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Downton Abbey (PBS 2010-2015)

 3 years ago
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Downton Abbey (PBS 2010-2015)

Huntn

macrumors demi-god

Original poster

May 5, 2008 19,754 23,010

The Misty Mountains

Yes, a bit late to start a thread on a show that is over, but as my wife is on her third day of binge watching this, and I find myself pulled in for several episodes at a time, I have to say that this show is a great achievement in the annals of TV. Following in the footsteps of Upstairs Downstairs, it is in the same vein, and does tremendous job of illustrating British Aristocracy in the early 20th Century, their relationship with the help, at least in one family, a class society, along with the changes the 20th century brought to the working class in England, and the eventual breakdown of the class system.

If you have not seen this, and like historical drama/soap operas, this is a show you should not miss. I am amazed at how well the music enhances the story environment. I used the term soap opera, but that is not really accurate, where social situations and love affairs tend to be exaggerate, this is better described as human relationships, drama, and human interest.
Last edited: Today at 12:50 PM
I purchased it last year from iTunes and haven't watched it, yet. My mother really enjoyed it when it was airing on PBS. I need to put it in my queue to watch, as I do enjoy period drama.

Reactions: Scepticalscribe

Scepticalscribe

macrumors Ivy Bridge

Jul 29, 2008 54,161 37,294

The Far Horizon

Historically, it is rather questionable at times, but, as classy, exquisitely made, entertainment - with a superb cast - and, as an example of exceptionaly good ensemble acting, - it is superlative.

Highly recommended.
I love a hundred things about Downton Abbey, and it's very re-watchable. One of my favorite actors on it, Jeremy Swift who played Spratt, is also Higgins in Ted Lasso. Great range, eh?

As I mentioned in another thread, Maggie Smith's character's snide asides are worth the wait.

senseless

macrumors 68000

Apr 23, 2008 1,843

Pennsylvania, USA

Interesting to see the speech differences between the lower and upper classes as in how "was" and "were" are interchanged.

Reactions: Huntn

Scepticalscribe

macrumors Ivy Bridge

Jul 29, 2008 54,161 37,294

The Far Horizon

I love a hundred things about Downton Abbey, and it's very re-watchable. One of my favorite actors on it, Jeremy Swift who played Spratt, is also Higgins in Ted Lasso. Great range, eh?

As I mentioned in another thread, Maggie Smith's character's snide asides are worth the wait.
Maggie Smith steals almost every scene she is in.

Above all, I loved her - Maggie Smith's (as the Dowager Countess) - scenes with Penelope Wilton (as Isobel Crawley); sheer pleasure.

Reactions: Huntn and Namara

Longkeg

macrumors 6502

Jul 18, 2014

S. Florida

Interesting to see the speech differences between the lower and upper classes as in how "was" and "were" are interchanged
Sad to say not much has changed. If you want your kids to “get ahead in life” teach them to speak “proper” or “standard” English with a neutral accent!

Longkeg

macrumors 6502

Jul 18, 2014

S. Florida

Jullian Fellowes, the creator and writer of DA was born into a very minor aristocratic family at a time when the aristocracy was in steep decline. He has other stuff, both books and TV that are worth investigating if you like this sort of thing. Check him out:
www.imdb.com

Julian Fellowes - IMDb

Julian Fellowes, Writer: Gosford Park. Julian Fellowes was born on August 17, 1949 in Cairo, Egypt as Julian Alexander Fellowes. He is a writer and actor, known for Gosford Park (2001), Downton Abbey (2010) and From Time to Time (2009). He has been married to Emma Joy Kitchener-Fellowes since...

www.imdb.com

www.imdb.com

Longkeg

macrumors 6502

Jul 18, 2014

S. Florida

One last bit of trivia then I promise I’ll shut up and go away: Fellowes won the Oscar for best Screen Play for Gosford Park when Downtown Abbey was filming. He shows up on set to show off his Oscar. One of the props guys stuck a lamp shade on the Oscar and put it on a table where, if you know where to look, it can be seen briefly in one scene.

Scepticalscribe

macrumors Ivy Bridge

Jul 29, 2008 54,161 37,294

The Far Horizon

One last bit of trivia then I promise I’ll shut up and go away: Fellowes won the Oscar for best Screen Play for Gosford Park when Downtown Abbey was filming. He shows up on set to show off his Oscar. One of the props guys stuck a lamp shade on the Oscar and put it on a table where, if you know where to look, it can be seen briefly in one scene.
Gosford Park was very good, - a sort of homage to the 1920s country house murder mystery - and I think the success of the movie gave Fellowes the idea for Downton Abbey, one where he married a few different genres - a story based on class differences (which the Brits do very well), a good soap opera with an excellent ensemble cast but exceptionally high production values (and again, the Brits are brilliant at seriously good soap opera), but adding the spice of historical drama to this, yet one where the traditions and values of soap opera story telling determined how the story was told.

And, it is brilliant.
Last edited: 48 minutes ago

Reactions: Huntn

Huntn

macrumors demi-god

Original poster

May 5, 2008 19,754 23,010

The Misty Mountains

Sad to say not much has changed. If you want your kids to “get ahead in life” teach them to speak “proper” or “standard” English with a neutral accent!
That’s been a key in US Broadcasting, a neutral accent.

Huntn

macrumors demi-god

Original poster

May 5, 2008 19,754 23,010

The Misty Mountains

I love a hundred things about Downton Abbey, and it's very re-watchable. One of my favorite actors on it, Jeremy Swift who played Spratt, is also Higgins in Ted Lasso. Great range, eh?

As I mentioned in another thread, Maggie Smith's character's snide asides are worth the wait.
He may not be my favorite, but is a valuable addition to the cast and I like him.

Scepticalscribe

macrumors Ivy Bridge

Jul 29, 2008 54,161 37,294

The Far Horizon

He may not be my favorite, but is a valuable addition to the cast and I like him.
One of the strengths of Downton Abbey is the ensemble playing of the cast; almost every character gets a story, a plot, sometimes an arc which takes several years of the series to complete.

Another strength is the extensive number of strong roles for the female characters, and how the script and narrative allows them to relate with one another - the Mary, Edith relationship is a superb example of this - entirely separately from how they may interact with any of the male characters.

Scepticalscribe

macrumors Ivy Bridge

Jul 29, 2008 54,161 37,294

The Far Horizon

One of the strengths of Downton Abbey is the ensemble playing of the cast; almost every character gets a story, a plot, sometimes an arc which takes several years of the series to complete.

Another strength is the extensive number of strong roles for the female characters, and how the script and narrative allows them to relate with one another - the Mary, Edith relationship is a superb example of this - entirely separately from how they may interact with any of the male characters.
And the other thing I liked was the character development the series allowed its characters; for example, Mary, Edith, and Tom were all very different people (yet, remained still the same in some ways) than they had beeen when first introduced, back in series 1, a decade and a half earlier, by the measurement of time in the story.
"Downton Abbey" was simply an astonishing and phenomenal television series, one to which I looked forward every year. I've got the entire series on DVD plus the film on DVD as well.

Absolutely, character development within the various plot lines really made the series so appealing and truly outstanding; viewers might not necessarily have been interested in a particular plot line or sub-plot line, but they were often invested in the characters and therefore curious about how they were going to be affected by whatever the action in the story was. Each of the primary characters definitely showed growth as they progressed through the series and the years, which again made everything so much more believable and convincing.

The acting was superb, the characters were superbly developed, the sets were fantastic and beautiful to the eye....a series worthy of winning all the awards and faithful viewers that it did.

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