Downton Abbey, UPDATED for Season 3 starting on p.9

[Iskaral Pust]

I did a search and this has shown up in a few posts, but not a thread of its own.

I just watched the first season on DVD -- an inspired Christmas gift from my brother to my wife -- and the second season starts week on PBS.

It's an upstairs-downstairs drama set in England 1912-1914 (first season), reminiscent of Gosford Park (from the same creator) but offering a more significant window on the background socal changes similar to Mad Men.

The plot centers on the uncertainty for everyone in the household stemming from an inheritance tangle for the Earl of Grantham. The backdrop is the wider cultural uncertainty as social and political reform are changing England: this is the period of rising Socialism/Marxism, mechanization, an expanding middle class and declining aristocratic class, the suffrage movement, foreign policy tension and we know that the "war to end all wars" is approaching, which will erode the authority of the aristocratic class.

Most of the subplots focus on tangles of honor, romance and uncertainty/insecurity vs. optimism.

Anyone else enjoy the first season and looking forward to the second season?

[Arbor Gold]

I watched the first season on Netflix streaming a couple of months ago - really enjoyed it. Definitely looking forward to the next season.

[the maid of woodlynne]

I found this by accident and it was a pleasant surprise. I really didn't expect to connect with it at all, but I was sucked in within the first half hour. Now I'm eagerly awaiting season 2. \m/

[Angalin]

I'm waiting on season 2 and trying to avoid spoilers from the Christmas Day special which just aired in the UK. I have a mad crush on Brendan Coyle, who plays Mr Bates the valet, and would like to see the character thrive.

[Slychd]

I loved Downton Abbey and can not wait for season two. Top notch acting and cast, and the story was really good as well. That time period is very interesting.

[Antonius Pius]

I've recently seen season 2. It's just as good as the first, if you ask me. Christmas special is on the way too, to be aired on Friday over here.

For those who have seen Game of Thrones (I sadly have not), Ser Jorah (Iain Glen) is in season two as Sir Richard Carlisle.

[Jon AS]

This definitely is a bit too soapy for me. I still kept watching (or more precisely would put it on in the background while doing other stuff), because the setting is just so exotic and quaint and British (is that a tautology?), it's like a documentary about some alien civilization and their wacky ways, though I prefer to see this kind of thing in a comedy setting like Jeeves and Wooster.

From what I've seen when paying attention, season two was a massive step down in quality though. The plots became just too contrived and ridiculous, while at the same time being utterly predictable.

Also, if they keep racing through history like this, season 4 will take place during WW2 with everyone still looking just like they did when the Titanic sank...

[Calibandar]

It's been in my queue for a while now. Definitly interested in seeing it. It first came to my attention because it's such a huge bestseller with many good reviews on Amazon. Checked it out a bit and definitly seems intriguing, though I'm often bored with the British costume dramas ( but not always, it really depends on the script).

Gosford Park for instance, was intriguing but not very good. Remains of the Day on the other hand remains one of my all-time favourite films. Recently I really liked, quite to my surprise, the Young Victoria film. No coincidence I am sure that that film was also scripted by Julian Fellowes, who also does Downton Abbey.

[Antonius Pius]

From what I've seen when paying attention, season two was a massive step down in quality though. The plots became just too contrived and ridiculous, while at the same time being utterly predictable.

I wouldn't quite go that far, but there are a few moments when they're trying to make the whole thing a bit convoluted.

Also, if they keep racing through history like this, season 4 will take place during WW2 with everyone still looking just like they did when the Titanic sank...

That's true, the characters don't age a day in between 1912-1919 (end of the second season). I suppose they won't age in season 3 either, which will apparently air in September 2012.

Recently I really liked, quite to my surprise, the Young Victoria film. No coincidence I am sure that that film was also scripted by Julian Fellowes, who also does Downton Abbey.

Same here. It was well acted, too.

[Just a peasant]

I have been watching the reruns of the 1st season again on Masterpiece Theater the last 3 weeks and look forward to the 2nd season starting on January 8th.

Since I have been sucked in, I will watch it. It is an hour and a half of fluff on a Sunday night, a good time to get under a blanket with a glass of tea and get more sucked into the fluff.

[Iskaral Pust]

I'm waiting on season 2 and trying to avoid spoilers from the Christmas Day special which just aired in the UK.

I wish I had read this an hour ago. I clicked on a link in an Irish newspaper that just said "Downton Abbey" and sure enough it was a review of the Christmas special with a huge spoiler in the very first paragraph.

I could see how season 2 might get a little too cutesy. The plot is heavy on romance, which often needs faux-drama to stay fresh, and the whole setting seems a little too idyllic, not to mention a need to find plot twists in a season that may not originally been anticipated by the writer.

