LRB: Jenny Diski reviews ‘Downton Abbey’, ‘Upstairs Downstairs’, ‘Park
“Downton Abbey (like the original and the new Upstairs, Downstairs, and the upcoming rush of novels) is historical in much the same way that Gone with the Wind and The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex are historical. It takes a familiar time, draws a horizontal line along an axis, and marks it out with peak events everyone has heard of, weighting them with their most commonplace interpretations. This is then used as a moving backdrop in front of which the cast stand still and mime their progress while reiterating received opinions.” A bit harsh, this take on DA. Certainly it needed a kick in Fellowes’ writing posterior in Season Two (got a bit dull, B-stories didn’t really resolve as much as peter out). And doesn’t the above observation perfectly fit Mad Men really, as well? A period piece of the late ‘50’s and ‘60’s, with all the ‘period antiques’ and stereotypical attitudes correctly rendered in loving fashion.
Comments:
Julian Fellowes retains my eternal admiration for playing “Kilwillie” in Monarch of the Glen. The episode with Hector (Richard Briers) and he, trying to secure a barrel of old whisky from the rest of the clan at Glenbogle, is one of my favorite episodes of that series.
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Clever Julian Fellowes wrote a fine screenplay in his 2001 creation ‘Gosford Park’—then about eight years later, used it as his guide to create DA. Pretty efficient to make one work, and then re-use it to generate an excellent income stream lasting for years! Maggie Smith plays the same personality in both creations.
From Iowa City Public Library I obtained excellent DVDs of the late-1970s Series 1 and Series 2 of ‘The Duchess of Duke Street.’ It is actually better than DA! Also, young Julian Fellowes had a bit-part in a couple of the episodes. No doubt he learned a lot from the writers of that incredibly-good story!
You too can obtain this—using your Interlibrary Loan option.