Popular British TV show, “Downton Abbey”, made the box office after a successful run of 52 episodes over six series. The time period drama is set in the early 20th century following the Crawley family, owners of an estate in the English countryside. 

While the film displayed a strong comparison to the show, the movie managed to keep a dramatic plot with the same charming characters, as Violet Crawley (Maggie Smith), as well as introducing many new faces, and as freshman Gould argues, to many.

“I wish they had less guest characters and focused on the original ones and how they grow as a family,” Gould said.

With a fresh plot revolving around the Crawley Mansion receiving a visit from the King and Queen of England, “Downton Abbey” captures the comedic and much loved kitchen staff as they struggle to deal with honors visit that creates kitchen chaos. 

“I like the downstairs staff and how they really have had to navigate this post war world with things becoming more egalitarian,” history teacher Heidi Haen said. 

A close look at the shows reveals many historical inaccuracies, ranging from a misplaced saddle to fictional events. Junior Madeline Dracopoulos does agree that, for the most part, the show does try to stick as close to history as possible, evident in the elaborate clothes they wear.

“I am someone who always looks to see if it is historically accurate and I think they have done a good job with that besides a few slight inaccuracies, ” Dracopoulos said. “During the first season, they said Istanbul, but at the time it would have been Constantinople. 

 “The Downton Abbey” movie is based on real events, the King and Queen’s Royal trip to Wentworth Woodhouse, in Yorkshire. Many individual characters are based on real people, stories woven together to showcase how people with different statuses interacted with each other, offering a perspective on the aristocracy beyond the frilly dresses and enormous estates.

“They did dive deep into the human story behind the history,” Haen said. 

One consistency in the show was the acting. The show has a wide range of characters and yet each one manages to stand out as an individual. 

“I would say you can tell the differences between the characters because of their backgrounds,” Dracopoulos said. “They took all of that into consideration with developing their personalities.”

 The change of characters also caused much of the movie to be dedicated to creating characters and character development, resulting in a dialogue heavy film and far too many wannabe-one-liners.

“You can just watch the movie, but think it would be better to at least watch a couple episodes first,” Gould said. “I don’t think that they are going to make another season, I wish they had extended it more and although dialogue in the movie was a bit much, I still really like it.”