Sadly, I don’t have a picture of Highclere Castle – you never know, perhaps I will – one day, so you’ll have to put up with Pagham Lagoon.
During the lockdowns, we binge viewed quite a few box sets. The 370+ episodes of Grey’s Anatomy absolutely gripped us. Inspector Lynsey and Frost both entertained us. But then there was Downton Abbey (DA).
I had never watched DA when it was first broadcast on the TV. I had always dismissed it as one of those programmes about “the old times” that I couldn’t possibly be interested in. But we were given the box set so we thought why not? So we did.
With great scepticism I sat down to the first episode, and thought, we might as well watched the second. By the end of the third episode of series 1, I was completely, utterly totally hooked. I felt that the characters were so utterly realistic. OK, OK, timelines are compressed highs and lows are massively exaggerated so plots can appear ludicrous although with a potential basis in reality.
Add in that the with it’s first airing, viewers were getting one episode a week against out two or three, and on a couple of occasions five or six episodes, timelines become ridiculously compressed.
I loved the series. I mean seriously – so seriously, that the only other TV series I have for comparison is Star Trek. I was, as you can imagine devastated when the series came to an end.
I loved the first film, because It was just a massively long episode, it h sad excellent plot lines and a good story (feel free to disagree with me, but you’ll have a hard time convincing me). It tied up some loose ends, but created others.
Tonight, we went to see the second DA film. I feel slightly embarrassed at the level of (literally) euphoria I felt as the film opened and old friends returned. Engineered storylines, ridiculous scenarios – I absolutely loved it. It is an excellent film. I will doubtless watch it again.
Bills Posts 