Austenprose – A Jane Austen Blog

Downton Abbey continued last night on Masterpiece Classic with episode two. After a great opening on PBS last Sunday to a record 7.6 million US viewers, this four-part Edwardian drama continues to charm and amaze me. The blending of the upstairs and downstairs lives of the residents of this stately manor house is compelling drama, with moments of total surprise and shock from both quarters. This new co-production by Masterpiece PBS and Carnival ITV was a huge hit when it aired in the UK last year. The second season has just been announced and UK viewers will be dished up eight new episodes next Fall and a Christmas special in December. Great news for North American viewers also since the second season will most likely air shortly after in January 2012.

The second act of a play or opera is always my favorite. We have been introduced to the characters (the aristocratic Crawley family of Downton Abbey) the conflicts have been set up (death of the immediate male heirs) and the hook dropped (the entail must be broken) for us to take the bait. Now we can get to know the personalities at play and watch the drama unfold. In addition, several themes are developing, but two dominant ones in episode two were discovering or honoring our place in life, and harboring secrets and their consequences. Here is a synopsis from Masterpiece.

Recap of Episode 2 (spoilers)

As Matthew (Dan Stevens) and Isobel (Penelope Wilton), the newly-arrived Crawleys settle into life in the village, Isobel offers her experience with modern medical techniques at the hospital to Doctor Clarkson (David Robb), to the considerable consternation of Violet, the Dowager Countess (Maggie Smith). Both Matthew and Lady Mary (Michelle Dockery) bristle at the prospect of being matched to one another; still, Matthew indulges Mary’s clever barbs even as a suitor in the form of The Hon. Evelyn Napier (Brandan Patricks), the wealthy son and heir to Viscount Branksome is invited for a foxhunt, accompanied by the handsome attaché at the Turkish Embassy, Kemal Pamuk (Theo James).

Downstairs, secrets reflect the ambitions, shames and desperate hopes of the servants, as housemaid Gwen (Rose Leslie) tries to hide the contents of a heavy box set atop the wardrobe in her room; the butler Mr. Carson (Jim Carter) abandons his customary dignity as he skittishly raids the pantry; and Lord Grantham’s valet Mr. Bates (Brendan Coyle) refuses to share the source of his debilitating pain to his co-workers. Their concern and camaraderie markedly contrast the festering discontent of the footman Thomas (Rob James-Collier) and Miss O’Brien (Siobhan Finneran), Lady Grantham’s (Elizabeth McGovern) personal maid.

A sinister stranger Charles Grigg (Nicky Henson) barges into the house, demanding to speak to Lord Grantham (Hugh Bonneville), and an attractive stranger captivates Mary before setting into motion a chain of events that put the fate of Downton Abbey on even less stable ground.

My Review:

Many plots churning; some resolved, others only leave us craving more of this multi-layered, well-acted, beautifully produced period drama. I always enjoy the surprise element and dutifully promise not to reveal any major spoilers, but the reaction by Lord Grantham when Mr. Carson’s secret from the past arrives and plants himself in his library is classic, the Dowager Countess continues to steal every scene with all her sarcastic lines, and Lady Mary’s push of propriety is an eye popper.

The Victorian costumes and English locations arrive regularly in jaw dropping splendor. The scenes of the foxhunt were especially picturesque, evoking a time when everything had its place in order of social dictum. Victorian-era fox hunting as a sport is as complicated socially as any Regency-era Ball at Almacks. People, horses, hounds, foxes, you name it. Everyone, and everything had its place. A perfect example for writer Julian Fellowes to use to display the pomp of the aristocratic lifestyle that the upstairs residents of Downton maintain, and the downstairs servants must cater to.

My favorite scene of episode two was during the family dinner at Downton with the Crawleys, Matthew and Isobel. As Violet, the Dowager Countess takes pot shots at Mrs. Crawley for volunteering in “her” hospital and disagreeing with the doctors treatment of a sick laborer, Lady Mary, the chip off her grandmother’s ole shoulder, taunts Matthew about his middle-class kind not riding or hunting, “unusual among our kind of people.” Ouch. If you watch closely the reaction by the people who are observing the discussion, Ladies Edith and Sybil, you can see the tension mounting in their keen interest and surprise, and, the temperature of the room rise by the withering looks like poison darts of disapproval issued by Lady Grantham to the Dowager and her daughter Mary. Ha! Not one to take a hint from her lowly American mother, Lady Mary continues to taunt Matthew’s usurper position as heir by telling him the story of Andromeda, with sacrificial maidens, sea serpents and heroic young Gods to the rescue. Matthew gets the point exactly and offers a retort worthy of any Jane Austen hero. Bravo!

