I didn’t see the first Downton Abbey movie in theaters, but I totally watched it when it came out on DVD/streaming. I loved the series in all of its stuffy Edwardian soap opera glory and I still get mad when I think about certain storylines (mostly involving Poor Edith). I had the impression that the first film didn’t do very well financially and I was like “how do they justify making a second film?” Turns out, the first film did pretty well, all things considered. Box office receipts: $237,860,050, and these films are relatively cheap to make. It’s not like they have to build a 200-year-old castle from scratch, nor do they have to pay special effects companies to CGI a bunch of crap. No, these films are just old-fashioned soap operas and here we go: the Crawleys are finally entering the Roaring Twenties. Here’s the trailer for Downton Abbey: A New Era.
Downton Abbey: A Very Crawley Holiday!! This looks so cheesy and dumb, I CANNOT WAIT. One thing I love about Julian Fellowes is that he swore that he would never kill off Maggie Smith’s Dowager Countess and he’s kept his promise. She’s a treasure. A treasure who is doing this for a paycheck and because she does not give a flying f–k. As for the plot… the Crawleys invade France, for a vacation. And I think Tom Branson (played by Allen Leech) finally falls seriously in love and gets remarried. But will he and Sibi still reside at the Abbey??!? What about Edith and her man? Hm. Oh, and speaking of doing it for a paycheck, apparently Matthew Goode is in this movie so at least we know Black Widow Mary hasn’t killed off another one. Dominic West is apparently in this one too?? Hm.
Photos courtesy of Downton Abbey’s social media.
Can’t wait for it to be streaming!! Love Downton Abbey
I’m hoping (but not expecting) this movie to resolve my quibbles about the first one, namely: Why didn’t Mrs. Patmore get to have her promised romance with Mr. Mason? Why did they make Andy a psycho, and make Daisy like it? Why did Molesley and Baxter’s relationship not seem to progress one inch in the time jump between the series and the movie? (I won’t complain about the sacrifice of Molesley’s hard-won dignity, since it gave us the best moment in the movie.) But despite all this (and despite the ridiculous benevolent-aristo worldview), I am HERE FOR IT! 😉
OMG yes to everything you have said and I cannot wait to see all of this silliness!!
I feel like there is something wrong with me because I couldn’t make it through the series. I started once a few years ago, got to the episode with Theo James, and then stopped, and then maybe this past spring or last year or who the hell knows, time has no meaning anymore, but at some point during the pandemic i tried to watch it again and I got to season 2, maybe season 3, I can’t remember, who cares, its so boring. I kept looking up spoilers online just because I wanted to be able to stop watching.
i love cheesy soap operas and I love upstairs/downstairs movies and I love historical movies etc.
I just can’t get into Downton. Should I try a third time?
This is how I feel about Bridgerton. Everyone loves it and a lot of my friends have watched it numerous times. I watched I think 3 or 4 episodes but I can’t stand the wishy washy main character and also it seemed to move very, very, verrrrrryyyyy slow.
I watched all of Downton (didn’t like all of it, but I watched it and enjoyed most of it), but I too could not watch more than one episode of Bridgerton @Andie. I really despised the female lead. But I loved it when the young white comedienne on SNL parodied her!!!
I couldn’t get past the plot device of overheard whisperings in the hall. I mean, if you need to whisper in that house, assume someone is listening around the corner. There’s a huge garden you could whisper in instead.
Once was fine. Twice was not but everyone seems to love it so …. Three times with the overheard whisperings and I was out.
For Jazz Age South of France maybe I can get past this.
Ah, Theo James. Poor Mr Pamuk!
It got worse as the seasons went on. So much of the Dan Stevens storyline was just ridiculous and I don’t blame him for leaving the show. And the timeline was completely skewed because there is no way the dowager countess would still be around and everyone else would be much older in the 1920s then they are portraying.
