Editor's Note:
We were in England last Fall and saw the first episode Downton Abbey's second season; it was everything you've come to expect. Hint: Sympathy for the character of Lady Mary Crawley is emphasized and, considering a new character in the life of the estate inheritor Matthew Crawley, that sympathy is well-founded!
The primetime Emmy Award winning program will begin its second season as a Masterpiece Classic in January 8th, 2012.
To refamiliarize yourself with the characters, consult the 'family tree' of characters that WGBH's Masterpiece Theater has created. While you're waiting for the new season to begin, there's a series of interview questions of award-winning screenwriter Julian Fellowes:
In 2002, screenwriter Julian Fellowes won an Oscar for his English country house mystery, Gosford Park. A man of many hats, Fellowes is also an actor, film director, novelist, and political activist and he was recently elevated by Queen Elizabeth II to Parliament's House of Lords, making him Lord Fellowes.
In Gosford Park, Julian Fellowes proved that an English country estate can't be beat for spellbinding drama played out in the lives of masters and servants. His hit series Downton Abbey also mines this rich vein of passion, nobility, treachery, and looming change — this time in the years just before World War I. Fellowes talked with Masterpiece's Richard Maurer in December, 2010.
Select a topic from the list below to see Fellowes's thoughts, or choose Show All to see the entire interview.
The Inheritance Problem: The Heart of Downton Abbey
American Heiresses Coming to Britain
Julian Fellowes's Early Years and Influences
The Big Themes of Downton Abbey
Fictional Backstory for the House in Downton Abbey
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