Episode three of Downton Abbey continues next Sunday, January 23, 2011 at 9:00 pm ET (check your local listings)

Futher reading:

• Read my recap & review of Downton Abbey episode one
• Downton Abbey Entailed? Understanding the Complicated Legal Issues
• Upstairs at Downton Abbey – A Cast Preview
• Downstairs at Downton Abbey – A Cast Preview
• Visit the Downton Abbey web site at Masterpiece Classic

Images courtesy © Carnival Film & Television Limited 2010 for MASTERPIECE

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British period dramas have been the staple fare on Masterpiece Theatre on PBS (now Masterpiece Classic) for decades. It is easy to see why they selected Downton Abbey to open their celebratory 40th anniversary season. A huge hit when it aired in the UK last Fall, this new four-part Edwardian drama is set in an English grand manor house before the opening of WWI. Never one to turn down a superbly-acted, multilayered and opulently produced period drama with bonnets, this series created and written by Oscar-winning screenwriter Julian Fellowes (Gosford Park) was top on my list of must see TV for the season.

Staring Hugh Bonneville, Elizabeth McGovern, Maggie Smith and a large and impressive ensemble cast, the axis of the plot centers on English inheritance laws and the present Earl of Grantham (Bonneville) and his wife Cora’s (McGovern) efforts to advantageously marry off their three daughters, Austen-style. Even though this drama is set one hundred years after any of Jane Austen’s famous novels, viewers will see similarities in social stricture, culture, and in writer Fellowes’ gentle nod to Austen in plot and dialogue. Along with the drama of the upstairs residents of Downton Abbey, Fellowes gives equal measure to the downstairs servants whose lives, though devoted (or not) to the family they serve, are as complicated and mesmerizing. Here is a synopsis of episode 1 from Masterpiece.

Recap of Episode 1 (spoilers):

It’s 1912, and life in the Edwardian country house of Downton Abbey is idyllic and bustling for the Crawley family, aided by their cadre of servants. Robert, Earl of Grantham (Hugh Bonneville), his American heiress wife Cora (Elizabeth McGovern), and their three daughters, Lady Mary (Michelle Dockery), Lady Edith (Laura Carmichael) and Lady Sybil (Jessica Brown Findlay) along with Robert’s mother Violet, the Dowager Countess of Grantham (Maggie Smith) have lived largely uncomplicated lives.

But the sinking of the Titanic hits home in an unexpected and dramatic way — Lord Grantham’s heir, James Crawley, and his son Patrick have perished. It’s personally agonizing (momentarily) for daughter Mary who was supposed to marry Patrick. On a grander scale, suddenly all the predictable succession plans have gone terribly awry, and unheard of questions now loom large — Who will be the new heir to the earldom? And what will happen to this distinguished estate, now in jeopardy? Mary’s grief is short lived as she sets her sights on another suitor, the Duke of Crowborough (Charlie Cox).

As the drama unfolds among the aristocrats of Downton Abbey, changes are happening amidst the servants as well. John Bates (Brendan Coyle) has arrived as a new valet for Robert, but he has a pronounced limp, potentially making him unfit to perform his duties. Also, Bates seems to have some previous link to Robert, and a murky past. And, someone else in the servant’s quarters is darkly entangled with the fortunes of the family he serves.

Despite much angling and consternation, the course of action emerges — a new heir presumptive will soon arrive at Downton. As Matthew Crawley (Dan Stevens), the heir presumptive, and his mother Isobel (Penelope Wilton) arrive, the emotions of the onlookers range from anxiety to outright antagonism. But in crisis there may be opportunity, and Matthew is considered as a suitor for Mary. Yet, nothing is quite as it seems in the changing landscape and shifting fortunes of Downton Abbey.”

