Downton Abbey and the Grace of the Agitated Allegorical Swan
Putting it on the big screen amplifies what Downton Abbey is, and isn’t. It’s the anti-blockbuster, the polar opposite of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
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Depending on which version of the story you believe, the English started using the term “my cup of tea” sometime in the 1800s and always in the positive tense. It was only in the 1920s that the more negative “not my cup of tea” entered the lexicon as a rejection of something. Which is fitting, since the film version of Downton Abbey finds the story now well into the 1920s. With its widest audience and attention ever, folks are deciding again whether the trials of the Crawley family & staff are worth their time and attention. If taking the number one slot at the weekend box office — despite having fewer screens showing than its two main competitors — the return of the beloved show is still very much folks’ cup of tea.
Just how it is that machinations of English country life became an international phenomenon first as a TV show, and now as a feature film, is rather amazing. There was little chance the show would be a failure, with the pedigree of those involved, but few saw it becoming what it now is. Creator Julian Fellowes won an Oscar for screenwriting penning Gosford Park, and in it’s embryonic stages Downton was envisioned as being a spin off of that film’s success. Thankfully, that idea morphed into the stand-alone world of Downton Abbey. The ITV series debuted to UK audiences before it crossed the pond to America as part of Masterpiece Classic on PBS. Normally PBS is not a ratings juggernaut, but the show none the less worked its way into American homes through word-of-mouth, critical acclaim, and in later seasons awards and praise. By the time the show ended its run over the holidays in 2015, it was beloved. Talk of a movie started almost immediately, and now here we are.
That is the how, the timeline of Downton, from pen to page to screen to theater. Of course, what made Downton Abbey a success wasn’t just the expertise with which it was created, but the emotional chords it hit. Putting it on the big screen just amplifies what Downton Abbey is, and isn’t. It’s the anti-blockbuster, plot-wise the polar opposite of…
