The London Season
- Episode aired Feb 23, 2014
- TV-14
- 1h 33m
Summer of 1923. It's summer and as part of Rose's 'coming out' she is to be presented at Buckingham Palace. The Crawley family go to London to prepare Grantham House for this busy social pro... Read allSummer of 1923. It's summer and as part of Rose's 'coming out' she is to be presented at Buckingham Palace. The Crawley family go to London to prepare Grantham House for this busy social program.Summer of 1923. It's summer and as part of Rose's 'coming out' she is to be presented at Buckingham Palace. The Crawley family go to London to prepare Grantham House for this busy social program.
- Thomas Barrow
- (as Rob James-Collier)
- Director
- Writer
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaJulian Fellowes has woven the timeline of Downton Abbey to actual events of the day. In "The London Season," the year is 1923, when Lady Rose MacClare is presented to King George V and Queen Mary by Countess Grantham, her aunt Lady Cora Crawley. She is shown with several friends, including Mrs. Freda Dudley-Ward, who in reality had been involved with The Prince of Wales (for over 5 years since 1918), referred to him as "David" (his actual name was Edward Albert Christian George Andrew Patrick David Windsor, but was called just David by his close friends and relatives) and who would have been 29 years old at the time of this Presentation. Mrs. Dudley-Ward refers to the Prince of Wales a "...a faithful little chap" who 13 years later becomes King Edward VIII upon his father's death, and abdicates the throne in 1937 after only 326 days as King so he can marry Wallis Simpson, a twice-divorced American. (See Duke of Windsor and Duchess of Windsor.) They remained married for the next 35 years, until his death in 1972. There was actually a situation of inappropriate love letters to/from a former lover involving the Prince of Wales while he was seeing with Mrs. Dudley-Ward.
- GoofsAt the picnic at the Albert Memorial, the statue of Prince Albert is gold. In 1923 it was black. It was only restored to its present gold appearance in the 1990s.
- Quotes
Robert Crawley, Earl of Grantham: I wish Tom had arrived.
Cora Crawley, Countess of Grantham: [Surprised] It's so nice to hear you say that.
Robert Crawley, Earl of Grantham: No, I mean he's bringing Isis, and I do miss her.
Almost everyone is not quite on their marks: Bates is suddenly adept at forgery, Branson loses his perspective because of an annoying town girl, and the story as a whole has an unfinished feeling. Edith is of course monotonously morose over her secret situation, which onply progresses in ways which were already discussed and dismissed in the previous episode. Oh, let's have a game-changing reveal for one of Mary's suitors -- why not. And isn't it funny if Carson's totally tone-deaf about what the other servants would want to do on a day off? No, you're right, it isn't -- not half as funny as Maclaine and Smith trading lame barbs.
Fortunately, it isn't all bad -- mostly in the beginning, somewhat less so as it progresses. The scene of Barrow serving Branson is great, and the American valet asking to speak with Carson "man to man" is gold. The pageantry of Rose's presentation was a wonderful spectacle which surpassed anything seen so far.
As always, the costumes are amazing, and Isis (the dog) does get some choice scenes. Stupid plot choices are unavoidable, and we can already see the potential soapy problems ripe for next season's picking. If so, I hope it's better than most of this, which was a distinct drop in writing quality from all that had gone before.
- skinnybert
- Sep 13, 2023
Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Language
- Filming locations
- Lancaster House, Stable Yard, St James's, Westminster, Greater London, England, UK(Buckingham Palace interiors)
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro