Downton Abbey Christmas Special Promo with "A Very Carson Christmas"

The Ladies of Downton Abbey (Lady Mary, Lady Edith and Lady Sybil) on The Jonathan Ross Show. This English chat show's host speaks very quickly and has a "wisp" so he's a little hard to understand at first. His nickname is Wossy, which is very apropos!

There is a really funny bit at the end with Jim Carter doing "A Very Carson Christmas Album". You have to see it to believe it! What a good sport.

I can't wait until Sunday but I also don't want Downton to be over for another year. This has really whet my appetite for the 2 hour Christmas Special on Sunday! Enjoy.

Valentine's Day Film Suggestions

The Princess Bride 1987

The Princess Bride is, according to my 17 year old son, the best film ever! And very romantic.

Westley: I told you I would always come for you. Why didn't you wait for me?
Buttercup: Well... you were dead.
Westley: Death cannot stop true love. All it can do is delay it for a while.
Buttercup: I will never doubt again.
Westley: There will never be a need.

A Knight's Tale 2001

A Knight's Tale is also a fairy tale, a sort of Cinderella tale for the guys. Anything is possible if you believe.

William: It is strange to think, I haven't seen you since a month. I have seen the new moon, but not you. I have seen sunsets and sunrises, but nothing of your beautiful face. The pieces of my broken heart are so small that they could be passed through the eye of a needle. I miss you like the sun misses the flower; like the sun misses the flower in the depths of winter. Instead of beauty to direct its light to, the heart hardens like the frozen world your absence has banished me to. I next compete in the city of Paris, I will find it empty and in the winter if you are not there. Hope guides me, that is what gets me through the day and especially the night. The hope that after you're gone from my sight, it will not be the last time that I look upon you.

Shakespeare in Love 1998

Shakespeare in Love is romance itself. Who better than The Bard of Avon to teach us about love.

Queen Elizabeth: Playwrights teach us nothing about love. They make it pretty, they make it comical, or they make it lust, but they cannot make it true.
Viola De Lesseps: Oh, but they can! 

The Importance of Being Earnest

The Importance of Being Earnest is romance with a comic twist. Oscar Wilde mixes equal amounts of love and silliness.

Cecily: You must not laugh at me, darling, but it has always been a girlish dream of mine to love a man named Ernest.

Sense and Sensibility 1995

Sense and Sensibility takes a wonderful book by Jane Austen and brings it to life on the screen so well, it will make your heart ache.

Elinor Dashwood: What do you know of my heart? What do you know of anything but your own suffering. For weeks, Marianne, I've had this pressing on me without being at liberty to speak of it to a single creature. It was forced on me by the very person whose prior claims ruined all my hope. I have endured her exultations again and again whilst knowing myself to be divided from Edward forever. Believe me, Marianne, had I not been bound to silence I could have provided proof enough of a broken heart, even for you.

Jane Eyre 2011

Jane Eyre is an incredibly romantic book. The recent film leaves a lot out, but not the romance!

Rochester: I offer you my hand, my heart. Jane, I ask you to pass through life at my side. You are my equal and my likeness. Will you marry me?
Jane Eyre: Are you mocking me?
Rochester: You doubt me.
Jane Eyre: Entirely.

Miss Potter 2006

Miss Potter is sweet and romantic. You're never too old for love! (and bunnies!)

Let me teach you how to dance
let me lead you to the floor
simply place your hand in mine
and then think of nothing more
let the music cast its spell
give the atmosphere a chance
simply follow where I lead
let me teach you how to dance

Lady Jane 1986

Lady Jane is a tragedy as well as a romance. It is not historically accurate, but it will make you believe in true love. Hey, Carey Elwes is in 2 of my picks! Fancy that.

Jane: [reading] The soul takes flight to the world that is eternal... invisible. But there arriving she is sure of bliss, and forever dwells in paradise.

An Ideal Husband 1999

An Ideal Husband is another Oscar Wilde, but this one is more of a commentary on the kind of love you find in an established marriage. Still a bit silly, but a very lovely ending.

Lord Arthur Goring: Gertrude, it is not the perfect, but rather the imperfect who have need of love.
Gertrude: You seem to know a great deal about it all of a sudden.
Lord Arthur Goring: Oh, I hope not. All I know, Gertrude, is that it takes great courage to see the world in all its tainted glory, and still to love it. And even more courage to see it in the one you love. Gertrude, you have more courage than any woman I have ever known. Do not be afraid now to use it.

Persuasion 1995

And for my final suggestion, Persuasion 1995 for the letter scene alone...

"You pierce my soul. I am half agony, half hope. Tell me not that I am too late, that such precious feelings are gone for ever. I offer myself to you again with a heart even more your own than when you almost broke it, eight years and a half ago."