My Review:

The opening episode of a series is always a fact finding mission for me. Introduction to characters and motivations are key, and Fellowes gives us a great hook, the entail. Readers of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice will be well aware of this legal term. The Bennet family of five daughters and no son is bound to it also in the early 1800’s. The heroine Elizabeth Bennet’s father has inherited his estate and it can only pass to a male heir, the odious Mr. Collins. This is part of the English primogeniture law, “the right, by law or custom, of the first-born to inherit the entire estate, to the exclusion of younger siblings.” This of course, even in 1912, still means that only males can inherit property. Since the Earl and Countess of Grantham had three daughters and no son, the estate must pass to the next male in line, which is the Earl’s first cousin James Crawley and then to his son Patrick who is also Mary’s fiancé. When they perished with the sinking of the RMS Titanic, the family is thrown into crisis.

When the Earl married American heiress Cora Levinson in 1889, she brought with her a great dowry that was absorbed into the estate at her father-in-law’s insistence. This cash infusion saved Downton and ensured its future. Now that the estate must pass to a complete stranger, Cora would like the money from her marriage settlement separated from the estate, and sides with her mother-in-law Violet, the Dowager Countess, for the entail to be broken so that her daughter Mary can inherit. Robert, the Earl of Grantham is hesitant and defensive when his mother question his motives and incredulously asks if he cares about Downton?

“What do you think? I’ve given my life to Downton. I was born here and I hope to die here. I claim not career beyond the nurture of this house and the estate. It is my third parent and my fourth child. Do I care about it? Yes. I do care.” – Lord Grantham

Prompted by his wife and mother he does seek legal advice, but is torn between his family’s wishes and the fact that removing the money from the estate would destroy it for the next in line, Matthew Crawley (Dan Stevens), his third cousin once removed. It would mean the end of Downton as he has known it. When his wife Cora also pressures him to pursue legal recourse he again defends his position. “Downton is in my blood and in my bones. And I could no more be the cause of its destruction than I could betray my country.” All of the indecision and speculation puts Mary’s social position and marriageability in limbo. She wants to be an heiress like her mother, and she also wants to inherit the estate. She is enraged that her father will not fight for her and instead invites his legal heir Matthew, a middle-class lawyer, to move to Downton. She thinks that the inheritance laws, and the new heir are a joke. Everyone has their opinion on the matter, especially the Dowager Countess who has joined in a temporary alliance with her daughter-in-law, the American outsider, to fight for her granddaughter’s rights and the future of the estate.

Downton Abbey’s family struggles may seem like a breeding ground for a soap opera slosh in period finery, but Fellowes and the three directors Brian Percival (North and South 2004), Ben Bolt (Ashes to Ashes), and Brian Kelly (Monarch of the Glen) never turn to the melodramatic and the excellent actors take the tone very earnestly. Most intriguing in this first episode was the juxtaposition of the nineteenth-century and twentieth-century culture and technology. The world is changing a pace with the introduction of electricity, automobiles and women’s suffrage. We have older characters like the Dowager Countess and the butler Mr. Carson with a firm foot in the past resisting change and the younger generation like Mary pushing social dictums to break the entail and inherit property. When the new heir Matthew shockingly announces to the family that he will continue working as an attorney (horrors, no proper gentleman works) and devote his weekends to learning his new duties at Downton, it prompts the Dowager Countess to ask what a weekend is? Ha! Not only does this irony offer a hearty laugh, it drives home how differently the privileged life of an aristocrat is from the majority of their countrymen, and the world.

Downton Abbey is comfortably familiar period fare, yet so well written it is innovative and wholly engrossing. The second episode airs on Sunday, January 16th at 9pm ET. (check your local listings) I for one am totally entranced. If any movie producers are in doubt that costume dramas are passé, you can come find me in Seattle wearing my “What is a weekend?” t-shirt!

• Upstairs at Downton Abbey – A Cast Preview
• Downstairs at Downton Abbey – A Cast Preview
• Visit the Downton Abbey web site at Masterpiece Classic
• My Preview of Downton Abbey

Images courtesy © Carnival Film & Television Limited 2010 for MASTERPIECE

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