The series is set in the fictional Downton Abbey, stately home of the Earl and Countess of Grantham, and follows the lives of the aristocratic Crawley family and their servants early in the reign of King George V. The series spans the two years prior to the Great War, commencing with news of the sinking of the Titanic, an event that triggers much of the plot.Highclere Castle in Hampshire was used as Downton Abbey, with the servants' living areas constructed and filmed at Ealing Studios.[3]
The village of Bampton in Oxfordshire was used for filming the outdoor scenes, most notably St Mary's Church and the village library, which became the entrance to the cottage hospital. Series characters often refer to the North Yorkshire towns of Malton, Easingwold, and Kirby; Ripon and Thirsk have also been mentioned. However, the Downton estate is centred on the fictional village of Downton, a place name in several English counties but not in Yorkshire.
The first series cost an estimated £1 million an episode. It is also the most successful British period drama since Brideshead Revisited, with British ratings exceeding 10 million viewers.[4] Similarily, the series enjoyed successful ratings in the United States, averaging over 6 million viewers per episode.[5]
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