Downton Abbey Season 5 Episode 7

SPOILER ALERT! This post is intended for those who have already seen Downton Abbey Series 5 Episode 7

Isis!!!!!! I can't see to write this for the tears. It's almost as bad as losing our darling Sybil! I have to say that as corny as Julian Fellowes' writing is at times, I really loved the tender scene at the end of this episode. If we had to lose Isis, at least she got to die with dignity surrounded by love. Cora is right. May we all be so lucky when our time comes.

On a lighter note, the young ladies of Downton are now sorted for a while. Lady Rose is engaged to her Atticus Aldridge. Could we have a happy ending on Downton for a change? Well, perhaps not with Rose's mum the ever spiky Susan appearing back from India.

But the lame "tableau" at the Cinema seemed to have done the trick for Mabel Lane Fox and Tony. By the way, do the Brits really pronounce it Kinema or is that just Charles showing off his Public School Latin pronunciation? And I suppose Charles bogging off to Poland is just another future history lesson on the Nazis from Julian Fellowes? Sigh!

The weirdness with Lady Edith bringing Marigold to Downton was odd even for this show. And can we finally put the Anna/Bates/Mr. Rapist story to rest? No, I suppose not.

I must say I do enjoy the fireworks at every other dinner scene at Downton. Larry Merton is every bit as much fun as the redheaded school teacher.

And Molesley snickering below stairs at Tom Branson's use of the word "bastard" in reference to horrible Larry Merton had me in stitches. I LOVE Molesley! Possibly the best character ever to arrive at Downton Abbey! More Molesley!!!

My next fave is Spratt and his keeping the Dowager Lady Violet from getting too comfortable with her new maid Denker. But again, I adored the tenderness with which Violet admitted to bitchy Mary how much she will miss the company of Isobel when she leaves. Awwwwww. But how sad Isobel looked saying farewell to her Dickie man. Oh dear!

I suppose we have to say goodbye to Lady Rose so she can go and publicize her role as Cinderella (in the live action Disney film with Daisy as one of her evil stepsisters- more on that later next month).

And does Tom Branson have to take Sybbie to Boston? She is so adorable playing Pooh sticks with her papa and throwing hunks of moss into the stream saying "Why...why...?" Why indeed Sybbie.

Best Lines of the Week (mostly Dame Maggie this week):

Countess Violet: He's a man. Men don't have rights. (Snort!)

Countess Violet: My dear, a lack of compassion can be as vulgar as an excess of tears. (only Violet can put Mary in her place like this!)

Countess Violet: I've got used to having a companion. A friend, someone to talk things over with. Isobel and I had a lot in common. I shall miss that.

Spratt: She (Denker) takes after the dachshund. She is quite untrainable.

Lord Grantham: If you ask me, it's absolutely crackers! (for once, he's right)

Mr. Mason: Education is power. Don't forget that. There's no limit to what you can achieve...There are millions out there who could have done so much if they'd only been given an education. (I hope many young viewers watching in many countries take this to heart. Bless "Lord Fellowes" for being a socialist after all. Hurrah!)

Last Tango in Halifax

Alright, I realize that Last Tango in Halifax does not qualify as Period Drama, however this is my blog and I am really enjoying watching this on Netflix this winter. In fact this is one of the few things that can keep me on my stationary bike for a full hour!

Written by Yorkshire lass Sally Wainwright, this series is based on her mother's story of losing touch with a high school sweetheart and the romance which happens after finding him on the internet decades later. Derek Jacobi and Anne Reid are both acting royalty in England and do an amazing job as the septuagenarian lovers.

Wainwright has a talent for dialogue which makes the relationships alternately touching, hilarious or heartbreaking. There never seems to be a false note, no matter how unbelievable the situation.

Sarah Lancashire plays the snooty lesbian headmistress daughter of Celia (Anne Reid) and Nicola Walker plays the "modern Bathsheba" Gillian, an oversexed sheep farmer and daughter of Alan (Derek Jacobi). Obviously there are some fireworks when these two worlds collide, thanks to Alan and Celia's developing relationship.

And if you get addicted to Sally Wainwright's work like I have, you'll be happy to know that she has two other wonderful series currently on Netflix- Scott and Bailey, a detective drama series with three women in the main roles. How refreshing to see entire scenes played out in the WOMEN'S LOO!

If you like your crime drama even grittier, Happy Valley is Wainwright's ironically named latest series starring Sarah Lancashire (again!) as a gritty police Sergeant in Yorkshire. More dramatic and fewer moments of levity made this one a harder slog for me but if you want to see James Norton (the sexy vicar from Granchester) as a criminal who will make your flesh crawl, this one is for you!

And FYI, although there are only two seasons of Last Tango in Halifax on Netflix at the moment, a third season has already aired in the UK and a fourth season has been announced. Hurrah!

