Downton Abbey

Lore & Background

The series begins the day after the sinking of RMS Titanic on 15 April 1912, with news that the heir presumptive and his son have perished, making a distant cousin, Matthew Crawley, the new heir. The storyline centers on the entail governing the titled elite, which endows title and estate exclusively to male heirs. Robert Crawley, Earl of Grantham, had resolved his father's financial difficulties by marrying American heiress Cora Levinson, whose dowry is contractually incorporated into the entail, but they have three daughters and no son. The first series explores the relationship between Lady Mary Crawley and Matthew, who resists embracing an aristocratic lifestyle, while subplots involve valet John Bates and footman Thomas Barrow, with Barrow and lady's maid O'Brien creating havoc. The series ends just after the outbreak of the First World War in August 1914.

The second series runs from the Battle of the Somme in 1916 to the 1918 Spanish flu pandemic, with Downton Abbey temporarily converted into an officers' convalescent hospital. Matthew, now a British Army officer, becomes engaged to Lavinia Swire, while William Mason dies from battle wounds after a deathbed marriage to scullery maid Daisy. Matthew is paralyzed from the waist down but later regains use of his legs. Bates's estranged wife Vera commits suicide with an arsenic pie, and Bates is arrested on suspicion of murder. Lavinia dies of Spanish flu, and Mary breaks her engagement to Sir Richard Carlisle. Lady Sybil falls in love with chauffeur Tom Branson. The series includes the Marconi scandal and the Irish War of Independence leading to the formation of the Irish Free State.

Later series cover the Teapot Dome scandal, the British general election of 1923, the Beer Hall Putsch, and the rise of the working class during the interwar period, hinting at the eventual decline of the British aristocracy. The sixth and final series concludes on New Year's Eve 1925. After the television series ended in 2015, the story continued in a trilogy of films: an eponymous film in 2019, A New Era in 2022, and The Grand Finale in 2025.

Reader's Guide

Downton Abbey received numerous accolades, including a Golden Globe Award for Best Miniseries or Television Film and a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Miniseries or Movie. It was recognized by Guinness World Records as the most critically acclaimed English-language television series of 2011. The series earned 27 Primetime Emmy Award nominations after its first two series, the most for any international television series in the awards' history. It was the most watched television series on both ITV and PBS, and became the most successful British costume drama since the 1981 television serial of Brideshead Revisited. The show's depiction of historical events—from the Titanic sinking to the Spanish flu pandemic and the Irish War of Independence—provided a backdrop for exploring class dynamics and social change. Its legacy includes a trilogy of films continuing the story after the television series ended in 2015.

Did You Know?

• The series is set between 16 April 1912 and New Year's Eve 1925.
• It earned 27 Primetime Emmy Award nominations after its first two series, the most for any international television series in Emmy history.
• The show was recognized by Guinness World Records as the most critically acclaimed English-language television series of 2011.
• After the television series ended in 2015, three films were released: an eponymous film in 2019, A New Era in 2022, and The Grand Finale in 2025.