Where in the world have I been? The music begins in grand orchestra fashion, the master and his yellow lab meandering down the stone gravel pathway…….opening credits showing a petal dropping onto the table from the roses in the flower arrangement, a maid dusting the opulent chandelier, and a beautiful table setting in the grand dining room. What, you don’t live like that either? I’ve heard all the talk, the hoopla and energy surrounding this wonderful PBS, set in the UK show, but have only finished watching Season 2. I know, I’m way behind! Actually, I thought it was Down-town Abbey for the longest. I know….ridiculous! I’m a slow starter sometimes, but I’ll catch up, just wait! So, are you watching too? It’s such a delightful show, I find myself wanting to talk in a British accent and clip my words and say funny, oh so stodgy sayings. What a beautiful display of cinematography in this show. My roommate, Rhonda, borrowed the DVD for Season One and we quickly devoured it and can’t wait to see the rest. I heard that you can watch the shows for free on Simply June, so I’ve been piling up on my bed, earphones on and just finished Season 2 and beginning Season 3, so no spoilers for me please. They really know how to keep you hanging at the end of every show, don’t they? As soon as I get through Season 3 which no doubt will be before the week is out, I’ve started recording Season 4, so that I can get completely up to date. (via Masterpiece Theater) Highclere Castle, location for Downton Abbey From the website: Creator and Oscar-winning screenwriter Julian Fellowes introduces the setting for the story, Downton Abbey, in his script: “The sun is rising behind Downton Abbey, a great and splendid house in a great and splendid park. So secure does it appear, that it seems as if the way of life it represents will last for another thousand years. It won’t.” Indeed, on the cusp of the end of an entire way of life, the house, portrayed by Highclere Castle, transcends location and becomes a character — and one of the biggest stars — in Downton Abbey. Wow, what a place this is, right? Who could imagine living in a castle like this? Not me, but what fun it is to go inside the halls of Downton Abbey and see all the drama going on. We were hooked from the first episode! Inside the Highclere Castle What an amazing ostentatious place! I know we are going to thoroughly enjoy the rest of the seasons, so please don’t tell me what happens! I want it all to unfold as we watch it. All images from pbs.org/masterpiece. So, tell me, do you watch Downton Abbey too? Who are your favorite characters and who do you love to hate? Of course, they want us to dislike the villains, right? O’Brien and Thomas are at the top of the list for those you want to see get what’s coming to them. I’m cheering for Bates and Anna and really am happy that Mary and Matthew FINALLY got married. That was a such tease, those two! Nope, don’t tell me any more! I want to watch the rest myself. A few observations:
- Poor Edith, overshadowed by both her prettier sisters.
- Grannie is a total crackup. Her lines are priceless.
- That whole upstairs/downstairs thing is just so old world.
- Thomas is such a brat.
- Yay for Sybil marrying the chauffeur.
- Mary is a little rebel.
- My how the world has changed in the last 100 years.
- Bravo, bravo!
I’M OFFICIALLY HOOKED ON THIS SHOW!! Congrats! Phyllis, Nancy and Gwen are the 3 winners of the beadboard wallpaper and have all been emailed! Posted here on the Rafflecopter widget as well.
Lucinda says
Love Downton Abbey! FYI it was Lady Sybil who married the chauffeur!
Rhoda says
Oops just fixed that!
Katie @ Wildwood Creek says
I was also a late bloomer to Downton Abbey. I absolutely love it! The scenes, the characters, the fashions, the Dowager’s lines, oh, I could go on!
tina says
No, I don’t watch it. But I don’t watch much tv at all. Movies either! LOL I have heard lots about the show though.
tina
Sandy says
Love Downtown Abbey! I started this season having tea and short bread while viewing. Many others do this from what I have read on blogs. Aren’t the women’s gowns fabulous?
Kim says
My dvr auto records anything on Masterpiece, and everything I read before this series started had my name written all over it….but I just could not get into it. So I must be the only 50 something woman in North America and Great Britain who doesn’t like this show. Glad you are enjoying! You’ll. Have lots of folks to talk to about it!
Chelle says
Matthew, Judith, and Bates! Love them! Have watched all seasons, am current. My dad was a Brit, so I grew up saying Brit-isms, and still do. Just today I said ‘daft cow’ and ‘beyond the pale’ and my British and Oz friends were loving it, whilst several American friends asked for clarification on ‘beyond the pale’. I love Downton, it makes me miss my dad terribly though.
Stacey L. Lacik says
Okay, so what does ‘beyond the pale’ actually mean, please? Someone who was quite angry with me used it, but it didn’t seem wise in the moment to ask what that meant, lol!
Lisa-Maree says
Beyond the bounds of acceptable and decent (British) behaviour.
The British had an actual boundary made of pale (whitish) fencing. Anyone from outside the boundary was considered of a lower standard than the British ideal.
Veronica says
One of my favorite shows…my hubby STILL calls it Down-town Abbey 🙂 I always correct him, so 4 seasons in he is now just doing it now to annoy me 😉 No spoilers from me, but get ready for a roller-coaster of a season with #3! Such a good show! And Maggie Smith (the Dowager Countess/Grannie) adds something so very special to the show. Comedy, yes, but her character is just so unique. Sensitive at just the right moments, and so quick witted. I hope I’m like her when I’m old 🙂
Julia G. says
So I AM the only one that hasn’t watched Downtown Abbey…going to get the first season DVD now!!
meles Garrison says
Julia, I haven’t seen one episode…not the only one! My daughters love it ,so I’m pretty sure I need to check it out as well.
