Weekend Watch: Downton Abbey

For those of us whose Netflix Queue often reads English Period Pieces Featuring a Strong Female Lead (not naming any names):

The fabulous Miss Heather Clawson of Habitually Chic has turned me on to a new TV show, Downton Abbey. Written for Masterpiece Theatre by Julian Fellowes, the same fine Englishman who brought us Gosford Park and Snobs, the plot of Downton Abbey focuses on the inhabitants of a stately Edwardian manse who encounter a succession crisis after the sinking of the Titanic.

As synopsis from the PBS website:

It's 1912, and life in the Edwardian country house of Downton Abbey is idyllic and bustling for the Crawley family, aided by their cadre of servants. Robert, Earl of Grantham, his American heiress wife Cora, and their three daughters, along with Robert's mother Violet, have lived largely uncomplicated lives. But the sinking of the Titanic hits home in an unexpected and dramatic way — Lord Grantham's heir, James Crawley, and his son Patrick have perished. It's personally agonizing (momentarily) for daughter Mary who was supposed to marry Patrick. On a grander scale, suddenly all the predictable succession plans have gone terribly awry, and unheard of questions now loom large — Who will be the new heir to the earldom? And what will happen to this distinguished estate, now in jeopardy? Mary's grief is short lived as she sets her sights on another suitor, the Duke of Crowborough.

The show stars Maggie Smith as the matriarch Violet, Dowager Countess of Grantham and Masterpiece Theatre veteran Hugh Bonneville as Robert, Earl of Grantham. Elizabeth McGovern plays Robert's wife Cora Smith. Their three young daughters are played by Michelle Dockery, Laura Carmichael and Jessica Brown-Findlay.

Channel 13

Sundays at 9:00pm

PBS

I think this calls for dinner and a movie, no?