Posted on 03/07/2016 9:15:02 AM PST by C19fan
I subscribed to the cable tier for BBC America. I was sorely disappointed in the all StarTrek:TNG all the time. It did occasionally have a short-run drama series. I dropped the tier a couple of months ago.
PBS has more British programs than BBCA did. I also watch many British drama series via Netflix and Amazon Prime. There is a streaming services that offers many of the British TV series for about $6 per month. It does not have some of the BBC programs, such as Doctor Who.
I heard about DA on FR about the time Season 2 was to start on PBS. I binged on Netflix to catch up. I liked it from the first episode.
I had my DVR set for W & P.
The first episode was on several different cable channels. The follow-up episodes were only on Lifetime. I missed Episode 2 for that reason, but was able to DVR a rerun.
I have all the episodes on my hard drive, but haven’t watched any of them yet.
DA is what television should be - historical, sociological, emotional— covers all the bases. It will be sorely missed. Most European movies are much better than American fare with respect to multi-plots, interesting characters and the like. Of course, The Sopranos and Breaking Bad are obvious exceptions.
The Granthams -- mostly -- represent the ancien regime, with the Dowager the most steadfast defender of tradition. The newer generation -- Mary, Edith, and Tom -- are children of the changing times, and some adapt to them better than others. Mary is caught between her lofty station and her own desires; Edith is just trying to muddle through and find some glimmer of happiness. Lord Grantham and Cora are resigned to a "progress" that means the end of their way of life, even though the Earl fights it a bit more than his wife.
Many of the family's traits are mirrored in the "downstairs" population as well. Carson is the staid relic of a time that no longer exists. Daisy is the outspoken plebian who is using the new system to elevate herself through education and ambition. Barrow is a misfit who (we're supposed to believe) has a hard outer shell guarding a caring inner core. And then there's Bates and Anna, who basically provide gooey pillow talk and an improbable Hallmark romance.
In my opinion, the finest character in the series is Mrs. Patmore, the crusty old cook. Lesley Nicol plays the role to an art, a perfect melange of spice, substance, and pathos. She will end up with Daisy's father-in-law before the series is over, and well she should.
Julian Fellowes has restrained himself from injecting too much latter-day political correctness into the series, maintaining its cultural and chronological integrity while still telling a kaleidoscopic story.
It's well worth the watch if you enjoy seeing the sun set on the British Empire as a newer, less hidebound one emerges.
Anyone remember “UPSTAIRS, DOWNSTAIRS” Series? Very similar to DA.
British TV program Upstairs Downstairs from 1971 - 1975 for the era 1901 to 1930.
I was hooked the first five minutes of watching some years ago.
Granny rocked.! She made the show.
With Coleman and Kwame as corrupt plantation owners...
I must say I was enthralled by 99% of the show, but disappointed in the last episode at the sheer amount of psychobabble dialog -- words that were never spoken in the early 20th century, not even to mention the lib/prog attitudes depicted. These things were not likely to have happened:
There really should have been a seventh season to work out these let's-tie-it-all-up-with-a-bow moments with more historic integrity.A lady's maid having a baby in the lady's bed. No -- she really would have been hustled out as soon as labor started;
Nor would her husband Bates have been sitting with his butt on Her Ladyship's bed and pillow, even to see his baby -- he would have been in a chair pulled close, in the remote possibility that the above had actually happened;
Edith's tyrranical mother-in-law-to-be, making an overnight assessment of "courageousness" about her prospective DIL for having and raising her out-of-wedlock child;
Lady Mary, consummate snob, being thrilled over her husband opening a used-car showroom for the commoners (she might have reluctantly accepted a luxury car venue far from Downton, with him as absentee owner);
The same Lady Mary completely extinguishing cattiness and envy about the wedding of her cradle enemy, Edith, who will now rank above her, with no indications that her spite war may never be over;
The childless aunt, smiling blissfully through the priest's celebration of parenthood during the wedding;
Mrs. Crowley's Lord just relinquishing his property and moving into Mrs. Crowley's house--I don't care if he thought he was dying--without him and his son calling their solicitors and having a drawn-out battle over "principles";
Tom Branson, an Irish Catholic, ever being accepted so completely into the bosom of an Anglican famlly without obligatory ritual displays of acknowledging his "place"...
Likewise with Barrow; homosexuality among male servants to the English aristocracy was a well-established phenomenon; but there was always a hypocritical pantomime of denial attached to it.
Nevertheless, there were great moments. I loved when the Dowager Countess (the indomitable Maggie Smith) tittered while reading her butler's "agony aunt" columns. The clothes and cars were magnificent. The sweeping views of Edith's future home were amazing. And the wedding at the end was a gigantic nod to the strength of a free people carrying civilization forward through the institution of blood family, something that is under violent attack in the real world by socialists everywhere, pretty much since the beginning of this wonderful series.
I watched nearly every episode. It was very much the precursor to Downton.
I have purposefully avoided it while my wife is addicted to it. When a year has passed, I’ll begin the series.
I ran across DA in Netflix in April 2011, before it was a thing.
I thought it looked interesting so I watched it.
I never, ever get “hooked” on series. Ever. But, halfway through the first episode, I was hooked on DA.
I now have all 6 season on Bluray. Watching the final episode was like saying goodbye to an old friend.
Outstanding and deeply entertaining in every way.
You might enjoy this one that will be taking over Downton's time slot. I'll be watching it.
It could have been the best show ever, but that first episode turned me off of it.
I am a big fan...I have 4 hours left to watch as I record them...I hate for it to end. There are so many wonderful character in DT. It has been an interesting journey through changing times.
Wonderful! I’ll be watching.
I love Grantchester, too.
I’m not much on tv; but the ambience, costumes & beautiful
scenery on Downton Abbey is great. - Of course, the actors
playing the parts probably live just like most of us live,
in ordinary houses without chauffeurs. The people who really
live in that house actually dress pretty much similar to
most of us & even they can only live in one room at a time.
I’ll admit to getting hooked on “Downton Abbey” after binge watching season 1 with the wife.
I loved the vintage cars and the cinematography.
Other than the solid production and drama, I think a lot of the popularity of the show in the UK is down to the fact that it shows an England inhabited by actual Englanders - not the 50/50 mishmash (in some parts) of today.
In the whole series there was not one instance of muzzie morons shouting for the abolition of freedom or the beheading of Christians. Imagine that!
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