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DOWNTON ABBEY: THE GRAND FINALE – John Lunn
Original Review by Jonathan Broxton
After 15 years, 52 TV episodes, and two theatrical movies, the Downton Abbey saga comes to a close with this third and final film, Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale. For those who don’t know, Downton Abbey is a sprawling British period drama set in the early 20th century, following the lives of the aristocratic Crawley family and their household staff at the grand Yorkshire estate of Downton Abbey. The series begins in 1912 with the sinking of the Titanic, which disrupts the line of inheritance for the Crawley estate. From there, it traces the interplay between the family’s upstairs world of privilege and the downstairs world of the servants, showing how their lives are deeply intertwined. Across its six seasons the story spans major historical events – the First World War, the Spanish flu pandemic, the decline of the British aristocracy, women’s suffrage – and looks at how everyone at Downton adjusts to these social changes. The Grand Finale is set in 1930, is directed by Simon Curtis from a screenplay by the ubiquitous Julian Fellowes, and sees Hugh Bonneville, Jim Carter, and Michelle Dockery all returning to their famous roles. Read more…
DOWNTON ABBEY: A NEW ERA – John Lunn
Original Review by Jonathan Broxton
The enormously popular small screen adventures of the Crawley family continue their transition to the big screen with a second cinematic outing, Downton Abbey: A New Era, written by Julian Fellowes and directed by Simon Curtis. As we all know, Downton Abbey is a British drama series charting the lives and loves of the aristocratic Crawley family and their various staff and servants, all of whom reside at the titular estate in northern England. It’s a blend of domestic drama, historical and political intrigue, and scandalous romance, dressed up with upper-class British pageantry, and it was wildly popular and successful both domestically and in the United States. The original series debuted in 2010, and was followed by the first theatrical film in 2019. This new film, set in 1928, tells two parallel stories: one regarding Maggie Smith’s character Violet Crawley, Dowager Countess of Grantham, who has unexpectedly inherited a villa in France; and one where a film crew arrives at Downton to make a silent film starring screen lothario Guy Dexter (Dominic West), which sends everyone into a tizzy. The film stars the familiar cast of regular Downton actors – Hugh Bonneville, Elizabeth McGovern, Michelle Dockery, Laura Carmichael, Jim Carter – and was a popular success upon its UK opening. Read more…
DOWNTON ABBEY – John Lunn
Original Review by Jonathan Broxton
For those who have been living under a rock for a decade, Downton Abbey is a British drama series charting the lives and loves of the aristocratic Crawley family and their various staff and servants, all of whom reside in the titular estate in northern England in the 1910s. It’s a blend of domestic drama, historical and political intrigue, and scandalous romance, dressed up with upper-class British pageantry, and it was wildly popular and successful both domestically and in the United States, where fascination with the royal family and the landed gentry remains as popular as ever. In combination with Harry Potter it re-kindled the late-blooming career of Dame Maggie Smith, and made household names of character actors like Hugh Bonneville, Michelle Dockery, Elizabeth McGovern, Jim Carter, Brendan Coyle, and Joanne Froggatt, all of whom were nominated for a ton of Emmys, BAFTAs, and Golden Globes between them. This new film, which is being released four years after the series ended, is set in 1927 and focuses on the activities in and around the Abbey as they prepare for a visit from King George V and his wife, Queen Mary of Teck. Read more…
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