A stately country house, a noble family, and a succession crisis are the backdrop for Downton Abbey. Lord Grantham sees his family heritage, especially the grand country home Downton Abbey, as his mission in life. The death of his heir aboard the Titanic means distant cousin Matthew Crawley, a Manchester lawyer, suddenly is next in line and accepts moving onto the vast estate with his even more modernist, socially engaged mother, who clashes with his lordship's domineering, conservative mother, the dowager countess. Marrying off the daughters is another concern.
One of the really interesting things about this first episode of the show is that it quite confidently strolls through the mise-en-scene, recreating a world at the corner of your eyes.
