PBS Masterpiece Classic -- Downton Abbey
01-30-13, 07:42 AM
#76
DVD Talk Gold Edition
Re: PBS Masterpiece Classic -- Downton Abbey
Bought Season 3 on blu yesterday at BB and finished the remaining episodes. (Couldn't wait for them on PBS!) Won't spoil anything, but I find it curious that, like last season, they consider the last episode to be a special Christmas episode when it is, in fact, essential viewing.
There's a review of Season 3 on this web site that says the video is 1080p but the back of the case clearly says it's 1080i. Is it a misprint or is the reviewer wrong? The first 2 seasons also say 1080i on their cases. And like the first 2 seasons, the audio is only 2.0 stereo.
There's a review of Season 3 on this web site that says the video is 1080p but the back of the case clearly says it's 1080i. Is it a misprint or is the reviewer wrong? The first 2 seasons also say 1080i on their cases. And like the first 2 seasons, the audio is only 2.0 stereo.
Last edited by Joe Schmoe; 01-31-13 at 07:42 AM.
01-30-13, 08:49 AM
#77
Re: PBS Masterpiece Classic -- Downton Abbey
The Christmas specials are always essential viewing, it's just that they're considered specials since they air on Christmas day and so are shown separate from the season.
01-30-13, 09:51 AM
#78
DVD Talk Gold Edition
Re: PBS Masterpiece Classic -- Downton Abbey
Oh, they aired on Xmas. I thought because the first one was called Xmas at Downton Abbey that's why people referrefed to them as Xmas specials. I definitely enjoyed Season 2's special episode more than Season 3's.
01-30-13, 10:33 AM
#79
Re: PBS Masterpiece Classic -- Downton Abbey
They had to knock off the hot sister? 
Lord Grantham is going to be in the doghouse. Who the hell was that other doctor anyway?
Shit, I didn't know S3 was on blu-ray already. Must resist.
Maggie Smith IS pretty great.
Oh, and my wife doesn't watch Downton Abbey.
Lord Grantham is going to be in the doghouse. Who the hell was that other doctor anyway?Shit, I didn't know S3 was on blu-ray already. Must resist.
Maggie Smith IS pretty great.
Oh, and my wife doesn't watch Downton Abbey.
02-04-13, 11:37 PM
#80
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Re: PBS Masterpiece Classic -- Downton Abbey
She should. My wife watched through season 2 before she talked me into watching the first episode. I then plowed through season one and two in about 2 weeks. This is a really great show. I'll fully admit that I cried a bit in the middle of this season (season 3).
02-04-13, 11:45 PM
#81
DVD Talk Legend
Re: PBS Masterpiece Classic -- Downton Abbey
Soon, adam, soon. (Still waiting for S3 to end here in the states so we can talk about the season as a whole. So much to say.) Couldn't be happier that the show's a hit, tho.
Last edited by adamblast; 02-05-13 at 12:00 AM.
02-04-13, 11:51 PM
#82
DVD Talk Hero
Re: PBS Masterpiece Classic -- Downton Abbey
Read that Sunday's episode was watched by 6.6 mil viewers which given that the Super Bowl was opposite was REALLY impressive! (or it could be the only people that watch are people on the west coast who didn't have to worry about the game)
02-05-13, 09:34 AM
#83
DVD Talk Gold Edition
Re: PBS Masterpiece Classic -- Downton Abbey
In Idaho, the game ended about 15 minutes before DA started.
02-05-13, 01:40 PM
#84
Re: PBS Masterpiece Classic -- Downton Abbey
There were people tweeting DA spoilers during the Super Bowl. Super annoying.
02-15-13, 04:10 PM
#87
Senior Member
02-18-13, 10:53 AM
#90
DVD Talk Legend
Re: PBS Masterpiece Classic -- Downton Abbey
OK, this finally aired in the states, so we can talk about it. I think that's gonna be a very common reaction, and I think the actor did the show a tremendous disservice.
The character Matt was the future of Downton; the actor basically threw the established future away and "broke the show" on his way out the door. Not that the show might not still be great. But him being Downton's future was a major thread, which we spent all of S3 investing in rather pointlessly now. (Not to mention S1&2).
