Downton Abbey - Series 5

Enjoying this series more than I expected to. Maggie Smith as ever the top draw- her every remark a delight. Although references to Britain's first 'Socialist government' a bit wide of the mark- Ramsey McDonald formed a minority Labour government in 1924 which lasted for a year before being swept out of office by Stanley Baldwin's Conservatives and pursued on the whole fairly moderate 'left wing' policies (they had to). I do not think it proposed to nationalise land held by hereditary peers and on tax was less radical than Lloyd George had been as Liberal prime minister with Conservative support during and immediately after WWI. One small but important criticism. I agree with the reviewer who said that Downton Abbey is generally very well historically-researched. But in series 5 just ending on TV there is one major error- admittedly over quite a small thing but it is a vital part of the plot! This is to do with Bates' non-visit to London from York. He bought a train ticket in York and intended to go to London and confront Anna's rapist, Green, but changed his mind. In an earlier series, the ticket had been discovered in his old coat pocket and eventually Mary had disposed of it with the aim of helping Bates. But in the latest series we learnt that the ticket would be crucial in proving Bates' innocence in the face of renewed police probing into his movements on the day Green was killed in London. The crucial thing was that as the ticket was not used for travel it was "untorn". So if Bates could produce the untorn ticket it would refute any claim he must have been in London, as if he had actually uised the ticket to travel to London it would have been "torn". Some faulty research here..train tickets then were not like bus tickets! Even in the 1950s and 1960s railway tickets were still the classic Edmonson type- tickets made of small rectangular cardboard that was quite stiff (I have a few). I know it might seem a bit train spotter-ish but no train ticket in the 1920s would ever have been torn! (Actually quite difficult to do to a small cardboard oblong). It would have been CLIPPED by the on board train ticket collector not torn. I know as I said a small point perhaps but its a pity when things like this are wrong because many viewers take their historical information from TV series like Downton. Somebody didn't do their research or as I have found often with railway matters (use of British Rail-era 1950s locos in a series set pre-WWII etc) they are regarded as not that important. But every detail counts in the authenticity of a high-quality mass-viewed TV drama series.

After catching glimpses of season 3 while my wife was watching it, I became hooked on Downton Abbey. Like most Americans I found myself entranced by the lifestyle of the British aristocracy and its anachronistic desire to never give in to social change and the demotion of their class. It plays like a soap opera but with such quality actors and scripts that it assumes the mantel of an epic. I proceeded to "binge watch" all 4 seasons. When the final episode concluded I felt abandoned, so many situations left hanging, too many familiar faces I'd grown to love or hate suspended in a limbo controlled by the whims of commoners who hold sway on schedules and production and editing. I could not accept that I would be held hostage until the season 5 began to show here in the former colony in January of 2015. I concluded that to feed my fix I should go to the motherland's sources for my dose of Downton. I ordered it from Amazon UK and had it in a week. I spent another decent sum to get a multi- region bluray DVD player just for this set. By Christmas my wife and I had relished every episode and all the extras. But you crafty British folk knew my Achiles heel and left me even more unsettled mysteries to ponder. And the final blow was the preview of season 6. Now all I can do is check this site every week in 2015 until I see that my drug of choice, season 6 of the best show I have ever viewed, is available to pull me back into its web.

This is such a good show, I love Downton despite its faults and I'm looking forward to the DVD release. I hope there will be some good extras. I do think though that series 5 should be the final one, nobody has aged very much at all not even the Dowager and there is a danger now of having too much of a good thing. I would not usually comment until having seen the DVD but decided to add my views on the show in general as this seems to be acceptable today. Just finished watching the 3 DVD's (November 2014) and it's brilliant with great extras. Looking forward to the Christmas special and can now see the possibilities for a series 6. Still a danger though of having too much of a good thing! To those posting low star reviews: please stick to the programme or the DVD. The review option is not, as far as I understand, a platform for comments unrelated to the product on sale. Please find the appropriate forum to air your personal views, thank you.

