A Downton Abbey Weekend

Photo via here

Are you ready?  Season three of "Downton Abbey" begins this Sunday on PBS.  Some people are having "Downton Abbey" parties, others are getting ready by rewatching seasons one and two, and some will be staying home and watching it in their pajamas.  (That will probably be me.)  But no matter how we choose to watch the first episode of the new season, I think most fans are in a celebratory mood.

Just like last year, the holidays are over and the new year is beginning with another season of this delicious and addictive period drama.  During the cold winter months when we want to stay home and curl up with a good novel or a good television show, "Downton Abbey" combine the best of both worlds.  The leisurely episodic format of the show makes us feel as if we are immersed in a sprawling Edwardian novel.  The characters are multilayered, their relationships provide many poignant moments, and the evocation of a vanishing lifestyle is beautifully rendered.  The story is anchored in history and as we watch it unfold we see how the events affect the characters' lives.  We are watching life as it existed one hundred years ago.  The show started with the sinking of the Titanic and will probably take us right up to World War II.  This season promises stories about women's suffrage and the social revolution that occurred in the twenties and thirties.

Here are  few things that we can look forward to in season three:

There will be a wedding -- Lady Mary and Matthew's.
Lady Mary's grandmother -- Lady Grantham's mother, played by Shirley MacClaine -- will come to Downton for the big event.
The costumes will be more glamorous than last season, according to the show's new costume designer Caroline McCall  She has said that the new season sees the onset of the Roaring 20's and that the costumes will reflect the fashions of the time.

The new costumes will be just one element of the show's overall beauty.  And it is a beauty of a show;  the sumptuous sets and beautiful English countryside are very easy on the eyes.  The show is a dream  for anglophiles (I can relate to this) who like nothing better than a family saga that unfolds within a magnificent English country house.

A romantic and elegant costume drama is great escapist entertainment.  From the reviews of season three that have appeared in the British newspapers, it looks as if we have a wonderful January and February ahead of us.  Fans of the show can once again look forward to Sunday nights at Downton Abbey.  Enjoy!