Dame Maggie Smith invites us to Downton for dinner and gossip

Brent Northup

Downton Abbey: A New Era

At the Cinemark and Myrna Loy

How nice it is to be entertained in the manner to which we are accustomed: A modest British estate in the country with maids awaiting, butlers greeting, cooks preparing and gardeners trimming.

How thoughtful of them to invite us. They caught a lucky gap in our social calendar. We just happened to have the evening available.

Ah, yes, “Downton Abbey,” symbol of elegant aristocracy, where well-dressed servants whisper the gossip, hiding secrets aplenty – and people crawl out of bed, hair in place, tux unwrinkled.

The latest edition of the franchise begins with a lavish wedding awash with tears of joy and ends at a funeral with tears of sadness.

In between these classic bookends, a studio comes to Downton to shoot a silent movie, and matriarch Maggie Smith inherits a French estate.

People are also reading…

This image released by Focus Features shows, from left, Hugh Bonneville, Elizabeth McGovern and Laura Carmichael

View Source