Absolutely Outstanding Period Drama
The greatly anticipated second series of Downton Abbey picks up two years on from the first series in 1916, in the middle of World War 1. Downton Abbey has been converted into a convalescent home for injured servicemen and the action covers the period from the Battle of the Somme up to the end of the war. As in the first series, topical events of the period, political, economic and military are covered.
The wartime scenario and the convalescent home setting provide an excellent background for some interesting story lines. The combination of excellent plot lines, great acting and the superb setting display all that is best in TV period drama. This time round we have eight more episodes to add to the seven in the first series. As befits wartime, the costumes are not as flamboyant as in the first series but they are thoroughly researched and appropriate to the period.
There continue to be many superb individual performances but mention must be made of Maggie Smith...
DVD Specs, Subtitles, and Christmas Special.
Amazon doesn't list some important specifications so I'm just posting it here. I got them from the PBS website.
Length : 544 minutes on 3 Discs
Subtitles : Yes
Number of Programs : 9
Includes the Downton Abbey Christmas Special
As for season 2, it's pretty much more Downton Abbey. More Matthew/Mary, Mr. Bates/Anna, and more dastardly Miss O'Brien and Thomas. It's very interesting to see things start to change in the WW1 setting as well and some characters go through some big changes. The Christmas Special in particular is beautifully shot and makes me very excited for season 3 which has already been announced.
Original Uncut Blu-ray UK Version of Downton Abbey
I LOVE DOWNTON ABBEY! When I read that the American PBS version was edited and in doing so they have left out portions of the story that gave it more cohesiveness and background I was on the hunt for the UK version. Problem number 1 was the UK DVD version won't play in the US because we are in a different "region"...bummer but I kept reading and searching (I'm not a techie I'm a Granny)and discovered that if I could find a Blu-ray version AND I had a Blu-ray player I could eliminate the "non-US region" problem...yippee....found a Sony Blu-ray Disc/DVD player BDP-S185 for $79 that works great on Amazon...and two UK suppliers (one that had Downton Abbey Series 1 Blu-ray
and another that had Downton Abbey Series 2 Blu-ray in the original uncut British versions). I was a little freaked out that it might take forever for delivery to arrive but no problem with "Factory Distributor" (an Amazon UK supplier) I ordered it Jan 30 and received it Feb 3!!!! That's faster than I've gotten...
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