Undeniably satisfying froth
DOWNTON ABBEY: A NEW ERA (CERT PG)
SCREENWRITER Julian Fellowes keeps to the holy trinity of the soap opera bible (births, deaths and marriages).
Dame Maggie Smith is once again gifted the lioness’s share of withering one-liners, and almost every character – upstairs and down – justifies their presence on screen with skilfully interwoven albeit slender subplots. It’s frothy, wholesome yet undeniably satisfying entertainment.
The Dowager convenes the clan to say she has inherited a villa in the south of France from a former paramour, the Marquis de Montmirail.
His widow intends to mount a legal challenge but the son hopes to resolve the matter amicably by inviting
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Robert Grantham (Hugh Bonneville) and wife Cora (Elizabeth McGovern) to the Riviera.
As the family digests the news, film producer and director Jack Barber (Hugh Dancy) seeks Lord Grantham’s approval to use Downton Abbey as a location for his new picture, The Gambler, starring glamorous leading lady
Myrna Dalgleish (Laura Haddock) and dashingly handsome Guy Dexter (Dominic West).
Downstairs staff including lady’s maid Anna Bates (Joanne Froggatt) and assistant cook Daisy Parker (Sophie McShera) cluck excitedly at the prospect of “a moving picture” at the house.