Downton Abbey, has been avidly watched by millions of UK viewers this Autumn and has now been released, just in time for Christmas, on DVD with the Blu-Ray version due out in a couple of days. The ITV series was written by the award winning writer Julian Fellowes (see also Gosford Park) and was produced for TV by Carnival Films. Starring Maggie Smith (always an absolute joy to watch) as Violet Crawley the interfering Dowager Countess of Grantham, the series tracks the lives of the aristocratic Crawley family and their servants in pre-World War I Britain. Hugh Bonneville... and Elizabeth McGovern play the Earl of Grantham (Robert) and his American heiress wife (Cora).
The series begins in 1912 just after the sinking of the Titanic which claims the lives of Lord Grantham's first cousin and heir James Crawley and his son Patrick (who had been intending to marry Robert's daughter Lady Mary Crawley played by Michelle Dockery) thereby leaving the estate with no immediate successor . As the housekeeper succinctly says, this has caused a "complication", as there is now no guarantee that the money will remain within the family. The next in line turns out to be Robert's third cousin, a young solicitor from Manchester, who none of them have ever met and who subsequently evokes resentment both above and below stairs due to class and cultural differences.
The tale continues with the Dowager Countess of Grantham and her daughter in law becoming allies as they plot to try to deprive the new heir of his fortune (most of which came from Cora - herself an heiress). Along with scandal (such as that involving Mary and a Turkish Diplomat who winds up dead!), sibling hostility (between Lady Mary and Lady Edith) and threads of feminism (as Lady Sybil dabbles with her principles), are the inevitable secrets and lies that are rife within the complex social structure of this Stately Home during this period of history.
After various side plots, cleverly convoluted and gripping but too numerous to describe here, a scheme is devised to keep the money within the family involving Lady Mary Crawley's marriage to Matthew Crawley. However, as the appalling announcement from Lord Grantham that Britain is now at War with Germany is delivered, we are left hanging with the predictable dilemma; will she or won't she lower herself to become Matthew's wife and will he or won't he accept her......?
This beautifully made series was shot, partly on location at Highclere Castle in Berkshire and partly in the village of Bampton, near Witney, in Oxfordshire. Downton Abbey is available now on DVD and the Blu-Ray edition will be out this month (available to pre-order). It has been reported that a second series is on its way for 2011. Looking forward to it!
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All seven episodes from the first series of the award-winning ITV costume drama following the lives and loves of those above and below stairs in a stately home prior to the outbreak of World War One. The Grantham family, long-time custodians of Downton Abbey, face a crisis when the heir to the estate dies on the Titanic. With his three daughters unable to inherit by law, Robert Crawley (Hugh Bonneville), the current Earl of Grantham, must try and marry his eldest daughter off in order to obtain an heir. Meanwhile, the family's determination to cling to class and rank is mirrored in a number of growing rivalries between the servants which threaten to undermine the smooth running of the house.
Please note this is a region 2 DVD and will require a region 2 (Europe) or region Free DVD Player in order to play. Sumptuous costume drama Downton Abbey, written and created by Academy Award winner Julian Fellowes (Gosford Park, The Young Victoria) boasts an all-star cast featuring Hugh Bonneville, Maggie Smith, Elizabeth McGovern, Michelle Dockery, Dan Stevens, PenelopeWilton, Jim Carter, Phyllis Logan, Siobhan Finneran, Joanne Froggatt, Rob James-Collier and Brendan Coyle. This prestigious ensemble brings the world of Downton to life with splendour and passion. Set in England in the years leading up to the First World War, Downton Abbey tells the story of a complicated community. The house has been home to the Crawley family for many generations, but it is also where their servants live, and plan, and dream, and they are as fiercely jealous of their rank as anyone. Some of them are loyal to the family and committed to Downton as a way of life, others are moving through, on the look out for betterment or love or just adventure. The difference is that they know so many of the secrets of the family, while the family know so few of theirs. But for all the passions that rage beneath the surface, this is a secure world, serene and ordered, and, at first glance, it seems it will last forever. Little do they know, family or staff, that the clouds of the conflict that will change everything are already gathering over their heads.
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