I wonder how many of us watch Downton Abbey because we actually enjoy it, and how many because we are fascinated to see how much worse it can get? Put me in the latter category. They say that a sign of a good film, book, etc. is when we care what happens to the characters; in my case it's not so much "when" as "how soon".
At the heart of the many problems afflicting this sinking ship is some serious miscasting in the shape of Lady Mary and her mother Cora. Mary is supposed to be at the centre of the plot, the object of desire by Lord Gillingham (no less) and other suitors. The trouble is the temperature drops whenever she comes into the room and we feel she would be better suited to a part in The Addams Family or to the role of Mrs Danvers in a remake of Rebecca. As for Cora...
I have never seen a British production that has been so brazenly aimed at the American market; indeed I don't know why they don't change the name to Down Town Abbey and have done with it. I have heard that Maggie Smith and Antelope Wilton want out. Antelope in particular has got other lucrative offers lined up but the only way you can leave Abbey, as Sybil and Matthew have learnt to their cost, is in a coffin.
I gave up on this show after the third season, and nothing you say can pull me back. :) And yes, American audiences (at least upper-middle PBS audiences) are crazy for it.
ReplyDeleteIs Antelope Wilton an inside joke, or is it just more evidence of auto-correct at play?
I don't know if you have heard of a 1960s British sci-fi TV series called "Thunderbirds", Michael? It was pretty dreadful and was brilliantly satirised by Peter Cook and Dudley Moore in "Superthunderstingcar". In the parody Peter Cook repeatedly refers to a British aristocrat as Lady Penelope, pronounced as in "antelope". A very tenuous inside joke indeed!
Deletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=riMHp28_cqw
Heavens - I'd forgotten that! Though Mr. E.Anglia hadn't and has just been giving me a demo.
DeleteWhat I would like to know is - is there really a single producer anywhere on this earth who still thinks it good box office to employ "Lady Cora"? (can't remember the name of the actress, thankfully).
Greetings Barnaby
ReplyDeleteI did not find Downton Abbey too bad though I preferred the earlier series.
The scenary and architecture looks attractive, the acting quite good or at least not bad and the plots seem to make sense despite the Christmas bubbly that preceded our viewing. Not as good as some of Jane Austin work on TV but not as bad as is being made out.
At Beaumont we were allowed to watch 1 hour TV on Saturdays b4 supper. The original Doctor Who was the great thing to watch (black and white of course) then but many of the subsequent Dr Whos were not too bad either.
My favourite US drama was the West Wing - did you see the episode when the Catholic President (MartinSheen) who after clearing out all the security guards from the Cathedral, shut all its doors and deliberately smoked a cigarette, which he then stubbed out. 'Thank you god' so to speak though Catholicism is well and positively portrayed in the series
Not tenuous at all, but very inside. The only way to describe that sketch: excellent. I am passing it on to my family.
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