The Up and the Down

I have a new love. It fills my thought processes and distracts me in my daily life. I find myself longing for it and my heartbeat speeds up as it approaches. I'm a little sick when it's over and turn to it whenever I can. If I am afforded the opportunity to share about it, I do. That sounds like love doesn't it? I've not met an interesting new man, or reconnected with someone from my past. Even more embarrassing, it's not a renewed fervor for Jesus that has me all a twitter. No, I have fallen hard for a television show. Downton Abbey.  (No spoilers, I promise.)


I'm somewhat of a anglophile. Not to the extreme, my house isn't decorated with Union Jacks. I do however, have a collection of Jane Austen and Charlotte Bronte movies. I collect adaptions of Shakespeare's works and I love the Elizabeth movies. My hope for my 50th birthday is for my high school friend Jill and I to go to England.  One of my favorite movies is "The Holiday" with Jude Law, Cameron Diaz, Jack Black, and Kate Winslet. Go to an quaint English village, meet a interesting, and quite handsome widower. I could handle that.

I honestly don't even know how I happened upon Downton Abbey. It may have been through my Netflix cue since I have a tendency to watch things like "Being Jane" and "Lost in Austen". But from the very first sound of the piano keys and violins, I fell in love.

For those of you who don't know about Downton Abbey (which is amazing to me since I've seen parodies of it on everything from Jimmy Fallon to Sesame Street) it is the story of the aristocratic Crawley family and their bevy of servants, who live in the palatial estate of Downton. Downton is a major character in this show.  The house is actually Highclere Castle in Hampshire, England. It has been the location for several films and music videos. It is a picture of days gone by with its enormous doors, impressive staircases, and antique-filled rooms all on acre upon acre of rolling English countryside. (Can you tell I am smitten?)


Much like it's predecessor,  the BBC's Upstairs, Downstairs, the show uses the differing lives of the aristocrats and the servants to tell the story of England. The show opens on the day that Robert Crawley, the Earl of Grantham (Hugh Bonneville) learns that his heir and daughter Mary's fiance has died in the sinking of the Titanic. And thus begins the tale of woe that propelled the Crawley's into my heart.

Robert has three daughters: beautiful and spoiled Mary (Michelle Dockery), beautiful and kind Sybil (Jessica Brown Findlay), and plain and well, plain, Edith (Laura Carmichael). Robert is married to Cora (Elizabeth McGovern), an American heiress. He married her so her money could save the estate, but fell in love with her years ago. We meet Robert's mother, Violet Crawley (the amazing Maggie Smith), the Dowager Countess who uses her age and position to manipulate, impart wisdom, and be as snarky as she likes. The thing I love about this character is that she is not unchangeable and made of stone. She has eyes that see the wide implications of every choice, and her very English exterior has a mushy center. Since the rule of law in England does not allow for estates like Downton to be passed to daughters, a new heir is found, the decidely middle-class son of a distant cousin, Matthew Crawley (Dan Stevens), a lawyer by trade (shivers) and his ever-industrious mother Isobel (Penelope Wilton). That completes the "basic" Crawley clan. They are full of intrigue, hatefulness at some times, and deep love at others. One minute you want to smack almost any one of them upside the head and the next you want to give the same person a big hug.

Then there's the "down" of Downton, the servants.  Lead by Mr. Carson (Jim Carter), the butler, and Mrs. Hughes (Phyllis Logan), the housekeeper. Carson, a man of decorum who is all about doing things properly, has a surprising past. Mrs. Hughes has never married and dedicated her life to "service." She finds herself mothering a flock of somewhat unruly children. Anna (Joanne Froggatt) the head housemaid is the angel of the crew, not given to gossip, hardworking, and trusted lady's maid to Lady Mary. It's that trust that leads her to trouble after trouble. If Anna is the angel, then O'Brien (Siobhan Finneran) is the devil. (Shouldn't it be a clue that she's the ONLY character they refer to by her last name alone?) She sets her sights on making misery for as many people as she possibly can, perhaps in hopes of easing some pain we've yet to discover.  Her partner in crime is the footman Thomas (Rob James-Collier) a handsome young man with who yearns for more.  Enter John Bates, (Brendan Coyle) a former army comrade of the Earl's.  He comes in to take the coveted spot as his Lordship's valet. He sets O'Brien's and Thomas's brains to scheming and Anna's heart to fluttering. Then there's the cook, Mrs. Patmore (Lesley Nicole), her kitchen maid Daisy (Sophie McShera), and about a million other characters to keep up with all of which have a little place of love or loathe in my heart.

I must confess that I grew up watching what my mom called her "stories."  Days of Our Lives, The Doctors, Search for Tomorrow, Another World, Young and the Restless, General Hospital, I watched all of them, plus more. That may be why this type of continuing drama appeals to me. (If you're not familiar with some of those names, just know that they were cancelled before your time.) You meet interesting characters and follow them through fantastical life elements. However, the difference is that Downton is set in a historical context that produces its own fantastical life elements; elements that were real. The sinking of the Titanic, the peerage of land and titles in England, World War I, woman's suffrage, the fight for Irish independence, the Spanish flu epidemic, and many more things yet to come. On top of that, they lived in a time when people thought of things like family and others when they made their decisions. Even though they lived lives of privilege, it was definitely not all about me. They lived a life most of us can't imagine, where the only day of the week that was different than any other was the Sabbath. One of my favorite moments is when Matthew Crawley speaks of "the weekend" and the Dowager Countess has no idea of what he is speaking. Of course, the beautiful setting and amazing costumes don't hurt.

If you have yet to discover the world of the Crawley's, I encourage you to do so.  But, be prepared. No one is safe in this world. And unlike the "stories" my mom and I watched, there are no dream sequences to bring back those who find an untimely end. But be assured that you will find a world filled with loyalty, love, hate, intrigue, despair, hope, joy, pain, and each thing to which Scripture tells us there is a season. Along the way you'll get some witty gems from the Dowager Countess to use as your Facebook status.

So, for now, I will take my leave.