Downton Abbey I & II – 16 hours in 5 minutes

It’s hard to believe that a mere two years ago, the world had never heard of Downton Abbey, the Dowager Countess, Matthew & Mary, Carson or Bates. It was January 2011 that the Julian Fellowes penned drama series crashed the U.S. television party as part of PBS’ Masterpiece series. Heading in to series 3, which begins on January 6, the British period drama has amassed a total of 27 Primetime Emmy Award nominations, has been recognized by the Guinness Book of World Records as the most critically acclaimed English-language television series of 2011 and became the most watched television series on both ITV and PBS, making it the most successful British costume drama series since the 1981 television serial of Brideshead Revisited.

While millions upon millions of viewers have become part of the lives of the aristocratic Crawley family and their servants in the post-Edwardian era sinking of the RMS Titanic, the beginning of World War I, the outbreak of the Spanish influenza pandemic and the Marconi scandal, surprisingly, there are still a few that are new to the Downton Abbey phenomenon. It’s hard to know who might be suffering more anxiety at the moment. On one hand, we have those ardent fans that have patiently waiting for just shy of a year for series 3. On the other hand, there are those just now surfacing from a two-year sleep not having seen any Downton episode at this point and are desperate to catch up in the short time we have left before the series 3 premiere.

Fortunately, Tellyspotting can help both groups as we find ourselves only FOUR weeks from the long-awaited premiere and the crossing of paths of Maggie Smith and Shirley MacLaine. Anyone else out there think January 6 can’t come soon enough?

Downton Abbey 1 & 2 – 16 hours in 5 minutes

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-1RjZiHK6X8
 
Downton Abbey III: The Wait is Over….well, almost!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j49SNTntbsU