Downton Abbey - Season 1 - Classic British TV Show

You can’t help but to be sucked into the dramatic experience when watching Downton Abbey. The amazing scripts, dialogues and scenes completely enrapture you and you feel as if you’ve truly stepped into that era. The tone of Downton Abbey is very balanced, just enough drama to keep you intrigued and just enough downtime to help you recover from the emotional roller coaster.

Though set in a different time period, viewers can easily relate with the joys and struggles that the characters experiences. Every moment reveals someone’s true character, their motives, their pain, their strengths and their weaknesses.

The vulnerability and sincerity of each character, whether good or bad, is absolutely captivating. One of the most moving and dominant figures in Downton Abbey would have to be the Dowager Countess played by pioneer actress, Maggie Smith. Smith delivers such a strong performance and the interpretation of her character is spot on.

It’s no wonder that almost 12 million viewers tuned in to watch the first episode. Downton Abbey has since won many awards and recognition worldwide. It surpassed rankings and repeatedly broke records for a period drama TV series.

There are a whole slew of characters that make up the staff that look after the household including the various housemaids, footmen and the kitchen staff. Two of the main roles that are integral to the running of the house are the butler and the housekeeper.

The Butler of Downton Abbey

The Butler is called Mr Carson. He is the man who is in charge of the whole staff. It is his responsibility to ensure that everything in the household runs as smoothly as possible.

It is a revered position and both the staff and the members of the Crawley family have huge respect for him. This role is played by Jim Carter who has appeared on the British stage in several plays, including work for the Royal Shakespeare Company, and in a whole host of television programmes.

The Housekeeper

Mrs Hughes is the Housekeeper. As a senior member of the staff, she works alongside Mr Carson and is mainly responsible for the female staff, which includes all the housemaids and the kitchen staff.

She is a very stern woman but does show her softer side on occasion. Mrs Hughes is played by Scottish actress Phyllis Logan. She has appeared in a range of television shows, both modern and period dramas, as well as films such as Shooting Fish and Secrets and Lies, directed by Mike Leigh.

The characters and the actors that portray them have helped to make Downton Abbey the must see period drama of the year. You will find that you are immediately hooked as soon as you start to watch the opening scenes of the first episode and the two box sets that are currently available will certainly keep you happily entertained.

There are several storylines that weave in and out of each other as the first season of Downton Abbey progresses. The predominant one focuses on the possible loss of the family’s inheritance. According to the law at the time, only male heirs were allowed to inherit.

Because the Earl only has daughters, it was agreed that a marriage between the eldest daughter, Lady Mary, and the cousin, who would be due to inherit upon her father’s death, would keep the inheritance safe and secure. However, this cousin dies on board the Titanic.

The series follows the meeting of Matthew Crawley, who becomes the new heir and his ongoing relationship with Lady Crawley. She is very hostile towards him at the beginning because she can not make up her mind whether she likes him or not and she is not happy about being forced into a situation over which she has very little control.

As the series develops we learn more about these two individuals as well as the rest of the family and the staff.