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Masterpiece: Downton Abbey Season 1, Ep. 1 "Downton Abbey: Episode 1"

The lives of the Crawley family and Downton Abbey's servants are changed for ever when the sinking of the Titanic leaves the estate without its heir and his son.

Runtime: 1 hour 7 minutes
Original air date: September 26, 2010
Network: PBS


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Episode 1, "Downton Abbey: Episode 1"

Synopsis: The lives of the Crawley family and Downton Abbey's servants are changed for ever when the sinking of the Titanic leaves the estate without its heir and his son.

Original air date: September 26, 2010

Runtime: 1 hour 7 minutes

Captions and Subtitles: English

ASIN: B004KAQQ5E

Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,850 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Masterpiece: Downton Abbey Season 1

Synopsis: Downton Abbey -- a sprawling, lavish Edwardian mansion nestled in the Yorkshire landscape -- needs an heir. Dame Maggy Smith stars as Violet, the stubborn Dowager Countess of Grantham matriarch of Downton. Hugh Bonneville stars as her son, the stoic, unflapple Lord Crawley. Elizabeth McGovern is his far-sighted American wife, Cora. From Academy Award-winner Julian Fellowes. This is the original un-edited UK version of the program.

Starring: Hugh Bonneville, Jessica Brown Findlay

Supporting actors: Laura Carmichael, Jim Carter, Brendan Coyle, Michelle Dockery, Siobhan Finneran, Joanne Froggatt, Thomas Howes, Rob James-Collier, Rose Leslie, Phyllis Logan, Elizabeth McGovern, Sophie McShera, Lesley Nicol, Maggie Smith, Dan Stevens, Penelope Wilton, Kevin Doyle, Bill Fellows

Season year: 2010

Genre: Drama

Executive producer: Rebecca Eaton

Network: PBS

ASIN: B004KAJLNS

Rights & Requirements

Purchase rights: Stream instantly and download to 2 locations. Details

Format: Amazon Instant Video (streaming online video and digital download)

Customer Reviews

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1,763 of 1,821 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Be Alert....varying editions.. January 24, 2011

By Songbird

Format:DVD|Amazon Verified Purchase

There appears to be two (2) editions of Downton Abbey....in watching the past 3 episodes as presented on my PBS station, I have become increasingly aware that the editing was very "jumpy"....short short sequences to a meaningful story line.....then, I discovered that there is an edition, UK edition, that is full length....meaning there are 7 episodes in total....the edition being shown on my local PBS station, is all of 4 episodes....and the shifty scenes that I am observing on the Sunday night presentation have been edited for USA viewers.
To me, this is ruinous to a finely produced English landscape, pre-world war I.

Just be more alert to this. I am not aware of any information from my PBS station to this effect, that I am indeed viewing a condensed version of Downton Abbey....

I have just purchased DVD, UK edition of Downton Abbey to view in my home....this should be a more in-depth story, without the shifting of scenes that add up to being difficult to the entire story line.

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931 of 964 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars DO NOT BUY THE DUMBED DOWN PBS VERSION! February 1, 2011

By Miles from Home

Format:DVD

EDIT: I am revising my post and giving this 5 Stars instead of one as PartlyCloudy has kindly pointed out that my review of the PBS version has ended up under the "UK version". There is much confusion out there since the infamous Daily Mail article claimed that a full two hours of the original ITV series had been cut by PBS. Many claim the cuts are minor and unnoticeable. I'd venture to guess that about 35 minutes were edited out of the original, but more importantly, it was a hack job and many scenes do not play out as intended. Below is my slightly revised review of the PBS version which you should avoid at all costs:

