A Masterpiece Returns

Downtown Abbey Season 2 returns to KCPT January 8.

Check out the PBS website and the MASTERPIECE page for Downton Abbey and visitors will find a countdown to the second season, which starts Jan. 8. “There really is that much excitement,” says Susanne Simpson, MASTERPIECE senior producer. “When we saw the initial cut of the first show from season one, a number of us were in awe. We got a hint that it would be big when the UK ratings came in. It was as big in England as the Super Bowl is here.”

Simpson says MASTERPIECE producers co-produce with British producers. “We read and evaluate the scripts and the talents attached such as the cast, directors and producers. We get involved early. With the MASTERPIECE name, we keep costume drama relevant. That’s what our audience loves and why they need MASTERPIECE. We are looking for the extraordinary and once we are involved, we can make suggestions for actors, we also see rough cuts and fine cuts. For me, I produce our host segments with Laura Linney and Alan Cummings here at theWGBH Boston studios.” She also leads a team of people at WGBH including publicists, station relations, outreach, website and education.

The appeal of Downton Abbey, with its first season completely immersed in all the Edwardian decorum plus the intrigue of a family drama, surprised Simpson. The viewers were not only the regular fans of MASTERPIECE, but also many younger viewers and men. “The range was significant for a costume drama. After the first show aired, there were almost a million views online. The series has been mentioned on Gossip Girl and the three sisters had a huge spread in Vogue Magazine. Even the email around here is mostly about season two.”

Downton Abbey 2 resumes its story of love and intrigue at an English country estate, now mobilized for the trauma of war. With a returning cast including Dame Maggie Smith, Elizabeth McGovern, Hugh Bonneville, Dan Stevens, Michelle Dockery, Siobhan Finneran, and many more, Downton Abbey 2 airs over seven weeks through Feb. 19.

Downton Abbey, produced by Carnival Films and co-produced by MASTERPIECE, received six Primetime Emmy awards, including Outstanding Miniseries or Movie, plus awards for Supporting Actress Smith, Writer Julian Fellowes, and nods for directing, cinematography, and costumes.

Fellowes wrote the Oscar-winning screenplay Gosford Park so when actors found out about his most current project, they couldn’t wait, Simpson says. McGovern wanted to play Lady Cora. She is married to British writer and producer Simon Curtis and was so excited to be part of the series, Simpson says. “I talked to Brian Percival who won an Emmy for directing and he said one of the things he tried to do was to make sure the actors got along off stage. Julian said to the actors that the big and epic scope of the series requires each actor to be responsible for their own character, and to feel invested in how their character plays out over the series. All the actors were very engaged.”

About 13 million MASTERPIECE viewers tuned into the first season, spellbound as Lord Grantham (Bonneville), the father of three daughters and no sons, welcomed an unexpected new heir, his handsome, marriageable, but proudly middle-class distant cousin, Matthew Crawley (Stevens). The inevitable courtship between Matthew and Lord Grantham’s eldest daughter, Mary (Dockery), was as bewitching as it was unresolved. Then there was Lady Grantham (McGovern), the mistress of Downton who reacted with impressive cool when social Armageddon threatened to bring down the family. Of equal interest were the members of the downstairs staff, with their own romances and schemes, including the most scheming of them all, Lady Grantham’s Machiavellian maid, Miss O’Brien (Finneran).

Last season opened with the sinking of the Titanic in 1912, which had dire consequences for Downton Abbey. The new season picks up in the middle of another disaster, World War I, which affected every aspect of life in England, accelerating the social change that was already transforming an age-old system of class and privilege.

The loyal audience to Downton Abbey may come at the series for many reasons – the sumptuous costuming and jewelry, the manners of the time, the intrigue and the equal time given to the upper class as well as the help. Downton Abbey’s historical advisor Alastair Bruce, Simpson says, aspires for that historical accuracy. “He makes sure that the right kind of tea cups are being used.” With World War I, that history will spill into the trenches for both the privileged and the working class. “Season Two is more serious as all the characters are affected by the war, including the quiet character of Downton Abbey. Matthew Crawley goes to war. The abbey is turned into a hospital and the three sisters discover new roles. Even Cora as the lady of the manor learns about how things shake up.”

Simpson says the period drama doesn’t suffer from unrelatable characters. “The characters feel contemporary as does the pacing. That is critical with so many storylines. All the stories downstairs have equal weight to the ones upstairs. It’s an enormous number of characters. People are drawn to a great story with amazing characters. Fundamentally, it’s about relationships. It is set in this castle with costumes and jewelry. So yes, there’s eye candy. Perhaps, there’s even a little of the soap opera quality that might help with the accessibility. When things are based on classical literature, people wonder if it going to work to watch a television show based on Dickens. However, Downton Abbey is a great story that has a certain amount of scandal being based on real life. Maggie Smith’s character is based on one of Julian’s relatives. Julian Fellowes is one of the wittiest men you’ll ever meet and that is infused in his work.”

Simpson wouldn’t divulge any secrets about specific characters, but assured KC Studio that Season Two doesn’t disappoint on romance and scandal.