Sigh! Please add your romantic film suggestions in the comments. I just listed period dramas, but tell me which ones you can't live without, period or not. Happy Valentines Day!

Downton Abbey Season 2: Episode Six

Anna and Bates marry- Finally!

Well wasn't that a cracker of a season finale! I cannot believe that season 2 is over (as well as the Spanish flu pandemic). Well, we do get the encore Christmas episode next week and it's another 2 hour treat!

So Anna and Bates have finally gotten married and had their 20 minutes of happiness (in bed...pasty English body alert!) before tragedy strikes this story line again. Boy, I didn't see that one coming...again!

Matthew- We can have children now!

And just as I was getting really attached to Lavinia...the little ginger kid from the wrong side of the tiara who just couldn't believe deep down that she was good enough for Matthew. And yet you know that she would have made him happy, giving him a bunch of ginger babies with sweet faces. Ah well, this is Downton Abbey after all. Sir Julian Fellowes has the soap opera bubbles blowing again. But what will happen to the "cursed" Mary/Matthew story line now? Will it drag on for yet another season? (rhetorical question-sorry)

Look out Carson, Mary's going to blast some flapper music!

We are winging toward the 1920s with gramophones and social upheaval. I did find the Sir Richard/Anna/Carson/Mary spy storyline a bit interesting. Mary seems truly pissed off at Anna and Carson, and poor Carson finally gets a dose of nasty Mary for a change. Now he knows what Mrs. Hughs has been talking about. Mary really is "an uppity minx and the author of her own misfortune"!

Dowager Countess Violet pondering the aftermath of the Spanish Flu

Best Dowager Countess lines of the season finale:

•  "All this unbridled joy has given me quite an appetite."
•  "I was watching her the other night when you spoke of your wedding. She looked like...Juliet on awakening in the tomb."
•  "Marriage is a long business. There’s no getting out of it for our kind of people. I mean, you may live forty...fifty years with one of these two women. Just make sure you have selected the right one."
•  "Marry in May, rue the day."
• "Will someone please tell me what's going on, or have we all stepped through the looking glass?"
•   Branson thinks Violet "deserves to know" what's going on. "Why don't I find that reassuring?" says Violet.
•  Lavinia has been given a gramophone. "I'll stand well clear when you light the blue touch paper."
•  Lady Edith: "I've left space at the front for jewels. I know Lavinia's getting something from Papa."
  Violet: "And from me. Though she's so slight, a real necklace would flatten her."
• "I used to think Mary's beau was a mésalliance but compared to this he's practically a Hapsburg."
• "Don't be defeatist, dear. It's very middle class."
• "The plot thickens!" (Mainly for her little grin. Amazing.)
• "Wasn't there a masked ball in Paris when cholera broke out? Half the guests were dead before they left the ballroom." (Made even better by the following pause and the Earl's: "Thank you, mama. That's cheered us up no end.")
• "And while I am sure Branson has many virtues…He's a good driver."
• "I do hope I'm interrupting something."

Ethel discovers Charlie's grandad is a real bastard!

I think I have invented a new game. Eat an Oreo cookie (or similar chocolate treat) for every time the word bastard was used in this episode with respect to Ethel's love child. I believe have a tummy ache now however. I hope Ethel doesn't live to regret her decision about little Charlie, however horrible his moustachioed grandfather.

And did anyone else shriek at the return of the beanie baby/good luck charm? What is that thing anyway? Rabbit? Dog? Well, whatever it is Matthew will never give it up.

And any of you think that O'Brien almost used the word "soap" when feeling all guilty about her nasty past?

The maid Jane and Lord Grantham storyline was a bit weird. Poor Lord Grantham is just knocking around Downton trying to find something to do. Or someone to do. Oooh sorry for that one!

Lady Sybil clearly not enjoying the dinner table chitchat

Although I haven't been a fan of the whole Irish chauffeur storyline (because there was no spark of affection between the two AT ALL) I have to admit I was highly amused when Sybil took off with him to Gretna Green  (just like Lydia and Wickham!) and then was dragged back to Downton to hash it out with Papa. The final scene between Robert and the Dowager Countess was perfect.

Robert: And perhaps we should let Lavinia's last gift to us be a reminder of what really matters. Of course, you'll think that's soft.

Violet: Well, not at all. The aristocracy has not survived by its intransigence. Oh, no, no, we must work with what we've got to minimize the scandal.

Robert: But what have we got to work with?

Violet: Well, you'd be surprised. He's political, isn't he? And a writer. Well, I could make something out of that. And there's a family called Branson with a place not far from Cork. I believe they have a connection with the Howards. Well, surely, we can hitch him onto them.