Even after five seasons, Downton remains as entertaining and engaging as ever. The actors do such a brilliant job bringing the characters to life that we can forgive the obvious soapishness of the series. What I find harder to forgive, particularly given the extensive research and fact-checking that Julian Fellowes is known to do, is his lack of attention to linguistic anachronisms. OK, we accept that the general style of speech is somewhat modernized, to make it easier on the ear. But there are limits. Earlier series treated us to such expressions as "on a steep learning curve" (spoken by Matthew -- twice), a piece of late-20th-century officespeak derived from the first use of the term "learning curve" in 1936. Series 5 treats us to "parallel universe", a term from the 1950s later popularized in Star Trek and other sci-fi stories. In spite of these slips, I continue to be a Downton addict. I am ordering this DVD without hesitation and I am looking forward to the Christmas Special.

Enjoyed watching

Ok

Es una magnífica serie dramática, que se desarrolla en Gran Bretaña, dentro del seno de la familia aristocrática Crawley y sus sirvientes, en las postrimerías de la época eduardiana (1901/1910), con los más importantes eventos en la historia, teniendo un efecto en sus vidas y en la jerarquía social británica.Tales eventos, representados a lo largo de las temporadas, incluyen las noticias del hundimiento del Titanic; el estallido de la Primera Guerra Mundial, la pandemia de la gripe Española, el Escándalo de Marconi; el periodo de entreguerras y la formación del Estado Libre Irlandés, entre otros hechos de trascendencia mundial. La ambientación y vestuario de la época están exquisitamente representados. Pocas series han logrado el éxito internacional de este estupendo film.

Quand j'ai acheté la saison 5 je pensais qu'elle serait la dernière et je ruminais déjà ma déception de devoir quitter cet univers si cosy.. et là je suis vraiment ravie de découvrir qu'il n'en est rien et qu'une saison 6 se profile à l'horizon..Quel bonheur de retrouver tout ce petit monde d'Upstairs/Downstairs. Les personnages sont vraiment très attachants malgré leurs personnalités très différentes. Une nouvelle ère, apportant un vent de renouveau, s'ouvre pour ce microscosme bien ordonné qu'est Downtown Abbey. Certains auront bien du mal à s'adapter aux nouvelles donnes (lord Grantham, lady Violet, Carson..), d'autres tenteront tant bien que mal de les intégrer (Mrs Hughes, Anna, Bates, Lady Mary .. ) et d'autres les embrasseront sans discuter (Isabel, Tom, lady Grantham...). Ce que je trouve admirable c'est la façon dont les scénaristes retranscrivent ce monde qui change, jusque dans les détails (le staff qui se réduit, les robes qui raccourcissent, les moeurs qui changent, l'arrivée de la radio..) On vit cette série comme si on y était ..c'est beau et en même temps on a du mal à subir toutes ces transformations comme si le souvenir du Downton Abbey du début, avec ses lords et ses ladies, son univers racé, ses règles si policées réveillaient une dernière fois la nostalgie d'un monde qui s'efface et dont on sait, nous, qu'il ne reviendra plus.. Vite la saison 6 car cette série est un régal pour les yeux et une joie pour l'âme.

Bell'articolo, per gli appassionati del genere

Have have been watching series 1-4 on Netflix BUT Amazon grabbed up the rights to air series 5 & 6 so have had to purchase season 5 & 6 from Amazon on DVD. Still love the series BUT hate the fact I have to watch advertising. For having bought the discs, shouldn't have to endure being subjected to unwanted advertising on a program I paid for! On Netflix....you don't have unwanted advertising at any time!!!! Other that that, looking forward to watching the rest of season 5 and will purchase season 6 when it is released, otherwise will have to wait forever before Amazon unleashed rights to air back to Netflix.

Thank you for sending this Blue Ray when indicated. Season Five is amazing and has lots of twists and turns in the series...that I wasn't expecting, but very entertaining! The Blue Ray discs for this series and others that I have in my collection make especially the "English or Scotish country side" much cleaner and sharper and make you feel that you were right there! Highly recommended!