By CYNTHIA BIDDLECOMB“Downton Abbey” took the world by storm as a BBC television series running from 2010-2015. Its storyline ran from 1912 to 1926. Now, the next chapter is available to us as a recently released feature film. Fans of the show get to visit again with their favorite characters, returning for what is either the gift of an encore or the beginning of a series of film sequels.
Even those in the audience who are unfamiliar with the tangled story lines of the nine upstairs characters and their nine downstairs counterparts, will find the plot (and subplots) of the film interesting, the palatial settings gorgeous, and the costumes absolutely stunning.
The story takes place in 1927, just over a year after the story in the series ended. We notice the Bates’ son is a toddler in arms and the little Crawley’s, George, Sybbie and Marigold, are a bit bigger. Edith and Bertie have settled into their married life well, as have Mary and Henry, and Mr. Carson and Mrs. Hughes. Thomas Barrow has been the butler long enough to hold his position with authority, while Carson, the beloved former butler, seems content to grow vegetables at his cottage.
The film opens with a fascinating montage similar to the opening of the original first season. A letter is signed and sealed at Buckingham Palace and we follow as it leaves the palace, gets thrown in a bag onto a train bound for Yorkshire, is sorted and delivered by Royal Mail truck to the village, then delivered to the head footman, Andy, at the back door of Downton Abbey. “Blimey,” says Andy as he recognizes the posting is from the Palace. Andy hands it off to a stunned Mr. Barrow, who brings it on a silver tray to Lord Grantham. Grantham reads the note and announces to his wife, daughter and son-in-law that the King and Queen are coming to spend a night at Downton on their upcoming tour of Yorkshire. Let the headaches begin!
The honor of having their royal personages stay at Downton is not lost on the family. But there are many, exacting preparations to be made. There will be a luncheon, a parade and a dinner. The household must be scrubbed from top to bottom, all the silver polished, and rooms opened and prepared for the royal retinue. But then, royal servants arrive and push the household staff aside. Will they put up with this treatment? Will Mary get all the arrangements tackled in time? And who is that strange man meeting up with Tom? Why do little, precious items start disappearing? What is Edith to do when the wrong dress size is delivered? And what is her good news? You will have to watch the film to find out.
You are guaranteed to laugh out loud at Maggie Smith’s lines, as she and Penelope Wilton reprise their snappy repartee as the Dowager Countess Violet Crawley and her cousin, Isobel Crawley, now Lady Merton. Downstairs, Daisy has come into her own in the kitchen with opinions to share. Mrs. Patmore’s quips have a neat place in the script, and Mr. Moseley goes the extra mile to make a fool of himself. Throw in a bit of royal family intrigue, and another question of a Crawley inheritance. Lady Mary’s husband, Henry Lord Talbot, misses most of the fun, but that allows for Lady Mary to have to manage the royal visit without his helpful presence. Even Barrow gets a chance at happiness. What’s not to love? Downton Abbey is “rated PG for thematic elements, some suggestive material, and language.”