Cheers!

Downton Abbey Season 5 Episode 6

SPOILER ALERT! This post is intended for those who have already seen Downton Abbey Season 5 Episode 6

Great Episode! My goodness a lot happened in this one, and it was all fabulous! Champagne and ice cream for Edith and Marigold, as they have finally broken free from Downton and taken off, likely to run the newspaper in London. I think that was the best possible reaction to the news about Mr. Gregson. Bravo Edith!

And I was very happy that Edith told off Lady Mary before she left. Atticus Aldridge didn't seem put off by the sisterly squabbling: "I'm sorry Mr. Aldridge but you might as well know what we're like."

And Lady Mary is back in the saddle again, bobbed hair and all. I can't wait to see her string Charles Blake along now and try her tricks with him. I think she may find he is not the puppyish follower she is used to. Yeehaw!

Dr. Clarkson says Thomas will have to learn to live with his natural proclivities, and we now are sure that Baxter is a saint! Molesley is a frustrated history teacher and was that a marriage proposal or a business proposition from Carson to Mrs. Hughes? From the smirk on her face I think she assumes the former.

The older set and their romances were simmering away. It seems as though Isobel has decided to accept the proposal from her exalted suitor and Violet seems quite resigned to the fact. These two are getting to be wonderful friends with their cards and their jigsaw puzzles. Lovely!

And one of the steamiest scenes in this episode was between Violet and her Igor. He is one hot Russian silver fox, and if the Dowager Countess could have stopped staring disgustedly at her muddy tea and concentrated on her old flame, her frostiness may have thawed a little. Ah, soon methinks!

Anna and Bates ended up pretty well in this episode too. The happy snuggling is back, now that she knows he didn't off the rapist after all. I hope she sets him straight about Lady Mary's unnamed contraceptive device pretty soon. Does this mean we finally can set this drawn out plot to rest and get down to some "Married Love" between the Bates's? (by the way, does anyone else have an uncontrollable urge to read that Marie Stopes book?

Kudos to Cora for giving it to Lord Grantham about his sanctimonious attitude and telling him to march right back into that marital bed. Man the ladies were hot in this episode!

But Isis is ill? Noooooooo!!!!!!! Just don't let Dr. Clarkson take a look at her. Let's hope it was just a dodgy dead squirrel.

Best Lines of the Week (and they were really good this week!)

French Yorkshireman Hairdresser: At least she can carry it off. Most of them look like bald monkeys.

Dowager Violet to Mary: Oh it is you! I thought it was a man wearing your clothes.

Dowager Violet: All this endless thinking, it's very overrated. I blame the war. Before 1914 no one thought about anything at all.

Lady Edith: I'm just amazed that even you would choose the day after I learn the man I love is dead to try out a new fashion.

Prince Kuragin: I wanted you from the moment I saw you. More than mortal man ever wanted woman.
Countess Violet: That is an historical detail.

Countess Violet: We all pander to Spratt in this house. He rules us with a rod of iron.

Cora: If you can honestly say you have never let a flirtation get out of hand since we married, never given a woman the wrong impression, by all means stay away. Otherwise, I expect you back in my room tonight.

Mabel Lane Fox: Why turn up looking like a cross between a Vogue fashion plate and a crate of dynamite?

The Imitation Game

What can I tell you about The Imitation Game? First of all, it is a wonderfully entertaining if not always historically correct film about the English mathematicians who cracked the Enigma code of the Germans and helped win the war.

Secondly...well truly that's all you need to know. Just go see it. You will enjoy it. Well, if you enjoyed The King's Speech, you will enjoy this one.

You'll see lots of familiar faces. Benedict Cumberbatch plays Alan Turing. He is getting quite typecast in the slightly prickly genius role, but he does it very well. We have Matthew Goode (Belle, Death Comes to Pemberley) along with Allen Leech (Tom Branson from Downton Abbey) and Keira Knightley. Lets see...also Mark Strong, Charles Dance...you get the idea.

This film did make me want to know more about the real story behind Alan Turing and Bletchley Park so I went to Netflix and watched Codebreaker which is a dramatized documentary well worth watching.

I also went back to watch The Bletchley Circle again to get an idea of what some of the kick ass women at Bletchley were doing during and after the war. OK, it is fictional but pretty cool to know that not all the British ladies were just keeping the home fires burning during WWII. Some were code breakers working alongside Turing and friends. It wasn't just Joan Clarke (Keira Knightley's character in The Imitation Game) although she was likely the most intellectual of the many ladies at Bletchley.

Anyone else love The Imitation Game? Feel free to leave a comment below telling us how you liked it!

Cheers!