In a similar vein, my wife put on an episode of North-South last night on Netflix streaming. It has genteel characters from the south of England transplanted to the industrial north in time to experience a union strike. It is weaker than Downton Abbey because with fewer characters it does not offer the fast-paced POV switches that let the plot unfold from several perspectives. It feels like a smaller story and smaller production even though the labor battles are a much bigger story than an aristocratic inheritance.

[Fez]

Was definitely surprised by it since I'm usually not a fan of this kind period piece but I quite liked Season 1, most of the time. There were points where the conflicts were so completely trivial that I couldn't help but roll my eyes so far back I almost did damage to the optic nerve; and I know that's part of the appeal of works like this but it was just too much at times. Fortunately it was all so well-acted that I was hooked all the way through. I"m not sure if I'd be interested in seeing Season 2 though, Season 1 was so nicely self-contained (with an ending that signaled what started The End of that whole way of life) that I may just leave it be.

[Datepalm]

This definitely is a bit too soapy for me. I still kept watching (or more precisely would put it on in the background while doing other stuff), because the setting is just so exotic and quaint and British (is that a tautology?), it's like a documentary about some alien civilization and their wacky ways, though I prefer to see this kind of thing in a comedy setting like Jeeves and Wooster.

From what I've seen when paying attention, season two was a massive step down in quality though. The plots became just too contrived and ridiculous, while at the same time being utterly predictable.

Also, if they keep racing through history like this, season 4 will take place during WW2 with everyone still looking just like they did when the Titanic sank...

This is pretty much my opinion too...it's so quaint and pretty to look at! By the end of S2 I was getting kind of annoyed with all the romance and repetition (now they're getting along...and now something breaks them up...and now they're getting along...and now...etc...) but theres were some strong storylines as well,

particularly the domestic influence of the war, between the house being taken over and Sybil's career,

so i'll keep watching, especially since the christmas special did move things along a bit. Really, theres something totally addictive and calming about it that makes it hard to get bored.

[Just a peasant]

Do they replay S1 at all on TV? I hadn't heard of this, but now I'd like to DVR it.

Masterpiece Theater on PBS has been playing the 1st season for the last 3 weeks. I think you can catch it On Demand if you have cable.

[FacelessGirl]

I LOVE this show. :)

[Lummel]

I saw the Christmas special and thought it was appalling - I wouldn't have liked to have seen it sober. I'm not surprised that it is popular in the UK where we are suckers for period dramas in stately houses but I found the odd flatness, or maybe stillness might be a better term, of the acting very strange (it wasn't quite lobotomised or autoqueued but was definitely odd) and the habit of some of the servant characters giving a sotto voce smart-arse comment following on from some pomposity from one of the grandees too theatrical.

Your mileage may vary.

But if you liked it, why not try "Upstairs-Downstairs" which is meant to be the classic of the genre.

[kuroishi]

I really like this show, I'm in the middle of the 2nd series and though I see where the critics are coming from, I can't get bored of it. The actors are so good, the atmosphere and characters so well drawn that the repetitive plot hooks* and the lack of originality of some of the storylines don't bother me as much as they should.

*

Really, I don't know if these get resolved by the end of the 2nd series, but how much longer before Bates and Anna can finally get it on? And how many times will we have to hear about the Pamuk incident again?

Also, I'm very much in love with the Lady Mary, so...

[Datepalm]

I saw the Christmas special and thought it was appalling - I wouldn't have liked to have seen it sober. I'm not surprised that it is popular in the UK where we are suckers for period dramas in stately houses but I found the odd flatness, or maybe stillness might be a better term, of the acting very strange (it wasn't quite lobotomised or autoqueued but was definitely odd) and the habit of some of the servant characters giving a sotto voce smart-arse comment following on from some pomposity from one of the grandees too theatrical.

Your mileage may vary

I totally see where you're coming from, but I enjoyed it anyway. (it helped that I got my sister hooked on it and we watched it together making sarcastic comments. Yes, New York in the 20's was ever so much duller than a tiny English village.)

*

Really, I don't know if these get resolved by the end of the 2nd series, but how much longer before Bates and Anna can finally get it on? And how many times will we have to hear about the Pamuk incident again?

For ever and ever. Its so wonderfully farcically over the top I almost don't mind being reminded of it though. (OTOH, in their chronology, it's been <strong>8 years</strong>. She probably doesn't even remember what he looked like anymore.)&nbsp;

[Commodore]

it's a very well made and reasonably well acted soap opera.

I enjoy it quite a bit, but it's not groundbreaking or anything.

There is something a bit silly about a bunch of people lazying about all day inside a giant house with relatively trivial problems.

[Just a peasant]

PBS.org has the episodes online and Netflix has them available for streaming.