UNITED KINGDOM – Shows like Downton Abbey weren’t supposed to work anymore in the 21st century. Who would want to watch British people in the 1910s talking about continuing the family line while their household help struggled to make something of their lives? Yet showrunner Julian Fellowes managed to weave a complex tale of the Crawley family and their servants at Downton Abbey that soon made fans not just in Britain but worldwide.
From 2010 until 2015, we caught a glimpse of what life was like as the British Empire’s influence slowly began to decrease on the world stage. The show began with Robert Crawley, Earl of Grantham (Hugh Bonneville), and his American wife Cora (Elizabeth McGovern) trying to marry off their three daughters to men of high stature. Meanwhile, in the lower parts of the massive estate, the new valet, John Bates (Brendan Coyle), shook the status quo for the other servants who had different roles to play in running the household.
For all of its perceived snobbery or promotion of excess from the previous century, Downton Abbey must always be remembered as a family drama. The matriarch of the Crawley family, the ever-acerbic dowager countess Violet Crawley had the best lines written for her. To have Dame Maggie Smith portray her for the duration of Downton’s run, and have her battle with Penelope Wilton’s Isobel Crawley was a constant treat for the intellectual set. By the show’s finale that was shown over the Christmas holidays, it was perhaps fitting that it was the dowager countess’ intervention (if not meddling) that finally gave Isobel lasting happiness.
The clashes between sisters Mary (Michelle Dockery) and Edith (Laura Carmichael) also proved to be knockout affairs, as the eldest daughter Mary seemed to relish her sister’s misery. The journey of Tom Branson (Allen Leech) from family chauffeur to trusted steward of Downton also called to mind changes in British society as greater social equality emerged amid Ireland’s struggles against the United Kingdom.
As age caught up with head butler Mr. Carson (Jim Carter) and hindered the continuation of his duties around Downton, an opportunity for redemption of one of the show’s most despised characters pops up, helping close out his storyarc with a positive spin. Bates and Anna’s (Joanna Froggatt) marriage that seemed to always face one form of problem or another, Edith’s secret daughter and her quest for someone to take her away from Mary, and Mary’s own struggle to find happiness after the shocking death of her Matthew, these were all addressed by the show’s finale.
It may seem that most hanging plots were conveniently closed by Fellowes as the series wound down, but isn’t that what most successful TV shows dream of providing for their loyal audience
About the Author:
Jason Inocencio was once the Digital Editor of adobo magazine who still loves seeing great campaigns from all over the world. He proudly shows off his love for all kinds of geeky things, whether it be movies, TV shows, comics, sports, or trivia.
