The Downton Abbey Staff is Preparing the Estate Once More
The sheets are being freshened and the furniture situated as we speak. Next year, Downtown Abbey will be ready to receive guests once more. The stately estate glistens in the first teaser for the upcoming motion picture event.
We know every corner and nook of the home from the saloon to the servants’ quarters and everything appears to be in its proper place. The staff seems prepared for arrivals at any moment in their trademark style. There is a comfort to the order of seeing Carson (Jim Carter), Mrs. Hughes (Phyllis Logan), Bates (Brendan Coyle), Baxter (Raquel Cassidy), and Anna (Joanne Froggat) back in their row. We feel like the Crawley’s ourselves pulling up to the front door.
Interestingly, the teaser doesn’t end with a list of actors, but instead, the names of their characters. Among the list is Lord and Lady Grantham (Hugh Bonneville, Elizabeth McGovern), Lady Mary (Michelle Dockery), Lady Hexham (Laura Carmichael), and most exciting, the Dowager Lady Grantham (Maggie Smith).
The patriotic crowds and parade on horseback seem to signal WWII has arrived. Adolf Hitler had just ascended to power when the curtain closed on the final season of the series. Series creator Julian Fellowes has explained his resistance to carrying the show into WWII as having already tread that territory and it would be too long of a time span. However, years have passed in real life and a two-hour film may be easier to tackle.
The trailer seems mostly warm and welcoming, but a messenger rides toward the house on a scooter carrying a telegram. Wartime telegrams rarely carried good news, so we fear despite our joy in being reunited with the Crawleys, gloomy times could be falling. For a series that was wrought with drama, it had a rather fairytale ending with the close of Edith’s wedding. Difficult times may be on the rise once more.
Yet, for now, we will just soak in the beautifully manicured grounds of the estate. Welcome home.
Downton Abbey comes to theaters in 2019.
Featured Image: Downton Abbey. Via: BBC
