Post by pim on Feb 25, 2013 12:54:04 GMT 10
I really enjoyed Series 1 and 2 for the insights it gave into the English (as opposed to British!) class system at the turn of the 19th & 20th centuries and during the Edwardian decade, plus the pressures that whole upper class culture came under during WW1. I understood sympathetically why the writers of the screenplay cast Lady Cora as an American: firstly because it was the truth in that the landed and titled British upper class did quarry the US for rich American heiresses, and secondly the America connection would increase the appeal of the series in the US market. No problem! So I was OK with it when Shirley Maclaine popped up in a couple of episodes as Cora's "Mom"(as the Americans insist on spelling it) and there was all this British vs American banter and rivalry. It was OK. I even became quite hooked on the series! Would Lady Mary ever get together with Matthew? Would the evil O'Brien and the sinister Thomas get their comeuppance? And what about the hapless Bates and Anna? He of the gimpy leg, the vindictive ex-wife and the implacable enmity of both O'Brien and Thomas. Does their relationship stand a chance with so much working against it? And what about O'Brien and Thomas? Will their diabolical alliance last?
And so on, and so forth ... I'd missed the first two series and a friend lent me boxes of the DVDs. I became so hooked I'd watch several episodes a night over Christmas & New Year until I'd got through them.
And now we're into Series 3 and it's compulsory Sunday night viewing on Channel 7. The publicity for it says it's "the best series ever". But is it? I'm not so sure! The family stands to lose Downton Abbey. I know that can't happen because apparently they're making Series 4. Matthew has come into a lot of money and could save the property but he dithers because of a deep moral dilemma ... , Lady Edith gets stood up at the altar by a "gentleman" who wimps out and is therefore forever condemned as a Bounder and a Cad ...
My problem is that while the series always had a soap opera dimension which was necessary to keep together this snapshot of upper class English life of 100 years ago, it seems that the soap opera is taking over and it's becoming less probable.
So it's starting to pall, I'm afraid, and the appeal is starting to fade ...
And so on, and so forth ... I'd missed the first two series and a friend lent me boxes of the DVDs. I became so hooked I'd watch several episodes a night over Christmas & New Year until I'd got through them.
And now we're into Series 3 and it's compulsory Sunday night viewing on Channel 7. The publicity for it says it's "the best series ever". But is it? I'm not so sure! The family stands to lose Downton Abbey. I know that can't happen because apparently they're making Series 4. Matthew has come into a lot of money and could save the property but he dithers because of a deep moral dilemma ... , Lady Edith gets stood up at the altar by a "gentleman" who wimps out and is therefore forever condemned as a Bounder and a Cad ...
My problem is that while the series always had a soap opera dimension which was necessary to keep together this snapshot of upper class English life of 100 years ago, it seems that the soap opera is taking over and it's becoming less probable.
So it's starting to pall, I'm afraid, and the appeal is starting to fade ...