Masterpiece Classic: Downton Abbey (DVD, 2011, 3-Disc Set)

Gorgeously photographed and beautifully scored, this continuing drama (can I say soap opera?) takes us into the pre-WWI estate of Lord Grantham (Hugh Bonneville), whose real name is Crawley, as well as his servants.

Lord Grantham and his wife Cora (Elizabeth McGovern) have 3 daughters, Mary, Edith, and Sybil. Unfortunately for Lord Grantham, females cannot inherit in 1915 England. And when the story starts, the next-in-line male to inherit the title and the estate is killed in the sinking of the Titanic. Or was he?

Thus, the next-in-line distant cousin is brought in to learn what his inheritance will be. Matthew Crawley (Dan Stevens) and his mother Isobel (Penelope Wilton) enter as suspicious characters but end up being beloved members of the extended family. In fact, the on-again off-again romance between daughter Mary and Matthew becomes the central conflict in the first series of this dvd.

I would be horribly remiss if I did not mention Lord Grantham's mother, Lady Violet, played magnificently by Maggie Smith. She steals every scene that she is present in. Her facial expressions and dialogue are both hilarious and heartwarming. She is an excellent choice for this role.

The downstairs crew is fabulous too. We have the butler Carson, and his female assistant Mrs. Hughes. But the main heartthrobs are the ladies' maid Anna and Lord Grantham's valet, Mr. Bates. They have a troubled, heartwarming romance as well. You will be engaged thoroughly in each character's story.

What can I say about an ensemble story in which you become interested in each and every character? Plus you will become entranced with the times in which all these people lived. England at this time is an additional character. We hilariously watch them being introduced to electricity and telephones and new medical treatments. And the coming war is chatted about until it actually happens as the cliffhanger ending to the first year.

You will not be disappointed by watching this dvd. In fact, you will hurriedly get the second dvd. It is really that good!

Everything is excellent about Downton Abbey. It has humour,drama,intrigue, great story line and fantastic cast.

The story is about as the tital says Downton Abbey. The Aristocratic family of Mother and Father and their 3 daughters, and about 20 servants who live there. Of course you can only imagine all the different goings on with 25 people living and working in the same huge house, combined with all the people living around the house, and in the village.

I have watched the program on TV twice before I purchased my own copy.

They are in the making of the next installment already, can't wait for it to be for sale.

I love Masterpiece but couldn't find the time to watch the weekly program so I like to buy the box set and watch it at my leisure. Downton Abbey is excellent. I love the period fashions and uniforms as well as the beautiful period setting.

This is the most excellant movie I've seen in a long time! I started out watching the first one in season one, then I got hooked on it and before I knew it I was past midnight going on the second disc! I love each actor as he and she are so interesting!The home in the Downton is unbelieveable! I want to go there so bad. This movie makes you feel like you do live there. I want more! I bought it when I saw a preview on Ebay. I had no intentions of purchasing the dvd but my finger went right to buy it once I saw the second season pop up. It's so delicious and naughty. I love the secrets in the story as well as the respect of the owner as well. Oh dear me I'm hooked!

I fell in love with Downton Abbey just lately, so it was necessary for me to buy the dvd's to catch up. I LOVE IT. It starts just before the sinking of the Titanic in the first series and at the end of the second series it is 1920. One gets enough of an idea of what the war was like mostly to those left at home to give us an idea of what it might have been like, and the interplay between the upstairs folks and the downstairs folks is very interesting. It is also interesting how they were mostly of one mind during the war in trying to do what they could, upper class or lower class, on the home front. DA is filled with love and war, crime and punishment, and enough gossip to make it a really good show.