Gentle Reader ~~~ I am suffering from media emptiness, but please, be assured, this does not contain any Season Six spoilers, and I ask of my British readership, should you choose to leave a comment, please respect that many of the readers are international and have not yet seen Season Six of our beloved Downton Abbey, so do not leave any spoilers.
It is over. How did this ever happen? Five blissful years of an Autumn series followed by the Christmas Special each December and now it is ended.
I know there will be those out there who could not give a fig, but I feel as if I have lost a very dear and old friend.
The last time I had such a feeling of media emptiness was at the close of the 1995 television adaptation of Jane Austen's
Pride and Prejudice starring Jennifer Ehle and {which brought to our attention the incomparable} Colin Firth. As a nation, man, woman and child, sat glued to their television sets every Sunday afternoon, week after week, greedily devouring each riveting episode. Who will ever forget the 'wet shirt' scene of Mr Darcy emerging from the lake at Pemberley? Up off your fainting couches ladies!
The questions that burned on my lips then were, "What was going to fill Sunday afternoons?" and "Would we ever find anything to replace it in our viewing pleasure?"
Time passed and programmes came and programmes went. Occasionally, a little nugget or gem showed promise, but nothing came close to rivalling the on~screen miseries and tensions of the Bennett family and Mrs Bennett's mission to secure successful marriages for all her daughters. Until, five oh! too short years ago, on September 26th 2010, a new programme emerged, and overnight the void left by Pride and Prejudice was filled with a new addiction ~~~ Downton Abbey. It came with much hype and hoopla, with many lavish trailers and teasers, and again a nation sat glued and waiting for the start. I believe I was hooked before it actually aired and when Series One ended I could barely wait for Season Two, but thankfully there are such things as re~runs and dvds with which to occupy the time.
So, Autumn after Autumn, already my favourite time of year, had an added attraction to fill the cooler Sunday evening as the nights drew in as a nation, and later the world, tuned in to ITV3 for an hour of pure delight as we watched the lives of the Crawley family and their servants unfold with drama, elegance, wit, injustices and hardships, and the acerbic one liners of the Dowager Countess played by the indomitable force of stage and screen, Dame Maggie Smith.
I don't have to tell you any more about it, for, like Marmite, you either love it or hate it, If you hate it, you will not be reading this; if you love it you are a kindred and understand. If you have never heard of it, where have you been? Dvd sets are available on Amazon and I believe there is something called Netflix.
I lived, blissfully, in Cloud Cuckoo Land, never thinking that Downton Abbey could ever end. Then, one painful day reality struck as I read an article in which
Kilwillie {aka Julian Fellowes} announced that it would end. He did not see how it could be otherwise and he certainly did not want it to become
Emmerdale, which, as he said, would be the only possible route given the historic changes to the aristocracy and their homes, especially after the Second World War. In some ways I understood what he was saying. In others I just wished he could keep spinning it out, forever, as we took our weekly voyage of insight into the lives above and below stairs in a world mostly long passed from existence. It was a comfortable part of my life, something I could dip in and out of and feel as if I belonged, had never left, like meeting that old friend who you haven't seen for years yet slip comfortably back into conversation with as if you had never been apart.
Resigned, I hoped for a few more years, but no. We were already at the end of Season Four, and eventually it was leaked that there would be two more series at most. Pass the tissues.
And so, it came to pass that, last night, Christmas 2015, just over five years since the first blissful episode arrived on our screens, Downton Abbey left with hype and anticipation just as it came into our lives. Yes, we can watch, and re~watch each treasured episode over and again, revelling in it as and when we please, but nothing will ever replace the anticipation of what will happen next in each of the story lines and threads; the reaction to the beautifully acerbic one liners from the Dowager; Carson's raised eyebrow of disapproval. Will Barrow ever get his comeuppance? Will Tom ever fit in? Will Bates' conviction be overturned and justice served? Who will be the next love interests of the bickering sisters Lady Mary and Lady Edith, and will either ever find happiness again?
~~~ not to mention, how brilliant the make up was. How different the characters look in reality, Mrs Patmore, Mrs Hughes, Dr Carson, and Daisy to name just a few, who are unrecognisably transformed from their real selves by make up ~~~
~~~ and the costumes and cars ~~~ sighs ~~~ I was born in the wrong era ~~~ of this I am unquestionably certain ~~~
I now wait with eager anticipation for my American friends to see Season Six. It isn't long now, and then I won't have to keep quiet any longer ~~~
For many of us, media emptiness descends, and life after Downton Abbey will never be the same, so now we must wait and see what comes next, if anything can, for these are awfully big shoes to fill ~~~
Until next time
Sincerely yours
Deborah
