Downton Abbey: Nostalgia For An Idealised Past?
Dr. Jerome de Groot of the University of Manchester considers the new series of Downton Abbey.
The new series of Downton Abbey, which began on Sunday 18th September, promises new revelations and the slow breaking apart of the institutions of the aristocracy due to the threat of war. The first series was a huge and unforeseen hit, with up to 10 million viewers in the UK and good figures abroad (and the DVD boxset has also sold healthily). This is really unparalleled for a costume drama since the heady days of Brideshead Revisited in the early 1980s. Why? What was it that made this particular series quite so attractive to viewers?
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