Downton Abbey

The popularity of this series is too great for me not to be skeptical. I've seen many great period series, among the best of which I consider The House of Eliott, which is in a similar vein to Upstairs, Downstairs, of course. For someone who thinks they've discovered something new in Downton, it's a bit striking, but if you strip away the general hype, it remains a fairly watchable show about what happens above and below stairs. We'll revisit those developments in British society after 1912 and, if we hang on, we'll also relive the many adventures of the Roaring Twenties, which of course were not as tumultuous as one would hope. But that's why we have other stories, set among the middle class or the artistic elite of continental Europe or North America. (18/02/2019)

I enjoy both the premise and the setting. The series is filmed very professionally. Plus, it features Maggie Smith, whose Violet Crawley makes brutal bon mots about everything, and Michelle Dockery, who has been a favorite of mine since her role as Susan in Hogfather. With such a constellation, it's virtually impossible for me to be dissatisfied. Of course, I realize that the plot is extremely idealized. So what? Since I’m generally cynical about what life and film has to offer, I was almost taken aback by how good I felt watching this series. (03/10/2017)

For me, Downton Abbey is definitely a gem and the icing on the cake in the field of historical series. It takes place in the 1910s in the beautiful setting of England and together with Julian Fellowes' engaging script, the beautiful music and the quality performances, it is my cup of tea. I really like the sets, the costumes and the overall period feel that is extremely authentic. Of the cast, Maggie Smith is of course my favourite, but I also like the other members of the ensemble. In short, a sort of expanded and improved version of Gosford Park in serial format, where many of my favourite aspects of the film collide, resulting in an unforgettable spectacle. (17/01/2012)

Perhaps because the beginning of the twentieth century has always been inexplicably close to me in the language of film or television series, perhaps because Julian Fellowes is able to create characters in such a way that I am a full-throated fan of them right from the pilot episode, perhaps because I can almost hate some of them and then discover the old ones in new dimensions and marvel at the development of their character with the arrival of new characters. Perhaps for all these reasons, this magnificent estate is a dreamy, tearful, laughter-filled, and simply perfect place that, in all its indulgently polished six seasons, seems to me to be the most attractive television location. From the smallest everyday worries to a world war. From the head of the family to the very last maid. Love at first sight. (10/10/2017)

A dash of Gosford Park, a dash of “In the Castle and Beneath the Castle" by Božena Němcová, a dash of Austen, a dash of Brontë Sisters, a dash of black and white, a dash of Oprah and quite a big dash of sarcasm and British humor - dry as a glass (well, more like a bottle) of extra dry gin. That goes for season one. The second season is a bit Esmeralda and, more than anything else, an overly-sweet soft drink, which in the end unwittingly becomes a farce employing almost all existing soap opera clichés. Simply a parody of itself. The only thing that saves its honor is the (un)Christmas special 2011, which raises hope that the next series could return "to its roots". This was confirmed primarily in the “beneath the castle" storyline. The “castle" line at the beginning remained unintentionally ridiculous. After that, however, it bounces back from the bottom and, all in all, season three is once again an excellent old-world series; which is also true of the Christmas episode of the 2012 season, which, while pushing things forward more than the entire season, is terribly... Dumb. Season four does not meet the quality standard of the previous seasons; on the one hand, it painfully lacks a central connecting storyline, or at least a hint of one, and then there are just too many characters. And each character in every episode is given two to three minutes in the sun; for some it is too little, and for others it is way too much. It jumps from character to character without rhyme or reason, and often times nothing comes of it because most of them are not given sufficient space. And it's most noticeable in the 2013 Christmas episode, where there are about 100 characters and... And nothing comes of it; no drama, nothing. This is also true of the entire fifth season, which is merely a spinning wheel parody of itself and in which all the problems of the previous series are accentuated rather than solved. P.S.: Despite the excellent dubbing, there is no point in watching it other than in the original version, which in this case is an integral part of it. | S1: 5/5 | S2: 2/5 | S3: 4/5 | S4: 3/5 | S5: 2/5 | (27/02/2012)