So meet me here again next week for the recap of the two hour Christmas special. I hope Isis the new bouncier Labrador Retriever gets a little doggy stocking with a bone or two from Mrs. Patmore!  I can't wait to see more of Thomas the former footman. He is sooooo smarmy!

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 Help for non Brits with references from this episode:


Carson: Definition of "a guinea a minute" which Carson uses to describe Mary as a child-means a "barrel of laughs" or "a hoot".

Sybil: The phrase Uncle Tom Cobley and all is used in British English as a humorous or whimsical way of saying et al., often to express exasperation at the large number of people in a list. The phrase comes from a Devon folk song "Widecombe Fair". Its chorus ends with a long list of people: "Bill Brewer, Jan Stewer, Peter Gurney, Peter Davy, Dan'l Whiddon, Harry Hawke, Old Uncle Tom Cobley and all."

Violet: Light the blue touch paper was originally used as instruction for British fireworks- "Light blue touch-paper-stand well back". Became a way of suggesting someone had done something dangerous or foolhardy and needed to beware of the consequences, especially, for example, when having said something that was likely to cause someone else to respond explosively

Castle Howard, Yorkshire, England- Filming location

Castle Howard, Yorkshire, England

The period drama which springs instantly to mind when Castle Howard is mentioned is Brideshead Revisited. Both the longer 1981 miniseries with Jeremy Irons and the 2008 film version with Emma Thompson were filmed here. I was fortunate enough to visit in 2009 and I must say it is breathtaking.

Jeremy Irons and Anthony Andrews as Charles and Sebastian in Brideshead Revisited

Yes, you can imagine Sebastian with his teddy bear Aloysius lounging by the fountain as you walk the grounds. The Temple of the Four Winds is just as impressive as in the films, but alas, there is no sumptuous picnic inside and you must bring your own wine.

Temple of the Four Winds at Castle Howard

There is a ha-ha just past the Temple of the Four Winds, which does it's job in keeping the cows and the sheep on the lower level and away from the Temple itself.

Haley Atwell in Brideshead Revisited - Castle Howard

Both the interior of the house and the exterior lend themselves perfectly to locations for period drama. Interestingly, there haven't been many filmed here other than the two Bridesheads and The Buccaneers (I don't count Garfield: A Tale of Two Kitties!) Perhaps this is because the house is so recognizable.

The Chapel at Castle Howard

The Chapel at Castle Howard was important to the Brideshead Revisited story, as the family's Catholicism was central to the story, however the Howard family and the exquisite chapel are Anglican. The Squire and I were fortunate enough to hear an organ concert in the chapel on the Sunday we were visiting.

Castle Howard aerial view

So if you are in North Yorkshire and you're able to visit, it's worth the better part of a day to go through the house and leisurely prowl the grounds. Even a spot of Yorkshire rain didn't dampen our wonderful day at Castle Howard.

Great Expectations 2011/2012: Battle of the Miss Havishams

Great Expectations 2011- 3 part miniseries with Gillian Anderson

Released Christmas 2011 in the UK, this gorgeously filmed television miniseries in 3 one hour long installments was quite well received by the British public for the most part. We in North America get to watch this one on PBS over 2 Sunday nights in April (April 1st and 8th).

Gillian Anderson as Miss Havisham: Great Expectations 2011

The wondrous Gillian Anderson (whose Lady Deadlock from Bleak House 2005 stays with me yet) has been cast as the youngest looking Miss Havisham ever. If anyone can pull this off, I'm betting on her. However, one wonders with a Pip as beautiful looking as Douglas Booth, why doesn't she just tidy up the place, throw on a new frock and go after Pip herself? Sorry...Great Expectations, not Cougar Town!

The incredibly gorgeous Douglas Booth as adult Pip

What do you think of our young hero ladies? No wonder Douglas Booth is being heralded as a teen heart throb in the UK. Maybe he can get a whole new generation of females to read Dickens, which is never a bad thing!

Oscar Kennedy as young Pip in Great Expectations 2011

As seen in the photo above, the cinematography is breathtaking so I would watch it for this alone, but apparently David Suchet's Jaggers is pretty impressive too.

Estella and Pip dancing in Great Expectations 2012

This is something for us to look forward to when we are waiting for spring and a good way to celebrate the 200th anniversary of the birth of Charles Dickens.

Helena Bonham Carter as Miss Havisham Great Expectations 2012

And if that wasn't exciting enough for Dickens's 200th Birthday, there is a theatrical release scheduled for sometime later in the year of yet another adaptation of Great Expectations. I'm holding my breath on this one, as it is a big story to squeeze into a 2 hour film. On the other hand, with Helena Bonham Carter as Miss Havisham and Ralph Fiennes as Magwich, it has a certain appeal already. Add to that director Mike Newell (Four Weddings and various Harry Potters) and Jeremy Irvine (War Horse) as Pip and Robbie Coltrane (Hagrid) as Jaggers and you have my attention. Fingers crossed on this one friends!

