Exploring Downton Abbey

The BBC television series Downton Abbey (2010-2016) developed and produced by Academy Award winner Julian Fellowes, became a cultural barometer with American viewers harkening back to the days when televised serial dramas ruled the airwaves. The series finale was one of the most-watched in television history. Exploring Downton Abbey is a collection of scholarly essays, written by both British and American scholars, that interrogate this cultural phenomenon-the essays challenge readers to explore how and why this British television serial about life upstairs and downstairs in a British, turn-of-the-century manor home resonates with American audiences, focusing on topics as diverse as the role of the house (Highclere Castle) in literature and film; the changing roles of women and the servant class; the influence of jazz and fashion; and the attitudes toward education and the class system within the series.