It’s no secret that I’m a sucker for behind-the-scenes video pieces. Yes, there have been times that I secretly enjoy the DVD extras far more than the feature presentation. The brilliance of television production is that, if done well, the end result is a vivid suspension of reality. The behind the camera craft of hundreds of crew members coming together can put viewers at home in the front row at Wembley, in the TARDIS with the Doctor or ‘in the kitchen’ at Downton Abbey. Watching how the crew painstakingly recreates the kitchen makes you appreciate what the Mrs. Patmore’s of the time went through to cook a meal for the upstairs families such as the Crawley’s.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EUF–9IDOhc

When it comes to either Upstairs Downstairs or Downton Abbey, when anyone ever asks if I’d like to be ‘upstairs’ or ‘downstairs’, I must confess that I want to live ‘below-stairs’ with upstairs money. While it would be nice to experience a daily dose of the Dowager Countess, how can you not want to hang out with Carson, Bates, Anna and Daisy. That said, it would be only a question of time before Mrs. Patmore yelled at me, so when that day came, I could just walk.