Fellows is a Tory appointed to the House of Lords and so the “yay the good old days of aristocracy were the best days” feeling starts to wear thin after a while. You kind of have to forget about the whole unfairness of the system to enjoy it at this point. At least the Crown is more honest and tends to show the faults of the rich elite characters in way that Downton Abbey does not do.
This looks awful. Can’t wait!!
Downton Abbey seems corny to me. I’ve never seen the show or the movie.
I’m still so bitter about the soapy, light-hearted, but competently written drama of season 1 diving off a cliff to the pure stupid shlock that it turned into post season 1 when Julian Fellowes decided he was going to write all of it himself. There’s a place for pure stupid shlock, but it was not the initial impression!
Same. Season 1 was full of implied promises of a great show and then it went full nighttime soap. But some of the worst plot twists were actors asking to be killed off to test drive their new stardom elsewhere.
I agree. His whole “the aristocracy is the best way to run things” started to permeate everything too much and it stopped being realistic in the times they supposed to be portraying.
Maggie smith has maintained the right approach to her character, but she is about the only one.
“ What is a weekend? “ is still one of the best lines ever. Like these people had no concept of it because they never had to work and count their weeks that way.
It is but that line is from the pilot episode, so again implied promises somewhat unfulfilled. Still, I’ve binged it twice since the original run. It’s perfect escapism.
I used to absolutely loooove this show. I ran to see the first movie on opening weekend. But after being exposed to the ways of the British aristocracy after seeing how they’ve treated Meghan, I can’t look at the series the same. I root for Tom to go back to his Irish freedom fighter roots and burn down all of those English stately homes! Now that’s the sequel I want to see.
I like Downton Abbey but it really is upper class, Empire propaganda, always has been. It wallows in this nostalgia for the good old days where everyone e knew their station and foreigners are an exotic plot point with a raised eyebrow. It gives the upper classes the moral high ground while casting those who advocate leftist views as sour troublemakers who want or make things difficult for their “ betters”. Fellowes is on record as having supported Brexit and this show helped contribute to that nostalgia.
The way Tom has been neutered over the years is quite sad to see. I know it’s a good pay check for the actors, but they are given so little to work with at this point.
The way they’ve written Tom, how he’s betrayed his principles, his character should really be knee-capped.If this family existed in real life, they’d be out supporting Oswald Moseley and praising the new modern Germany by the time the 30s rolled around. One thing I never got was why the writer never explored the mercenary way the Earl married Cora for her money since she was part of that Gilded Age wave of dollar princesses. That would be a show I’d love to see.
Very much so!
This is goofy to admit, but Downton Abbey always puts me in the mood to megaclean my house and get a roast going
It is simply astonishing to me how much this family inherits from other people. Is this normal in British society? First Matthew inherits Lavinia’s fortune when her dad dies, Edith inherits her lover’s estate when he dies (in spite of the fact that he still has a living wife in a sanatorium), Tom’s last girlfriend (a maid) was set to inherit her employer’s estate because it was really her secret mother, and now Violet inherits a villa in the South of France from some old flame. How do I get in on this scam? 🙄
I don’t care how stupid people think it is, I am here for it. It’s a nice escape to a more simpler time and i love the costumes, the scenery and the grandeur. Take it for what it’s worth. A little soap opera. At least it is better than another damn Fast and Furious movie.
I had NO IDEA and I am SO EXCITED for this!!!
I’ve always loved DA. My fav is obviously Dowager Countess and her side-splitting one-liners throughout. Oh and her nonverbal body language. But the early sibling destructive behavior was crazy, from both of them. I haven’t watched the first movie because, I don’t know, it’ll be over in hour-and-a-half? I’m bizarre like that about stories if I don’t want them to be over lol. It’s almost painful if I’m engrossed in a really good series. I think I’ll watch it with this one, and it will last a bit longer lol.
It’s been the 20s for a while in Downton – this looks like the late 20s or the 30s