This series is based
on a book Hilary Brown. Each
episode concentrates on the history of two houses in Britain during the
Edwardian age. Maderson located in
Berwickshire and Dunham located in Greater Manchester. Aristocratic families owned them
but the houses passed on during modern times need a current function. They can be a tourist attraction or the
setting for a movie or TV drama.
The impact of WWI on the British social-class system and the influence
of American wealth changed the history of these manors. Many of the officers in WWI came from
the aristocrats but the military ranks were filled with the working class. Fighting the enemy side by side changed
this class system. British landholders
marrying wealthy American women brought changes as well.
The popular long running
series Downton Abbey from 2011-2016 and another earlier series Upstairs
Downstairs from 1971-1977, 2010 and 2012 sparked renewed interest in the
British class system, their homes and their way of life. They are basically soap operas
with a lot of gossip and many ups and downs. The class
system involved hereditary transferring of property, occupation, social status
and influence. Industrialization
caused constant revision of the classes and the addition of new factors such as
education as identity. Until
recently Parliament was the upper class and the House of Commons was everyone
else. The British monarch is
viewed as the top of the social class structure. WWII also changed the class system with education more
available and more home ownership.
There are more service jobs, more immigration and a change in the status
of women. 3 ½* (I liked this
series)
55
min each episode, 5 episodes, Doc TV Series by PBS, narrated by Samuel West,
directed by Susannah Ward with Elisabeth Kehoe, Geoffrey Dymond,Mary Gledhill, Julie Herbert, Matthew Hughes, Lawrence James, John Norman Ide Leslie, Tarka Leslie-King, Loraine McMurrey, Adrian Palmer, Lady Palmer, Sarah Richardson.
Note: Imdb 8.0 out of 10, Amazon 4* out of 5*
with 33 reviews, PBS
Special
Note: Also titled in Sweden as
Slottens Hemligheter.
No comments:
Post a Comment