It came as no surprise to me or to you I’m sure, to hear that ‘Downton Abbey’ picked up ‘four awards at the Emmys ceremony this week.
ITV1’s hit period drama, written by Julian Fellowes picked up four gongs, including best miniseries and a best supporting actress award for Dame Maggie Smith.
Don’t you just love Dame Maggie; she always does a wonderful job of portraying ‘autocratic aristocrats’!
The series is set in the fictional Downton Abbey, a glorious pile of stones which is the home of the Earl and Countess of Grantham, and follows the lives of the aristocratic Crawley family and their servants. The first series spans the two years prior to the Great War, commencing with news of the sinking of the ‘Titanic’, an event that sets in motion serious consequences for the Crawley family.
It has subsequently become the most successful British costume drama since the 1981 television serial version of 'Brideshead Revisited' and in 2011 it entered the ‘Guinness Book of World Records’ as the 'most critically acclaimed television show' for the year, becoming the first British show to win the award.
Director of ‘Downton Abbey’ Lord Fellowes said the success illustrates how the show appeals to a wide range of people. He said: “It was so broadly based and that is what is very exciting about the nature of its success.
“We didn’t have an audience profile. We had young and old and every different kind of background.
“This success is building on that. I can’t pretend to explain it but I’m very glad of it.”
He added: “We thought if we had done it right we would be picked up by a usual period drama audience. That is quite big but we also appealed to all sorts of others including the young.”
This is the beauty of this series; it appeals to all ages. Audiences, young and old alike recognise good television when they see it. After being fed a diet of ‘fastfood’ reality television for some time, we eagerly sank our teeth into this alacarte quality production.
I sincerely hope that the television networks are paying attention to the success of 'Downton Abbey'.
More Period Dramas and good old fashioned storytelling...bring it on!
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