Julian Fellowes, 2010–
Lizzie and I watched this a while back, but I didn't have the opportunity to write it up at the time. I'd heard a bit about it — I knew that it was about Britain in the 1910s and that it was on PBS, so I assumed that it was a weighty cultural artifact. Much to my surprise — and it took me several episodes before this dawned on me — it's a soap opera. I don't mean in the sense that all series dramas are soap operas — I mean that it's a soap opera with heroines jilted at the altar and heroes framed for murder by revenge-minded ex-wives and long-lost relatives showing up with amnesia and paralyzed guys suddenly getting better and whatnot. I've stuck with it because I do like the historical angle, but, seriously, this is basically The 120 Years Old and the Restless.
