Downton Abbey (2010-2015): Season 1

Title: Downton Abbey

Year: 2010

Genre: Drama | Romance |

Seasons: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 |

Runtime:  58 min/episode

Creator:  Julian Fellowes

Starring: Hugh Bonneville, Phyllis Logan, Elizabeth McGovern

8.7/10

Lord Robert Crawley, Earl of Grantham (Hugh Bonneville) sees his family heritage, especially the grand country home Downton Abbey, as his mission in life. The death of his heir aboard R.M.S. Titanic means distant cousin Matthew Crawley (Dan Stevens), a Manchester lawyer, suddenly is next in line and accepts moving onto the vast estate with his even more modernist, socially engaged mother, who clashes with his Lordship’s domineering, conservative mother, the dowager countess. Marrying off the daughters is another concern. Meanwhile, the butler presides over a staff which serves the family, but also lead most of their entire lives in the servants’ quarters, intriguing amongst themselves.

A SOLID START ON A GRANDEUR SERIES

It takes place in London in the early 1910s. It starts with the Titanic sinking, cause a string of events for the series. Questioning the hereditary of the family estate and the fortune behind it. Thus, as one of the victims on the ship, was the fiancé to the eldest daughter Mary.  

Downton Abbey is easily one of the best drama-historic series ever produced. It has great writing, set pieces, wonderful characters, and performances. The aristocratic ambience rans through the whole series.  The costume justifies the characters and in the first season it very well establishes all the role these characters must play. We get to know head family with lordship and ladyship, the valet, the footman and the other employee’s downstairs. We also have the Dowager Countess, the mother of the Earl of Grantham, played by Maggie Smith.  A lot of the first season focuses on who’s going to wed Mary. She’s accompanied with many men through the series. The daughters in the family also getting wed and have family as the series goes on.

In the first season, we get to know the characters. The first episode sets the bar high, establishing this elegant aristocratic world in a humble way. Safe to say is that this series is not for everyone. It’s not something you could burn in a sitting or something you can have on playing in the background, while doing other things. It needs to be nurtured and cherished.  There’s implications even in the first episode of where the storylines is heading with Sarah O’Brien and Thomas Barrow, Anna Smith and John Bates, Mrs. Hughes and Charles Carson.  There storylines expand further in a fascinating way. There’s exploitation, intrigues, death, heartbreaks and entail new strangers to the house, to expect in the first season and the upcoming seasons.

It’s like tasting good wet paint, that slowly connects in the end with all the storyline when it reaches the final and seventh episode of the British series first run.