My first encounter with Matthew Crawley, heir to Downton Abbey and alternating foe and love interest to Mary Crawley, was while watching a recent BBC adaptation of Sense and Sensibility. Once I had seen Dan Stevens, who plays Matthew, as Edward Ferrars, I knew that I had to see him more. His ability to play the period man, in Sense and Sensibility’s case the Regency era male, without the condescending air and curiously overstuffed cravat of an aristocrat made him absolutely beautiful to me – or maybe it was just his deep blue eyes.
When I read that Stevens was to appear in a new ITV drama called Downton Abbey, I knew that regardless of the quality of the show, I would be an avid viewer – if only to giggle at his uniquely handsome face. Little did I know I was being willingly introduced to one of the biggest phenomena of British television in recent years. One series (what the British refer to as a "season") has aired so far in the U.S. and two in the U.K., but already Downton Abbey is considered ITV’s crowning achievement. This past December, the Downton Abbey Christmas Special was anticipated to be the main competitor with the U.K.’s other most popular Christmas special in the 9 p.m. slot, BBC1’s EastEnders. After calculating in those who had recorded the show to watch later, Downton Abbey beat out EastEnders by 300,000 viewers, according to TheGuardian.
Downton Abbey, for those who have not already given in to the very well-deserved hype of the program, is a period drama tracing the history of a wealthy family – the Earl of Grantham Robert Crawley, his wife Cora and their three daughters, Mary, Edith and Sybil – living in a grand estate (from which the show receives its name) in Edwardian era England and extending into the era beyond World War I.
The show, created by Julian Fellowes (of Gosford Park and The Young Victoria fame), is a telling insight into the world of the landed gentry and the goings-on among their butlers, footmen, ladies maids and other employees below their polished floorboards.
As we open upon the second series of Downton, we are taken to the trenches of the Somme during World War I, where Matthew is fighting in close proximity to Thomas, a footman from Downton. Back at the estate, the family is deciding their place in the war effort – with Lady Sybil trying her hand at cooking in preparation for being on her own at nursing school, Lord Grantham trying to return to the army and the rest of the family participating in a fundraising concert. All awhile, the servants deal with the difficulty of having fewer male employees and some characters have their pasts return to haunt them.
The show, constantly filled with intrigue, begins by startling the audience with immediate worry at the prospect of two central characters entrenched in the war. Where the first season let off with just a mention of England at war with Germany, suddenly we’re forced onto the battlefield with Matthew and Thomas – it’s almost too much for a Downton Abbey fan, so used to being bemused by the frivolity of aristocratic life, to handle.
But naturally, as is the case in every episode of this show, the characters become the main focus and other aspects entirely secondary. In one of the most poignant moments of the show, Matthew arrives at Downton while on leave. There is an inherent moment of tension between him and Mary – as the audience has seen their relationship play out over the past series – of what the next development will be in their story.
The feeling is almost visceral as Matthew walks into the room, the camera alternating in focusing on Mary’s expression and his entrance. Then comes the blow to the heart that is Miss Lavinia Swire.
I spent all of the last series switching between feeling utter contempt for Mary and empathizing with her desperate, seemingly unrequited love. But as Matthew walked in with his soon-to-be-betrothed, an image of all that Mary has lost, I could not help but feel I had lost as well.
In a similar vein, when Thomas is sitting in the trenches, body shaking and questioning his decision to be in the war at all, the uneasiness he felt was in direct correlation with how I felt as a viewer.
There is something to be said about a show that can elicit a physical reaction in a viewer. While so many shows on the air look to grandiose plots and eccentric characters to create drama, what Downton Abbey gives its viewers is an insight into a realistic world – drawn from Fellowes’ own experiences spending time with his wealthier relations – that has a taste for a powerful and kitsch-less melodrama. More than it ever raises an eyebrow, Downton is always quick to evoke a sudden jaw drop. While this extreme isn’t necessarily what colors it as the great show that it clearly is, it is certainly one aspect – along with a great narrative, terrific characters and an awe-inspiring setting – that makes the show a beacon of entertainment that crosses the Atlantic Ocean. And that’s a quality that will endure regardless of how attractive Matthew Crawley is.