Downton Abbey Season 5 Episode 5

SPOILER ALERT! This post is intended for those who have already seen Downton Abbey Season 5 Episode 5

Well there are nudists in Essex now are there? Very odd to open with this item of news, I thought. How on earth is this relevant? I imagine that Julian Fellowes found this tidbit in his exhaustive research. We should at least have gotten a good Dowager Violet zinger out of it!

Otherwise, there were some great moments in this episode mixed in with rehashed previous stories.

Lady Mary and her next beau Charles cooking up a plan to toss the last beau Tony a bone in the shape of a very prickly but well dressed Mabel Lane Fox. Hmm...In fact, the stars of this episode were the dresses. The brilliant blue number on Lady Mary is divine!

Mrs. Patmore and Mrs. Hughes certainly played Mr. Carson like a violin at the end. "Significant Look" of the week award goes to Carson who shoots a look at Mrs. Hughes like I have never seen before (snigger) when the ladies are trying to break it to him that Mrs. Patmore invested her inheritance as she liked...and then they made him think it was his idea! Brilliant job ladies!

Cora and her randy admirer certainly livened things up when Lord Grantham came back early. I was actually squirming when he hit the front door unexpectedly but Cora stayed composed and cool as a cucumber as usual. It must be the power of those spectacular dresses! Nice to see the Earl get stirred up for a change. But then he throws a silly snit at the cocktail party instead of begging Cora's forgiveness for ignoring her and then tossing her on the bed instead of Mr. Bricker.

Otherwise more of the same. Yawn! Inspectors inspecting. Thomas being a jerk and yet struggling to fit in again. Tom hinting at a big decision again and more nonsense with Lady Edith's bastard child. Ugh!

But Lady Rose and her gorgeous Jewish sweetie! Now there is a story line I can get behind. However, we have seen Rose fall for someone "not of her people" before. First the married guy and then the black jazz singer right? Oh please let this be her Mr. Right!

Best Lines of the Week (and they weren't very good this week)

Countess Violet (to Isobel): Ellen Terry has nothing on you when it comes to stringing out a moment. (NB Ellen Terry was a famous Victorian actress and nobody can string it out like Julian Fellowes!)

Mr. Bates: We'll sit by the fire with all our children around us and I'll keep you safe. (Anyone else find this creepy and weird?)

Isobel (to Violet): You're as infirm as Windsor Castle. (?????)

Rosamund (to Violet): I'm afraid you've read somewhere that rudeness in old age is amusing. And it's quite wrong. (Actually Rosamund, the really good rude zingers are amusing and were missing from this episode!)

Downton Abbey Season 5 Episode 4

SPOILER ALERT! This post is intended for those who have already seen Downton Abbey Series 5 Episode 4

The young people's love lives are a disaster and the elderly are Romancing the Abbey! Here is Lady Mary who has been cruelly toying with as many bachelors as she can keep dangling and now she ditches Tony. Well we could see this one coming before the "sketching trip".

I did like the use of some London filming locations like the Peter Pan statue at Kensington Gardens. And the CGI of Anna at Piccadilly Circus was unprecedented for Downton Abbey! If only she didn't have a creepy man following her. Will this Mr. Green sub plot NEVER die?

Poor Lady Edith is finally going to hear what happened to her newspaper man and is now stalking Marigold and the farmer's wife. Egads! At least she is still writing her column...about how the world is changing...actually I would love to read it!

Mr. Bricker aka Richard E Can't, is still sniffing around Cora. Let's hope Robert will soon toss him out in a manner similar to his Miss Bunting blowup in the dining room. I actually rather enjoyed that scene. It sure caused a stir below stairs! Entertainment for Granny and the servants!

And what in heaven's name is going on with Thomas? Is he doing drugs in the attic? The saintly Baxter will find out. And why is Shrimpy back on the scene? We haven't seen him since two Christmas episodes ago, so does what does this mean for Rose? Surely he is not just back to find the wife of Violet's old beau! Extreme foreshadowing of romance for Rose, the blank cheque thing. And that Prince Kuragin is kind of greasy (in a strangely attractive way) but he has livened up the Dowager lately. She is "Imperious. Magnificent." You bet your sweet bippy she is Kuragin!

Lord Merton is my new fave character, since there was no delicious Spratt in this episode. Even matter of fact Isobel Crawley is moved by Lord Merton's heartfelt declaration of love. So she will...think about it. Good grief Isobel! He is adorable, rich and he looooooves you! What the heck?

Isis! More Isis! Look at that adorable face. And wonder of wonders, Lord Grantham finally said something sensible in this episode, wanting to build quality, attractive houses on Pip's Corner. It's about time Robert started talking sense.

The fashion show was kind of fun (or "yummy" as Mary called it). But what is with that hat on Rosamund? And could Julian Fellowes possibly cram more characters into this episode? We have the return of Charles Blake and even Tony's jilted fiancée Mabel Lane Fox. I smell trouble!

