I just finished the first (and currently only, but a second is in the works) season of the BBC/Masterpiece miniseries "Downton Abbey." It was deliciously good! It tells the story of an entitled (literally, he's an earl) family with an expansive estate in 19-teens England. It's a really interesting look at the old world intersecting with the new, where electricity and telephones are the new-fangled rage, but the daughters of the family still must marry in order to receive their inheritance and preserve the estate.
It also examines the "upstairs/downstairs" spheres of proper society, following storylines amongst the servants as well as the family.
The service staff. Some are nice and some are naughty!
There are great performances, particularly from the utterly awesome Maggie Smith, who steals every scene she's in as the crabby old-school grandmother, the Dowager Countess.
The icing on the cake is the gorgeous period costuming, which is so wonderfully detailed. Sumptuous!
Eldest sister Mary, who cannot inherit and thus needs to marry well in order to preserve the estate. She's kind of cold and pragmatic.
With her sisters Sybil (left), the forward-thinking youngest, and Edith (right), the jealous and overlooked middle.
Edith with their mother, Cora. She's American and was initially married by their father for her money, although after all these years they are quite in love.
It has just been added to Netflix streaming, in the seven 1-hr episodes, or you can watch it until the end of February on PBS.org in four parts. Here's a trailer to entice. Enjoy!
Watch the full episode. See more Masterpiece.
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