Downton Abbey marathon

I was very late jumping on board the Downton Abbey bus. I was barely aware that the programme had started last year and guess I wrote it off as yet another period drama that I wouldn't have time to follow. Suddenly, it became the topic of water cooler conversation at work and by then I had already missed several episodes. Prime TV doesn't play programmes on demand so I couldn't just catch up and before I knew it, the season was over! Yes, such are my first world problems. It was Fatso to the rescue and we had a Downton Abbey marathon watching series 1 this long weekend.

Wow - I'm well and truly hooked! Downton Abbey is a superbly written British period drama with well developed characters, a glorious setting, beautiful costumes and a sterling cast. Set in the early twentieth century, Downton has everything: drama, scandal, in-house politics and definite pecking orders among the family and their servants. Thinly veiled courtesies mask resentment for centuries-old property laws upon which British aristocracy is built. It is a very human look at a period in time that does its best to present an honourable front at all cost.

I know that series 2 is currently playing on Prime but I'll probably wait for it to come out on DVD and have another marathon. In the meantime, I am trying to avoid Twitter at 8:30 pm on Tuesdays while it is playing on television, lest I accidentally leave myself open for spoilers.

What do you think of the Downton Abbey phenomenon? Are you on board?