OPINION: Up with 'Downton'

Nor am I alone in this. “Downton Abbey” is now being broadcast in over 100 countries, and has been nominated for more Emmy Awards (27) than any foreign-born TV show in history. The question is, why? What is making this a worldwide phenomenon? Is it the impeccable accuracy? The world-class actors? The compelling story? Well, yes — plus the chemistry of the way these come together to create a sort of once-in-a-lifetime result.

A kind friend gave me the DVDs for the first and second seasons (the third season will start in early January), and I find that I watch an episode when I want to relax and sort of “go somewhere else” for a while. And that tells me that what we have here is (among other things) escapist viewing of the very highest order: a program that invites us into the life of a vanished era and assures us that we will find it so superbly evoked, we’ll forget it ever vanished.

And what a life it is! We’re not just in a lovely old English country home; we’re in a 50-bedroom Tudor/Gothic edifice on a thousand-acre estate that goes back to the 8th century. In reality it is Highclere Castle, the country home of the Earl of Carnarvon, whose countess said recently (yawning, perhaps), “I suppose if you know how many rooms you’ve got, you haven’t got a very big house.”

But who cares about reality? Let’s hurry back to escapism! — although I suppose that even in real life, with a house that size you don’t just have servants; you have footmen, valets, ladies’ maids, a kitchen staff, grooms and stable boys, an unimaginable horde, all overseen at “Downton” by the redoubtable Carson the Butler, with his stern features, crusty demeanor, and (of course) heart of gold.

The creator of “Downton Abbey,” Julian Fellowes, wrote the screenplay for the Robert Altman film “Gosford Park,” which was a spoof of the very sort of living that “Downton” takes so seriously. A lifelong student of Britain’s upper classes, he attends each day’s filming, watching on a monitor from an adjacent room, and halting production to correct any departure from the proper details — for example, water glasses on the servants’ dining table at tea-time. (“They’re having tea,” he said. “They wouldn’t have water there. A glass of water is a modern thing.”) And just in case he misses some small detail, historical advisor Allistair Bruce is also on the case. So rest assured: all will be perfect in the world of Downton. From the Earl of Grantham to the “dogsbody” kitchen maid, Daisy, everyone will be perfectly in character and in costume, prepared to welcome you into their vanished world this Sunday night on PBS at nine o’clock. And that will be me you see, chatting with the Dowager Countess by the fire!

Susan Harper is retired, lives in Commerce and volunteers with the Commerce Public Library and the Jackson County Literacy Program.