The British are coming
‘Downton Abbey’ arrives on big screen
Break out the clotted cream and the plus fours. “Downton Abbey” is back.
More than three years after the last time Lady Mary snubbed Lady Edith in the TV series, which ran from 2011 to 2016 on PBS’ “Masterpiece” in this country, they’re back tomorrow to snipe again in what may be a series of “Downton Abbey” movies. Since it has been a while, you may have forgotten who’s doing what to whom in the servant’s quarters. We have you covered.
Who’s in?
Real fans of the TV soap opera about life in a Yorkshire manor from 1912 to 1926 have one big question about the movie: Is Maggie Smith’s Dowager Countess of Grantham in it a lot? And the answer is: Yes.
The two-time Oscar winner has been vocal about her reluctance to return to a character she hinted she’s a little tired of playing. The countess remains as vigorous and as full of brittle remarks as ever (“Machiavelli is frequently underrated. He had many qualities.”).
Barrow, the petulant gay servant who’s often on the outs with coworkers, also is heavily featured, even though he departs Downton in a snit when he discovers he won’t be in charge of preparing for the arrival of King George V and Queen Mary (the current queen’s grandpa and grandma). His colleague, kitchen maid Daisy, also gets lots of screen time of both a personal and professional nature. So does Lady Mary’s personal maid, Anna, who’s the key link between upstairs and downstairs. And Mrs. Hughes has plenty to do, starting with glaring at the royals’ venomous staff. They have another thing coming if they believe the Downton workers will let them run the household for the duration of their stay.
Upstairs, eventual head of the household Lady Mary gets the most face time as she grapples with the future of the estate, at a time when many British mansions are becoming hospitals or museums. Her brother-in-law, chauffeur-turned-swell Tom Branson, figures in several subplots.
Who’s out?
Remember Lady Rose, the cousin who suddenly showed up halfway through the TV show? Neither does the movie, which doesn’t even mention her. Perished in a Charleston accident, possibly? The Dowager Countess’ daughter and bickering servants are similarly MIA and if you blink, you’ll miss Isobel Crawley’s sidepiece, Lord Merton.
Most of the other characters at least make a polite appearance, but many don’t have much to do. As in the TV show, for instance, the children toddle in to remind us they exist and then are sent off to bed until they reach adulthood. The movie figured out that Mr. Bates, the valet whose possible murderousness the show spent far too much time on, is not interesting; it metes out his screen time accordingly. We also don’t see much of Lady Mary’s decorative husband, Henry Talbot (even though actor Matthew Goode is bizarrely listed first on the movie’s IMDB page), or Miss Baxter, who became a key member of the staff in later episodes but mostly wipes out soup tureens in the film.
Who’s new?
Yes, even with two dozen recurring characters to juggle, the movie has some newcomers, starting with the king, queen and their daughter, Mary (the third Mary in the movie, if you’re keeping score at home). Give or take Geraldine James, who plays the queen, the biggest star joining the cast is Imelda Staunton, an Oscar nominee for “Vera Drake” and, like Smith, a former Hogwarts faculty member. Staunton plays one of those never-before-mentioned cousins the TV series occasionally trotted out in order to spice things up.
A word of caution to those who skipped the TV show: You may be lost. No effort is made to get Downtonewbies up to speed on the characters or their ongoing dilemmas.