Data Base: Downton Abbey (2010 - 2015)

©KissFM | ITV

Series Premiere	September 26, 2010
Series Finale	December 25, 2015
Genre	Drama, Romance, Family Drama, Periodical Drama
Country of Origin	UK
No. of seasons	6
No. of episodes	52 including 5 feature-film-length Christmas specials
Running Time	48-93 minutes
Channel	ITV, PBS
Website	http://www.itv.com/downtonabbey
Developed by	Julian Fellowes
Starring	Hugh Bonneville, Laura Carmichael, Jim Carter, Brendan Coyle, Michelle Dockery, Joanne Froggatt, Rob James-Collier, Phyllis Logan, Elizabeth McGovern, Sophie McShera, Lesley Nicol, Maggie Smith, Penelope Wilton, Allen Leech, Kevin Doyle, David Robb, Sionhan Finneran, Dan Stevens, Jessica Brown Findlay, Lily James
Guest Stars Worth Mentioning	Shirley McLane, Paul Giamatti

Synopsis

When Patrick, the heir of the Earl of Grantham, dies on the Titanic, the Crawley family and their estate, Downton Abbey, face an uncertain future. How will Matthew Crawley, next in line to inherit and middle-class Manchester lawyer, fit in with the aristocracy? How can the inheritance of the daughters of the house be secured, now that the oldest, Mary, can no longer marry Patrick? Starting in the years leading up to WWI Downton Abbey follows the life of the Crawley family and their servants. Neither upstairs with the family nor downstairs in the servants hall do things ever get boring. Joy and drama are never far apart and times they are a-changing as we go from 1912 up to 1927.

Yay or nay?

Costumes, drama, whitty dialogues – what's not to love? Stick your head through a time window for each episode and come out in the time that changed the world like no other. Dive into a world long gone and experience the mundane artificiality of aristocratic life and existential working class problems all in one house. History-loving folks will get their early-20th-century kicks and theater lovers will get an almost stage-like presentation of plot. There's romance, there's scheming, there are life and death situations. If you are just in it for the gory bits and fast-paced action, this one is not for you. Otherwise, what's not to love?