The character Matt was the future of Downton; the actor basically threw the established future away and "broke the show" on his way out the door. Not that the show might not still be great. But him being Downton's future was a major thread, which we spent all of S3 investing in rather pointlessly now. (Not to mention S1&2).
Last edited by adamblast; 02-18-13 at 11:01 AM.
02-18-13, 11:12 AM
#91
DVD Talk Hero
Re: PBS Masterpiece Classic -- Downton Abbey
He must have REALLY hated being on the show. I mean, it's not like he can't do other work while filming DA, not to mention, is he realistically going to find something as commercially AND artistically successful as DA? This should be a lesson for producers to have actors who play integral characters sign contracts longer than for a couple seasons.
02-18-13, 11:17 AM
#92
Re: PBS Masterpiece Classic -- Downton Abbey
Downton Abbey is making Matthew Crawley’s funeral a private affair — so private, in fact, it won’t even take place on screen.
Julian Fellowes, creator of PBS’ international phenom, tells the New York Times that Season 4 will pick up “six months later,” which means “we don’t have to do funerals and all that stuff. That’s all in the past by then.”
In the present, Stateside fans of the show are still very much in mourning over Matthew’s untimely demise in Sunday’s Season 3 finale. For his part, Fellowes says he was left with no choice but to kill Dan Stevens’ beloved character off.
“In America, it’s quite standard for an actor to sign, at the beginning of a series, for five or seven years,” he explains. “The maximum any British agent will allow you to have over an actor is three years. And… Dan wanted to go. The show had been very, very successful, tremendously so, and [he was] being offered great opportunities.”
Fellowes adds that he asked Stevens to stick around through Season 4′s premiere episode (set to air in the U.S. in January 2014), so as to end the finale “on a happy note” with the birth of his and Lady Mary’s baby. “And then [we would've killed] him in the first episode of [Season 4.] But he didn’t want to do that,” preferring instead to make “a clean break.
“When an actor playing a servant wants to leave, there isn’t really a problem – [that character gets] another job,” he continues. “With members of the family, once they’re not prepared to come back for any episodes at all, then it means death. Because how believable would it be that Matthew never wanted to see the baby, never wanted to see his wife? And was never seen again at the estate that he was the heir to? So we didn’t have any option, really. I was as sorry as everyone else.”
Looking ahead to Season 4, Fellowes teases that one of the overriding themes will be “the rebuilding of Mary… in a society that is changing,” adding, “We would see women’s roles in the ’20s as being very much behind women today. But it was a big advance on what it had been 30 years before. And that’s all explored.”
Julian Fellowes, creator of PBS’ international phenom, tells the New York Times that Season 4 will pick up “six months later,” which means “we don’t have to do funerals and all that stuff. That’s all in the past by then.”
In the present, Stateside fans of the show are still very much in mourning over Matthew’s untimely demise in Sunday’s Season 3 finale. For his part, Fellowes says he was left with no choice but to kill Dan Stevens’ beloved character off.
“In America, it’s quite standard for an actor to sign, at the beginning of a series, for five or seven years,” he explains. “The maximum any British agent will allow you to have over an actor is three years. And… Dan wanted to go. The show had been very, very successful, tremendously so, and [he was] being offered great opportunities.”
Fellowes adds that he asked Stevens to stick around through Season 4′s premiere episode (set to air in the U.S. in January 2014), so as to end the finale “on a happy note” with the birth of his and Lady Mary’s baby. “And then [we would've killed] him in the first episode of [Season 4.] But he didn’t want to do that,” preferring instead to make “a clean break.
“When an actor playing a servant wants to leave, there isn’t really a problem – [that character gets] another job,” he continues. “With members of the family, once they’re not prepared to come back for any episodes at all, then it means death. Because how believable would it be that Matthew never wanted to see the baby, never wanted to see his wife? And was never seen again at the estate that he was the heir to? So we didn’t have any option, really. I was as sorry as everyone else.”
Looking ahead to Season 4, Fellowes teases that one of the overriding themes will be “the rebuilding of Mary… in a society that is changing,” adding, “We would see women’s roles in the ’20s as being very much behind women today. But it was a big advance on what it had been 30 years before. And that’s all explored.”