Downton Abbey Season 2: Episode Five

The end of the Great War at Downton Abbey

Well, I am just gobsmacked after tonight's episode. The war is over, Patrick is back (or is he?), Matthew is feeling a stirring in his loins, and what the heck happened between Bates and Vera? He's got a cut on his face and she's dead? Oh, I guess I should have issued a major spoiler alert before that paragraph!

Lord Grantham and the new maid Jane enjoying some "dessert"

Lord Grantham seems to be finding something to interest him below stairs in the form of widowed maid Jane, now that Cora seems to be too busy for him these days. Good thing, for His Lordship was getting a bit boring lately. A bit of action in the butler's pantry may liven things up with his storyline!

Carson the butler of Downton Abbey- will he jump ship?

Lady Mary is in quite a pickle now isn't she? She has finally been perfectly open with Matthew about her feelings, and he is still pushing her away (reluctantly...). And what is with the creepy Sir Richard Carlisle? Bleuch! Threatening your fiancée is a great way to get her all romantic! Shudder!

And does Lady Mary think that taking Carson with her to her new home is going to make it all better? I suppose she needs one friend in that big cold new house they are looking at.

More drama in the Downton servants' hall

What will Ethel do now that Major Mustachio is KIA? Will poor Daisy ever forgive herself, or Mrs. Patmore? And what on earth is the attraction between Lady Sybil and the Irish chauffeur? Will cousin Isobel find satisfaction helping the refugees? And will Isis the yellow Labrador retriever find puppy love?

All this and more, next week on...Downton Abbey!!!!

Jonny Lee Miller- Actor of the Week

Jonny Lee Miller

Jonny Lee Miller has been in some pretty wonderful period dramas. His Mr. Knightley in the 2009 version of Jane Austen's Emma opposite Romola Garai was pretty unforgettable. I didn't think anyone could replace Jeremy Northam as my fave Knightley but I was oh so wrong!

Jonny Lee Miller as Mr. Knightley in Emma 2009. Nice cravat!

If there is anyone out there who hasn't seen the 2009 BBC version of Jane Austen's Emma with Romola Garai, you have a real treat in store. Although my sister prefers the 1996 cinematic version with Gwyneth Paltrow and Jeremy Northam (which I still absolutely enjoy), if I could only have one Emma it would be the 2009 version. Both Jonny Lee Miller and Romola Garai do an amazing job and have great chemistry together. The locations and cinematography are pretty awesome too.

Jonny Lee Miller as Lord Byron

If you like your JLM a bit wilder than Mr. Knightley, as Lord Byron (Byron 2003) he is definitely "mad, bad and dangerous to know". Not many people saw this one, but apparently he did a pretty good job. Any of my readers see it? Did you like it?

Jonny Lee Miller and Frances O'Connor in Mansfield Park 1999

I know that the Jane Austen purists in general do not like Mansfield Park 1999, but I actually kind of love it. It veers from the book in it's portrayal of Fanny, but I am not particularly a Fanny "fan" so to speak! The fact that the film makers injected Fanny with a large dose of Jane Austen herself actually improved the film in my opinion. And until we get a properly done Mansfield Park (I understand the BBC Mansfield Park from 1983-with Jonny Lee Miller as Charles Price!-is good but very dated looking now) this is the best one we have. Jonny Lee Miller's Edmund is kind of adorable, I think. No wonder Frances O'Connor is snogging him in the photo above!

Jonny Lee Miller and Robert Carlyle in Plunkett & Macleane 1999

In Plunkett & Macleane, a quirky film about a pair of 18th century thieves, Jonny teams up with the wonderful Robert Carlyle, his costar in Trainspotting. A little action, a little comedy, a little techno music and some anachronistic clothing, and you have a nice evening's rental.

Angelina Jolie and Jonny Lee Miller in Hackers 1995

And if you want to see him in his youth, Jonny Lee Miller met his first wife, Angelina Jolie on the set of their film Hackers 1995, about a pair of genius teen computer hackers. Quite a smoking hot couple, despite the awful hairdos!

So here's to a real cutie, Jonny Lee Miller. He has a few vampire films coming out soon (Dark Shadows and Byzantium) but I am hoping for more period drama.

P.S. His new TV series on CBS Elementary, starting September 27 is actually a modern day version of Sherlock Holmes set in NYC.  I can't wait for this even though it is too much to hope that it will be as good as Sherlock with Benedict Cumberbatch (basically the original British version of the same). Fingers crossed for Elementary, my dears.