So I watched some episodes, since everyone tells me it’s this great show. It didn’t draw me in. I didn’t care much about the characters ( though Maggie Smith was entertaining). Seems to me to be terribly terribly overrated. Now I loved the BBC’s original run of The Forsyte Saga; I liked the original Upstairs downstairs, and I adored the Jewel in the Crown. I’m not immune to British soap opera. So just curious - am I the only one immune to the charms of this show?
Yes, apparently, you are the only one.
I enjoyed the first series.
There were parts of the second series I did like, but other parts, particularly the whole Bates subplot and the missing heir thing, irritated me.
I only saw a couple of the third series episodes when I was in the UK in September; I wasn’t terribly impressed by what I saw, but will reserve judgment on it until I can see the whole thing.
I find it a bit. Whatever.
I recognise that it’s a very well-executed product - the performances are credible, the sets and costumes are just right, the stories and dialogue are all quite well balanced.
But I just don’t really care if I watch it or not.
I find TV shows about the British Upper Class boring.
“Keeping Up Appearances” is much more entertaining!
The first series was an entertaining posh soap opera. The writing wasn’t as good as the original Upstairs/Downstairs but production values were glossy (within a limited setting) & there were some good performances.
Lord Fellowes’ writing was not up to juggling The Great War with family drama & romance; I didn’t care much for series two. I’ve been reading UK sites about series three; it appears to be better but still not all that. PBS will run that series in January; I’ll watch with a critical eye.
Shooting on series four begins next year & Lord Fellowes has been quoted that he’d like a fifth, too. He really should have had a writing team. There were co-writers for two episodes in the first series; none, since then. Long character & plot arcs are also ideas foreign to him.
It was fairly reasonable for the first series, but became very trite in the next two.
The standard soap opera convention took over: A couple is happy, things are looking good. Oh, noes! Bad Stuff has happened. Angst ensues. Oh, joy. All is magically fixed and they are back together for ever and ever. Lather, rinse, repeat.
The lengths they go to to keep the evil people around is ridiculous.
It has become Days of Our Lives on an estate.
I liked series one for what it was, but by the end of series two I was done with it.
I surely enjoyed the preview of the upcoming season on Colbert…
I liked the first few episodes. The acting was fantastic and the drama was fun. After that, it got a little too ridiculous. The Bates-Anna story is repetitive and boring, the Sybil-Branson story was unbelievable, and when Matthew leaped out of his wheelchair, I was ready to throw something at the television. By the end of the second season, I really don’t care whether Matthew and Mary get together or not.
I had never watched it (other than the odd snippet when my wife was watching it) but I did watch the Christmas Day special. Considering I had no idea who anyone was, I found it quite entertaining - it managed to hold my interest over two hours, until nearly 11pm on Christmas night when I was well-fed and sleepy!
I doubt I’ll plough through the 11-disc box set I put in my wife’s Christmas stocking, though…
The writing has become unbearably bad. Mary and Matthew were my favorite couple, but Fellowes seemed to have no idea what to do with them in season 3. And after the recent Christmas special, I don’t think I’ll be back next season.
I honestly have no idea how this show gets so many awards. Even Maggie Smith’s role isn’t that much of a stretch for her.
The Christmas Special at the end of Series 2 was the bright spot in a lackluster series. The one just aired in the UK was apparently not as well received. (Spoilers!)
PBS will begin Series 3 in January. It’s edited because ITV has commercials (& the Brits complain!) but most of the show is included. The run will end with the most recent “Christmas” episode; shown over there on December 25 but without a holiday theme…
Despite his Oscar for Gosford Park, I can’t say that I’ve ever bought into the idea of Julian Fellowes as some master scriptwriter. The plotting in Downton Abbey is often really clumsy. But it’s not so consistently bad as to be so-bad-it’s-good. For me, the main pleasure is how the scripts veer so erratically from actually quite good to laughably bad, all filmed with otherwise impeccable production values. The implausible plot developments are almost as regular as the Maggie Smith one-liners.
I haven’t seen a single episode (in fact, the entirety of what I’ve seen of it consists of short clips compiled together for a Saturday Night Live bit), and have no intention of ever watching it. It looks indescribably dull.
So no, you’re not the only one.
This is about the most accurate, honest summary I have heard.
Enjoyed the first series a fair bit. Never got past episode two of the second series. Couldn’t say why I wasn’t into it, but I just wasn’t. The rest of the series accumulated on the DVR and when they were mistakenly deleted I wasn’t upset and took that as I sign I was done with it.
Protip: No one is EVER the only one.
I recently finished watching the first two seasons. The production values are so impressive, it’s easy to overlook the failures in the writing. I’m agog at the costumes and the interiors and the consistency in the way people behave, the class stuff.
Contrast Downton with Poldark, from the 70’s. I’m watching Poldark now. The opening credits are laughably bad. The interiors are obviously stage sets. When you see Ross leave his house, you know nothing happened in that house, that all you’re seeing is an actor in the doorway of an abandoned manor house. The outdoor scenes look washed out and scenes that are supposed to be happening at dawn are obviously happening at mid-day.
But the story is so well done and so perfectly paced, it’s easy to ignore the way it looks. Downton is just the opposite.
Is it because the studio scenes are shot on video and the outdoor locations are shot on film? Fawlty Towers has that jarring shock when it does that.