[affozyBoomi]

Who else can't live without this tremendous show? The second series begins this month in the UK, correct? Exciting!

Here's your one-stop shop for all things DOWNTON ABBEY!

Here's a review of the second series:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/t...st-review.html

[affozyBoomi]

Well that last episode certainly jumped the Mrs. Patmore, didn't it? Jesus.

[OGOGOogoloshennya]

^ The most recent one? If you're talking about the whole thing with Matthew, I think it really showed up just how undeveloped medicine still was in the early 1900's to be honest, where misdiagnoses were more common and treatments more limited.

Put it this way, Penicillin wasn't discovered until 1928. We're dealing with pre-antibiotics medicine.

[affozyBoomi]

Not the whole thing with Matthew, per se... it's just that I'm having issues with how jumpy the pacing is this season. We're jumping years sometimes between episodes. That and I wish I could understand O'Brien's motivation a bit better. I'm hoping the last episode ties up a few things for me.

[DraidodaRip]

Isn't this airing on PBS over here I thought? Just added to my Netflix queueueueueue

[anolbom]

I loved it, but it was too short! I spent the week after it ended watching something else on the same channel, being like "WTF is going on? Where are the regular people?" until it clicked that it was something entirely different.

I'm debating if I should wait until it airs in the US or try to stream it as it airs the first time.

[affozyBoomi]

OH you better believe I'm finding torrents or something haha! I believe I read that PBS is going to start airing the new series here in the States this winter, but I don't think I can wait.

[affozyBoomi]

Some behind the scenes of series 2:





So Downton becomes a hospital! Interesting.

[GaxyGroordrep]

I just started watching this through Netflix. Loved the five of seven I've seen so far. Can't wait for the rest. And season 2.

[Symnunidanimb]

really like this series! the first episode i wasn't really sure, but then i became more invested in the characters and now i cannot wait for the second series to start. which will only be shown here on tv next year or so, so it is going to be a long wait... love the humour in the show, especially maggie smith is all kinds of awesome ("what is a weekend?" ) and the episode with the turkish ambassador was highly unexpected. i recently saw gosford park, since i read that julian fellowes wrote the script, and i saw a lot of similarities between the two. i guess that is what gave him the idea for the show?

[priordine]

It is coming back to UK screens on September 18.

I watched bits of the first series (Liam from Corrie as the footman who has the gay kiss; Maggie Smith vs. Penelope Wilton; the sex death) but not the whole thing. Might give second series a go.

[Teprophopay]

Why not give the first series a go to begin with, menju? I've not yet met a person who doesn't enjoy it.

[priordine]

I think I might just do that!

[OGOGOogoloshennya]

Did ye all see the French & Saunders skit from earlier this year?

[affozyBoomi]

Thoughts on the finale?

[hygtfrdes]

I love this show, and I loved this series, the finale included. It's never pretended to be anything other than a high-quality soap opera...how many episodes in the first series did Cora and Violet go on about the inheritance problem and Mary's prospects?...but throughout it's managed to weave in historical elements and the social problems of being in service during this evolving time period. I was talking with co-workers today about how clever it is to stage an aristocracy vs. help soap opera with literary and cinematic production values in this time period, when the aristocracy norm and the institution of service was being buffeted and busted open by the social change of the surrounding decades. The aristocracy as-was really, truly ended with the onset of WWII, if not before; I'm hoping that, in Series 3, things get really unpredictable in the household as far as the role of master vs. servant.

(Which is a long way of saying I want Mrs. Hughes to flip her shit and PWN everyone's faces and then set fire to the countryside, like a respectable madwoman).

[OGOGOogoloshennya]

The Branson / Sybil romance has been my favourite plot this season. They really let it develop very slowly, and rather beautifully so we really believed in it when it came to a head with the Earl of Grantham, and it really reminded us then just how big a gulf there was between the aristocracy and the rest, and how you could be disowned and disinherited merely for falling in love with the wrong person. (But then, for the aristocracy, marriage was more a family obligation than anything else.)

[affozyBoomi]

I gotta say... O'Brien's breakdown while Cora was sick had me a little misty.

[cauddyVab]

I gotta say... O'Brien's breakdown while Cora was sick had me a little misty.

Me too, they did a good job this year of making her more than just a boo-hiss baddy, though she was great at that too. And because her hair's just knitting ^^

I love that even the potentially annoying characters are still well written and acted - I even find myself caring about what happens to dreary Butler-Bates "I'm Leafing! Again! Due to Honour! OK I've Come Back". Bigger men than he have tried to divorce Catherine of Aragon, with similar results. The cast all suit their roles down to the ground though. Mrs Hughes must find true love!

Sometimes I wish they weren't galloping through the years at such a pace (someone commented they'll have Lady Mary walking on the moon before too long) because I love the 1910s and they're over already (and the Dowager Duchess can't last forever ), but it does allow plot strands to charge on entertainingly so I can see why they do.

Guesses for the Christmas Special?

It's 18 months later, and Jane the Maid returns, with a baby... OF THE MALE PURSUASION! Could it be that Lord Cameron did a little more than hold her hand and pack her off with a cheque for A Decent Amount?

[Anaedilla]

One of the reasons I like the show so much, is that the characters are a little more complex than most soap opera characters. Even Thomas has glimpses of humanity, as shown with Courtney in episode 2 of this season. I also love how the changes war brought are elements of the story, though how they dealt with the Matthew-Mary issue is a bit too clever by half. Who ever expects the Spanish Inquisition Influenza?