"Downton Abbey" and the problem with Mary

My parents got hold of "Downton Abbey" when they were last in London (BBC take note: the ITV people had the series out on DVD about a day after it had stopped being aired), and as anticipated I enjoy it hugely. We've seen three episodes so far, and it gets better and better. Not that it was bad to begin with: it is gorgeously shot, well acted and sets up an intriguing drama right from the start. Even so, a little too much time was spent at first pondering the question whether the Earl of Grantham would "smash the entail" of his estate Downton Abbey. Like Mr Bennet in "Pride and Prejudice", the earl has only daughters, but as the eldest daughter was engaged to the male heir, that was all right - until the heir in question goes down with the Titanic. Now, I would have been more interested if I understood what breaking the entail, well, entailed. Can you smash an entail? If yes, how do you go about it? Why didn't Mr Bennet do it - what is the downside? The earl ends up not breaking the entail because he worries that it would harm the estate - but how could it do that, exactly? This is not explained, so the earl's decision looks idiotic rather than upright. But this is a minor quibble, as is the fact that the other plot line in episode one - where a possible suitor for Mary is revealed to have other interests entirely - bears a great resemblance to one of the lesser-known black-and-white episodes of "Upstairs Downstairs".

The series owes quite a heavy debt to "Upstairs Downstairs", and is very much in the tradition of the sumptuous costume drama. It is not "fresh" or "innovative", and that is exactly why it's so enjoyable. I don't care that we have seen hunting scenes, bullying cooks, loyal-to-the-death butlers, unpleasant blackmailers (good job on that one, earl - care to come by Middlemarch one day in a costume-drama crossover?), American heiresses and haughty matriarchs before. I'm happy to see more of them. It's also good to make the acquaintance of a Decent Toff for a change. As I've already hinted in this blog, I'm not exactly the President of the Scarlet Pimpernel Society for Preserving Our Beloved Nobility, but even I think the treatment the nobs have been getting in crime dramas such as "Midsomer Murders", "Morse" and "Lewis" - where they are continually portrayed as depraved and heavy-handedly snooty - is a bit unfair.

The characterisation could be more subtle - unlike, say, "Upstairs Downstairs", the characters are often clearly labelled as Good or Bad - but it doesn't really matter. In fact, the one character that really annoys me is supposed to be one of the Complex ones. Of the earl's three daugthers, the youngest, Sybil, is sweet-natured, and the middle one, Edith, is sour and envious. And then there's the eldest, Mary. I think I know what we're supposed to feel about her: that she is not as upper-class-bitchy as she seems, and that she only puts up a front to hide an inner vulnerability. She is redeemable, a bit like Bella Wilfer in "our Mutual Friend", and we're supposed to warm to her after initially having disliked her. Well, it doesn't work for me. I'm still on the initial dislike stage. There's little to suggest that this chilly beauty really has that much inner depth, and I certainly don't think she deserves to end up with the earl's new likeable, middle-class heir Matthew, which seems to be the way is the story is heading. They're already sparring in time-honoured, romance-starts-with-a-fight fashion. It would be nice if Matthew decided to go for sweet Sybil instead. Anyway, why aren't the earl and the countess making more of an effort in placing all three girls instead of just hawking Mary to all and sundry? Embittered Edith could make a comfortable match with some rich and patient fellow (a love match would probably go sour in a month, so a marriage of convenience seems to be the best thing you could hope for in her case), and Sybil is just as pretty as her eldest sister and good deal pleasanter to have around. Mrs Bennet would certainly not have made the mistake of putting all potential suitor eggs in one basket.