Joy says
I was also a late-comer to Downton Abbey though I am a sucker for anything British and royal. Of course, these are the lesser royals but you can’t tell them that. As a history geek, I began researching this period and found that relationships between American heiresses and British noblemen was fairly common. Americans are suckers for titles and this level of the aristocracy was commonly bordering on broke. The hypocrisy of women having a lesser place in financial dealings when it is their money that keeps the family afloat is baffling by today’s standards. Perhaps I’m just too “middleclass.” lol
Leslie K says
Been watching Downton Abbey since its debut in the US (keeping in mind viewers in Europe already have seen all of Season 4). Like so much that is on PBS from the UK, it’s superbly written and acted. Creator and writer Julian Fellowes (who also wrote the screenplay for the film Gosford Park and a highly regarded actor) is so clever and the actors include many familiar faces from British film and television – the marvelous Maggie Smith – along with the wonderful American actresses Elizabeth McGovern and Shirley MacLaine! The writing for the series is by no means complete, so no one knows how long or far it will go although I understand Julian Fellowes has indicated there will be an end at some point. I recommend his interviews with Charlie Rose – I don’t think you’ll find any spoilers even if you’re not up to current speed with broadcasts in the US. Enjoy and welcome to the Downton Abbey fold!
Amy says
LOVE Downton but Call the Midwife is even better. Have you seen it? They are both excellent.
Lori L. says
Hi Rhoda! I love this show too. I even got my husband hooked on it! I love Edith and am secretly always cheering her on all the time…poor girl! We have also gotten into Mr. Selfridge as well. It’s set in the same time period and is about the going’s-on of a London department store owner and it’s staff.
Mary Ann says
LOL where have you been? I love it! I watch it when it comes on, record it at the same time and watch it ‘On Demand’!!!! I love the decorations, furniture and the clothes. My favorite characters is the father, Hugh Bonneville, The Dowager Countess of Grantham played by Maggie Smith, and Mr. Carson played by Jim Carter. I don’t like Mary now, I can’t tell you why because it would give away a very important thing that is going to happen! I really just love it all.
Malinda Clay says
I too was late in watching this show. I was able to borrow Season 1 and I was like a drug addict trying to find more. I checked out Season 2 from the library and got tired of waiting for Season 3 so I broke down and bought it. I will now have to save for the other dvd’s because this is something that I could watch over and over. Like John Wayne movies. I am not finished with 3 yet but it is an emotion roller coaster so far. I shouldn’t, but I watch a lot of TV and this is TV at it’s FINEST. The acting, the cinematography, the writing, the house. I could just go on and on. I have some family issues going on right now (check out http://www.chroniclesofclay.com) and this gives me just a little “down time” to not concentrate on my worries and watch theirs.
Thanks again for your blog. I so enjoy it.
Denise says
Love Masterpiece. I wasn’t much of a TV watcher until I discovered Masterpiece Theatre . Call the Midwife , The Paradise and Mr Selfridge are also excellent. Why can’t American TV be like this.
Denise says
Also a lot of these show can be viewed on the MASTERPIECE THEATRE WEBSITE AND ON NETFLIX
Janice says
So glad to hear you have boarded the Downton Abbey train! I knew it wouldn’t take long for someone to get you hooked. My husband and I discovered it last summer, bought the tapes one by one and have watched them over and over. We have also loaned them to several friends and relatives. Haven’t found anyone yet who doesn’t love it. The Dowager Countess is my favorite (love to hear her called “Grandmama”)! Such a snob yet always so tuned in to what is really going on in the family!
Tracey Renfro says
You specfically asked no spoilers and yet the latter pary of your post is full of spoilers for those just starting to watch it. A little bit of do as I say and not as I do ?
Tracey Renfro says
*part (not pary)
Paula Lusk says
I started watching it when it first came on TV. This is the first Masterpiece Theatre that my husband hasn’t watched with me, well, in forever.
I couldn’t wait. I found Simply June in October and watched them all. I know, I’m awful. lol
When my daughter and her husband watch it (she is a hoot) she dresses in period and makes formal tea. Then she calls and tells what has gone on. I have to ask her where it is, in the season, so I know not to say anything. Love the Duchess. ‘What IS a week-end’. Hilarious. Have fun Paula
Kerri, A Pop of Pretty says
Addictive, isn’t it?!? I did the marathon viewing of the first 3 seasons last year at this time, and now I’m watching the new season. It’s brutal waiting week by week for the next episode! Marathon viewing is just so much more fun! I’d be drifting off at midnight in front of the TV, my head bobbing after watching 3 or 4 episodes, telling myself “just one more”, lol. Instant gratification! Have fun – you’ve got lots of juicy scandals and surprises coming up!
Jaddahti J. says
SO agree with you on the binge watching! My daughter and I watched the first 3 seasons in a week- and now that we are watching in real time, I really miss the option of looking at each other at 2 a.m. and saying “Ok, just one more episode!” When Downton ran out, we started “Breaking Bad” – not realizing that the last half of the final season won’t be on until February! Aargh! Walking Dead in about a week and then “Game of Thrones” in April. Guess I will have to follow the suggestions and start the Midwife series- just to ensure my life is entirely consumed by television!
Tracey Renfro says
Srason 4 available on dvd today, available via Netflix and my local library has copies. Not sure of price to purchase.
Patricia says
Happily Lady Edith begins to bloom and is actually looking much prettier! Won’t say any more so as not to spoil it. Yes, I’m a Downton Abbeyphile. Haven’t started having tea and buttered crumpets dripping with honey while watching but that may be not far off.
Enjoy!
PS. Have you started watching “Sherlock”? It’s on PBS right after Downton Abbey.