Maggie Smith shines in a “Masterpiece Classic” finally the title
FANS OF classic British costume drama are in for a real treat over the coming weeks, as the acclaimed four-part mini series Downton Abbey comes to PBS.
The show, which was created by Oscar-winning “Gosford Park” screenwriter Julian Fellowes, focuses on the hopes and fears, jealousies and ambitions of the family and staff who live at the stately house of the title, beginning in April 1912, as the sinking of the Titanic throws the place into turmoil. What follows is a dramatic, intelligent, soapy and comic piece of work, one that explores social shifts on the eve of World War I while delivering a remarkably engaging cast of characters.
Most viewers are likely to be hooked by the bravura opening sequence, a minutes-long, Scorsese-like Steadicam shot of the great house coming to life on a glorious spring morning. As the camera moves from downstairs to up, the cast is introduced, and a wonderfully promising bunch they look. But sitting unchallenged at the top – and in majestic form – is Maggie Smith as the dowager Countess of the house. Imperious, confident and wily, with a compelling blend of poison and steel in her impeccable bearing, she is the indomitable British matriarch par excellence.
The sinking of the great ship has killed the heir to the grand estate, which, according to an inheritance law called an ‘entail’ (fans of Pride and Prejudice will be on familiar ground here) must be passed on to a male heir. Downton’s Robert Crawley, the Earl of Grantham (Hugh Bonneville), only has three daughters, which means his beloved home must go to a distant cousin, Matthew (Dan Stevens). Matthew, a working lawyer, doesn’t want Downton. And the family are not too happy about someone who is ‘not one of us’ taking over. But the earl refuses to challenge the entail, even while it jeopardizes his daughters’ futures. “I am a custodian, my dear, not an owner,’’ he tells his American wife, Cara (Elizabeth McGovern), whose fortune saved Downton twenty years before.
Apart from Bonnevile and Smith, there are superb performances from Jim Carter as the fiercely proud head butler, Mr. Carson, and Siobhan Finneran as the thoroughly devious housekeeper, Sarah O’Brien,
The house and grounds are, of course, gorgeous, as are the costumes and art direction, while many of the scenes are suffused with a late afternoon golden glow, richly redolent of the last Indian summer of the British empire before the coming horrors of the Great War.
The first series cost an estimated £1 million an hour to film, making it the most expensive British TV show ever produced. It is also the most successful period drama since Brideshead Revisited, with UK ratings exceeding 10 million viewers.
This is wonderfully textured, fabulously executed great British drama. Don’t miss.
Downton Abbey, starts 9pm Sunday on KOCE-TV. (Or check your local PBS affiliate at PBS.org).
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