Downton Abbey

I just love this show. Amazing actors and compelling stoylines. Season two has been a delight to watch. What I love the most is the fact that it doesn't dwell too much on one storyline at the time. I keeps changing from the servents to the Crawley-family. If you like good actors combined with a bit og history and compelling stories this is the show to watch.

If you liked "Gosford Park", "Upstairs, Downstairs" or any other British period piece, then you will love this. A stellar cast and excellent writing have produced "Downton Abbey", an Edwardian period piece which stars Dame Maggie Smith, Elizabeth McGovern and Hugh Bonneville.

This ITV series tells the story of the wealthy Crawley family. Robert and Clara Crawley have three daughters and, as was the law of the time, the family fortune is entailed away from the female line which means that their eldest daughter, Lady Mary, must marry well.

Beginning at the time of the sinking of the Titanic and continuing through to the opening days of World War I, the series follows the trials and tribulations of the family upstairs and the downstairs servants who have a whole host of dirty little secrets between them and a few nasty personalities as well. I think it would be fair to say that those 'below stairs' are more snobbish and class conscious than their betters and that they have a lot more drama in their everyday lives as well.

This superb series with its breathtaking filming locations, stunning set decoration and marvellous costumes is one not to be missed so I suggest you take a look at your earliest opportunity.moreless

Created by adept period film screenwriter Julian Fellowes (Gosford Park, Vanity Fair and The Young Victoria), this series portrays an aristocratic household in the years between the sinking of the Titanic in 1912 and the outbreak of WWI in 1914. Set in a scenic English country estate and populated with recognizable characters (saved from stereotype by a very capable ensemble of actors), the story unfolds at an unhurried pace, full of the sort of clever dialogue we have come to expect from the genre: eloquent dinner party repartee across floral centrepieces, declarative proposals of marriage, and snooty put-downs delivered by ladies in large hats. Of course there is lots of intrigue and romance both above and below stairs, as well as some interesting period detail from a time on the brink of a modern world of electricity, automobiles and telephones. But don't expect any harsh social realism; despite the token suffragette and socialist characters (the earl's youngest daughter and the Irish chauffeur) this is a very rose-tinted look at Edwardian class relations. Downton Abbey is at heart an enchanted castle with a romanticised and largely unquestioned social hierarchy from the high king on down to the lowly scullery maid - a fairy tale disguised as nostalgia for a bygone age. Pure, indulgent escapism. Wonderful.moreless