Downton Abbey returns in four days, and according to our critic Matt Zoller Seitz, everything is back in its proper place after having been flip-turned-upside-down during last year’s popular, if super-soapy, upswing. (If Matthew whines about dearest dead Lavinia one more time … ) However, before we move forward with the further adventures of the Crawley clan, there are three outstanding issues with the show that needed clearing up. To get some answers, we broke the rules of decorum and asked executive producer Gareth Neame to settle such nagging questions as why Americans must wait to see more episodes until the Brits have politely dined on them and retired to the drawing room, and just why things went all soapy last season.
Why doesn’t Downton air simultaneously in the U.K. and U.S. (so that we may avoid horrible spoilers of the Christmas-ruining variety)?
The producers took extra precautions to prevent the secrets and twists of season three from spilling; paparazzi-blocking security was added to location shoots, and scripts were marked with code names. So if Neame had his way, U.S. audiences would get to share in the first viewing. “In this day and age, it’s clearly ridiculous that people watch the show in England four months early and 1.5 million people in America go and watch it illegally,” he said. “If I were PBS and I had the biggest drama I’d ever had in my entire 40-year history, I would be sorting my schedules out to make sure I was airing it more quickly.” PBS didn’t shoot down the idea of airing future seasons of Downton earlier, but said “technical hurdles and financial considerations” have prevented it in the past. And by airing in January, PBS avoids having to compete with the glut of new shows that the broadcast networks premiere in the fall. “Obviously, spoilers and piracy are two key reasons supporting the case to air Downton Abbey closer to the U.K. broadcast,” a rep for Masterpiece told Vulture. “The conversation about scheduling will continue.”
READ MORE: http://www.vulture.com/2013/01/three-pushy-questions-for-downton-abbeys-ep.html
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