Then we have Mrs. Patmore's impassioned plea to Lord Grantham about her shell shocked nephew. Bravo Mrs. Patmore and shame on Carson!

As usual, we can't wait for next week. Cheers!

Best Lines of the Week:

Countess Violet:  Hope is a tease, designed to prevent us from accepting reality.
Isobel:  You only say that to sound clever.
Countess Violet:  I know...you should try it!

Prince Kuragin: Now you are the great lady. Imperious! Magnificent!

Mrs. Patmore (re: Daisy): Mathematics is one thing. She's studying to be a revolutionary now.

Lord Merton: I state freely and proudly Isobel, that I've fallen in love with you. And I want to spend what remains of my life in your company. I believe I could make you happy. I should very much like to try. (Best Downton Abbey line in as long as I can remember!)

Charles Blake: I wish I could work you out.
Lady Mary: I wish I could work me out.

Lord Gillingham: Am I a bad lover? Is that what you are trying to tell me? (Yes Tony, that is exactly what she is trying to tell you!)

Downton Abbey Season 5 Episode 3

SPOILER ALERT! This post is intended for those who have already seen Downton Abbey Season 5 Episode 3

Well, Lady Mary is on the cutting edge of morality yet again. She seems to have enjoyed the roll in the hay with Tony Gillingham and yet doesn't seem impressed enough to get hitched again. Matthew must be a hard act to follow. I think Mary wants more of a challenge than Tony. He's just too eager!

The Lady Edith and Marigold saga is finally starting to bubble. The poor farmer's wife thought she had abducted Marigold, and I have to admit I was rather thinking that myself. Something is going to give with Lady Edith. I only hope she stays sane.

And good grief! Will we never hear the end of this Mr. Green the rapist valet story? Why can't we have a happy story with the Bates's? Maybe a mini Bates? Never mind...keep going stringing this mystery out of who flung the bastard under the bus, Lord Fellowes. It could have been any number of women in London I would think!

I wonder where Thomas is really going in London? Certainly not to visit his sick father if we know Thomas...and we certainly know Thomas.

Lord Grantham's surprise visit to London backfired big time. And Mr. Bricker is getting pretty cozy with Cora, who seems to be giddy as a school girl with the brazen flattery. But she doesn't seem to have any desire to take it past a flirtation as His Lordship should now be aware!

Daisy is turning into a well educated feminist thanks to the horrid Miss Bunting. By the way, how many times can Miss B come upstairs and make trouble before Lord Grantham sics Isis on her???  I was a little shocked that Daisy had to leave school at age 11 and that she thought education to age 14 would be wonderful. Gosh!

It's lovely that Mrs. Hughes and Carson still seem to be thick as thieves. But even she couldn't change Carson's mind about Mrs. Patmore's nephew. More friction downstairs!

I looooove the appearance of Prince Kuragin, the Russian flirtation of Violet's in the glorious Victorian era. And Lady Mary's sly dig at Granny was perfection! Hurrah! And any guesses whether the Fabergé eggs they were weeping over were real? They look pretty wonderful!

And now Baxter can stay (will the nasty man who forced her to steal show up in a later episode?) and there are plans under consideration to build ugly housing on "Pip's Corner" but Lord Grantham seems horrified even though it would free up some cash for the estate.

"Significant Looks Award" of the week goes to Spratt, Violet's butler and my new favourite character at Downton. Lady Mary's escapades just about popped his eyeballs out. By the way, I just re-watched Julian Fellowes's other masterpiece Gosford Park this weekend and you will find Spratt, Dowager Countess Violet and Mr. Bricker from Downton amongst many other familiar faces from various Period Dramas. I left the closed captioning on this time and caught a few lines I had missed on other viewings. :)

Best Lines of the Week:

Tony Gillingham: I want to acclimate myself with the routines and rituals that will govern the rest of my life. (Ewwwwww! Creepy!)

Lady Mary: I've been tarnished once and I won't be tarnished again.

Isobel: Servants are human beings too.
Violet:  Preferably only on their days off.

Isobel: Hopeless lovers wandering over a desolate moor. If it wasn't Emily Bronte it could be Tolstoy or Gogol.

Countess Violet (to Spratt): What were you imagining? Nothing vulgar, I hope. Nothing beneath the dignity of a butler of this household.

Mrs. Patmore: Sympathy butters no parsnips.

Mrs Hughes: My advice Daisy is to go as far in life as God and luck allow.

Countess Violet: In my day, a lady was incapable of feeling physical attraction before she was instructed to do so by her mama.

Lord Grantham: That an art expert would find your observations on the work of Piero della Francesca impossible to resist, yes, it is hard to believe. (Ouch. You're going to regret that one Robert!)

Lady Mary: Granny has a past!