DOWNTON Abbey makes its much-anticipated return to American TV screens this weekend, with episode one of season three airing at 8pm on KOCE-TV, the local PBS affiliate.
After the hi-jinks and improbable twists and turns of season two, which frequently threatened to derail this otherwise superb costume drama, creator Julian Fellowes is back in vintage form, recapturing the dazzling wit and sweeping romance of the now-classic first season.
Episode one opens with the arrival of guests for the much-anticipated wedding of Matthew and Lady Mary, most notably the brash American mother of Cora, Lady Grantham, Martha Levinson. Played to the hilt by Shirley McLaine, Martha is soon locking horns with Maggie’s Smith’s imperious Dowager Countess Grantham in a no-holds barred battle of the divas.
But while the future of the Grantham dynasty looks secure with the marriage, there is a dark cloud on the finances front with the shocking news that Robert Crawley, Lord Grantham, (Hugh Bonneville) has speculated unwisely and ruined the entailed fortune of his wife, Cora (Elizabeth McGovern), and quite possibly the family’s resources forever. To make matters worse, the case against Rorbert’s indispensible manservant, poor Mr. Bates (Brendan Coyle) seems even more impossible, despite the investigative prowess of his wife, Anna (Joanne Froggatt), who is grimly determined to prove his innocence.
The numerous subplots involving love, money and legal problems for those both upstairs and downstairs will keep viewers glued to the box during the show’s short seven-week run. Hopes are dashed, losses mount, and bitter change comes uninvited to Downton Abbey. All of which will surely leaves us desperate for more in season four. Forget the disappointments of season two, Downton is back, and television doesn’t get any better than this.
– Nick Stark
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