02-18-13, 02:06 PM
#93
Senior Member
Re: PBS Masterpiece Classic -- Downton Abbey
Perhaps I'm in the minority here but I can actually understand why he may have wanted off the series after fulfilling his contractual obligation. He just finished a successful Broadway appearance and suspect he didn't want to be type cast in the series. Heck, the other week, I saw him in an episode of Agatha Christie Miss Marple where he played a former Luftwaffe pilot. I don't think he will be lacking for opportunity but then again who really knows what the future may bring.
02-18-13, 02:21 PM
#94
DVD Talk Legend
Re: PBS Masterpiece Classic -- Downton Abbey
Here's everyone's opportunity to laugh at me. It appears Dan Stevens parted on good terms with the showrunner, cast & crew. They must either be very forgiving or they never cared about the shape of the story as much as I did.
It's overstating it to say he's ruined the show, and we have no idea how good or bad future seasons will be. But here's what he's seriously damaged for me: my hopes that this show would have a brilliant arc over its run as a whole--which is the way I remember Upstairs, Downstairs seven original seasons. That show is to me like a good friend; one of my first & best DVD purchases, and something I'll revisit for the rest of my life.
Going forward without Matt Crawley, they can either give his death huge weight (as it would really have) or minimize it, plug in a substitute and move on. They've chosen to do the second, and it's probably the right choice. But my illusions that this show would mean more to me than just a soap opera, that I'd want to keep & treasure it, may be flying out the window along with three years of futile storytelling.
It's overstating it to say he's ruined the show, and we have no idea how good or bad future seasons will be. But here's what he's seriously damaged for me: my hopes that this show would have a brilliant arc over its run as a whole--which is the way I remember Upstairs, Downstairs seven original seasons. That show is to me like a good friend; one of my first & best DVD purchases, and something I'll revisit for the rest of my life.
Going forward without Matt Crawley, they can either give his death huge weight (as it would really have) or minimize it, plug in a substitute and move on. They've chosen to do the second, and it's probably the right choice. But my illusions that this show would mean more to me than just a soap opera, that I'd want to keep & treasure it, may be flying out the window along with three years of futile storytelling.
02-18-13, 02:29 PM
#95
DVD Talk Legend
Re: PBS Masterpiece Classic -- Downton Abbey
Perhaps I'm in the minority here but I can actually understand why he may have wanted off the series after fulfilling his contractual obligation. He just finished a successful Broadway appearance and suspect he didn't want to be type cast in the series. Heck, the other week, I saw him in an episode of Agatha Christie Miss Marple where he played a former Luftwaffe pilot. I don't think he will be lacking for opportunity but then again who really knows what the future may bring.
02-18-13, 03:02 PM
#96
DVD Talk Hall of Fame
Re: PBS Masterpiece Classic -- Downton Abbey
Perhaps I'm in the minority here but I can actually understand why he may have wanted off the series after fulfilling his contractual obligation. He just finished a successful Broadway appearance and suspect he didn't want to be type cast in the series. Heck, the other week, I saw him in an episode of Agatha Christie Miss Marple where he played a former Luftwaffe pilot. I don't think he will be lacking for opportunity but then again who really knows what the future may bring.
02-18-13, 04:28 PM
#97
DVD Talk Hero
Re: PBS Masterpiece Classic -- Downton Abbey
If you haven't read Patton Oswalt's live-tweeting of the finale, he does it for every episode, you should check it out.
https://twitter.com/pattonoswalt
https://twitter.com/pattonoswalt
02-18-13, 09:18 PM
#99
Re: PBS Masterpiece Classic -- Downton Abbey
I wonder how seriously they thought of recasting the role? Dan Stevens is fine and has nice chemistry with Michelle Dockery but he's not that amazing that he couldn't have been replaced with another 30-something actor. Downton Abbey is a soap opera, and soap roles are recast all the time.
Fact is, if Stevens had signed on for another season, the character of Matthew would not have been killed off, so now they've got to completely re-do all the storylines they had planned for Season 4.
Fact is, if Stevens had signed on for another season, the character of Matthew would not have been killed off, so now they've got to completely re-do all the storylines they had planned for Season 4.
02-18-13, 11:04 PM
#100
DVD Talk Legend
Re: PBS Masterpiece Classic -- Downton Abbey
Look at all of these non-spoiler posts and Marginal is no where to be found with his/her pissy fits about them. And yet my vague comments weeks ago sent him/her into a tizzy. Regardless, I can't wait for season four. And more.