearances”. The
upper class stories are like fairy tales, everyone knows them. What Downton
Abbey shows us is more than the fairy tale; it reveals the hidden mechanics
behind an English Estate.
Julian Fellowes,
the writer of the series, artfully juggles many story lines in the air at one
time. Therefore, I would advise anyone
new to the world of Downton Abbey to
start with series one before jumping into the second series. I predict you will be simply agog at how fast
you finish a season when you get swept up into the plot. Series two has finally been released in
America (all who were devotees-watching since the series premier in America,
have been patiently waiting for it to be released over here and trying not to
read spoilers since it was premiered in the UK many months before), you can
catch it on Sunday nights during your PBS’ Masterpiece
hour. Or, if you actually have something
to do on Sunday nights other than avoid the inevitable homework or next day’s
work load, they are all released for a short time on the PBS Masterpiece website to watch.
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/index.html