Do not buy the so-called "dumbed down" PBS version of the outstanding British ITV series Downton Abbey. We watched the entire series with great joy while in the UK last year, and after excitedly telling our American friends to watch Downton Abbey on PBS, my husband and I looked at each other in horror and confusion as we watched one butchered scene after another. Don't be misled by those who recalculate the running time to account for the removal of commercials (from the ITV version) or the reformatting to shorten the series by increasing episode length (7 episodes in the UK, 4 longer episodes in the US). The fact is, SCENES WERE OMITTED AND OR TRUNCATED because as PBS Executive Producer Rebecca Eaton shamefully admitted, "American audiences demand a `different speed' to their shows." She also claimed that American audiences would have trouble understanding the complicated inheritance issues. Wow. This is an extraordinary admission from a PBS executive. Don't people turn to PBS for an intelligent alternative to the idiocy of American commercial television? I submit it is Rebecca Eaton who is dumb, not the PBS viewership.... Read more ›

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657 of 698 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Enjoyable, if a tad flawed, Edwardian series November 13, 2010

By Cherchezlafemme VINE™ VOICE

Format:DVD

Julian Fellowes has mined his script for Gosford Park, and took a few cues from the beloved 1970s series Upstairs, Downstairs - Collector's Edition Megaset (The Complete Series plus Thomas and Sarah), to create Downton Abbey, a stunning and colorful drama set around the aristocratic Crawley family and the staff which serves them. Set between 1912 and 1914, Downton Abbey chronicles the conflict of class, gender, and politics, and serves it up with a refreshing dollop of sizzle and scandal. Hugh Bonneville, Elizabeth McGovern, and Dame Maggie Smith (as Robert, Earl of Grantham, Cora, Countess of Grantham, and Violet, Dowager Countess of Grantham, respectively) are knock outs, but the rest of the cast are no slouches either, with the stunning Michelle Dockery at the forefront as Lady Mary Crawley, who is the selfish, proud, and vindictive eldest daughter you can't help but like. The actors and the stunning interiors of Highclere Castle, home to the Earls of Carnarvon, give Downton Abbey a glossy, sophisticated sheen, even when the script's twists and turns can be a bit of a let-down. Nevertheless, the drama is engrossing and invigorating, and a worthy addition to the collection of any period drama aficionado--and anyone who likes good drama, period!

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130 of 135 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A Massive Cast Shines In A Delightfully Upscale Soap Opera February 25, 2011

By K. Harris HALL OF FAMETOP 10 REVIEWER

Format:Amazon Instant Video

A transporting miniseries from PBS, the crisp and delightful "Downton Abbey" is easily my favorite Masterpiece Theater presentation since the impeccable "Bleak House." Perhaps not as austere as you might expect, "Downton Abbey" combines an "Upstairs, Downstairs" drama with some rather soapy plot points and a healthy dose of scathing British wit. While many of the recent successful Masterpiece Theater productions have benefited from a distinguished literary pedigree, this original creation was whipped up with considerable verve by Julian Fellowes--who mined similar territory and won an Oscar for the screenplay of "Gosford Park." Aired on U.S. television stations in four longer parts, this set appropriately reconfigures the program into seven distinct episodes as they were originally intended.

Simply put, "Downton Abbey" tells the story of one English estate consisting of the Crawley family and their household staff in the years preceding World War I. Fellowes does an incredible job introducing his massive cast. Sometimes when dozens of characters are thrown at you immediately, it takes a while to sort everyone out--but no such problem here. Within the first half hour, I had everything I needed to know about the house dynamic and the role everyone played in it. There are many plot strands threaded throughout the production, but the main drama stems from the fact that the apparent heirs for Downton Abbey are killed on the Titanic. Unable to appoint a female inheritor (the Crawleys have three daughters), a distant and middle-class relative is next in line. When this city lawyer and his mother arrive to become acquainted with the property, the drama starts to unfold.

There is a LOT going on in this house--both in the servants quarters and in the master chambers!... Read more ›

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5.0 out of 5 stars I enjoyed seeing again.

After seeing all the shows on PBS, I want to start collecting all 3 seasons. This DVD is easy to navigate and recommend highly.

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5.0 out of 5 stars loved this

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