I’m rather fond of the ITV drama Downton Abbey, a period drama about a well off family and their servants, and how their lives are turned upside down, inside out and intertwine with each other. Full of lust, love, scandal and deaths, it’s a roller-coaster ride. I couldn’t sing the praises of the cast (and crew!) enough, but there is one slight issue I have with this well loved show.
The first series of Downton Abbey set everything up beautifully; just as a first series should. We were introduced to key players quickly and effortlessly. The setting was utterly beautiful, and the quality of the detail made the world so believable and rich, I wanted to just fall into the house and be swept away by the romantic atmosphere. The ‘will they, won’t they’ of Mary and Matthew was intoxicating to me. The last time I cared so much about a couple on screen was Aeryn Sunn and John Crichton from Farscape. But Mary and Matthew were a force to be reckoned with.
Then the second series burst onto our screens, deep in the middle of WW1, and our beloved Matthew on the front line. For half of the series, I was more concerned about Matthew being alive and well than the pairing. So when Matthew went missing, I couldn’t shake the lump in my throat. The scene where, during a concert to raise money for the wounded soldiers, Matthew enters mid Crawley sisters song… I cried. And when I am moved to tears because I care for the characters so much, I know that the drama has hit a home run. But where is the problem?
Season 3 is horribly predictable. My goodness, I called everything that happened to the tee. Mary and Matthew got married, no problems despite a weary attempt by the writer to make it ‘dramatic’. And what’s that? Edith got jilted at the altar by an older man able to use only one arm? Called it. Called every single detail. And that is horrendously disappointing. I’m sure as a drama writer, you want to shock your audience, throw spanners in the works to really ruffle some feathers. But it’s so plain sailing, it’s so incredibly dull that it bores me to tears. Well, almost. I don’t have the energy for tears; too bored.
Now it’s all good and well me giving my opinions, but the series is only on episode 4 this Sunday. Quick to jump the gun? Probably. However it has to live up to the thrills and spills of the first two series. I simply hope that the story picks up so I can care about the characters again, that I can feel myself longing for the next episode. Because right now, it just seems season 3 was created simply to milk money. Oh, that sounds horrible of me.
At least for now I can simply long for a good cup of tea.
Tea With Dee 