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Thursday, July 5, 2012

Small Screen Scenes: Downton Abbey Season Two Episode Eight Highly Recommended by Whom You Know Available Now From PBS Distribution We Absolutely Cannot Wait for Season Three!!!

Would someone please tell us what is going on or have we all stepped through the looking glass?  Winding down Season Two, we have reached Episode Eight!  And a gramophone, how glorious!  Never be defeatist: it's so middle class...and if you even think of turning American on us, we'll go downstairs.  Beginnings and ends, and who will part friends?

Many are not quite alright, and illness is here, there and everywhere.  Spanish Flu: a savage disease...hard times, physically, emotionally challenges everpresent.  The best scene starts to happen at 18:11 into the episode and we will tell you none of it-just know that this is not all doom and gloom.

And who thinks they have the monopoly of honor?

You always should be quite, quite sure of what you're doing.  Life is short.  And we will say a wedding is going to happen, but which one?

Zip goes a Million, and a million accolades to Downton Abbey!  The next episode is the finale.  Life is full of hard decisions, and we must try to be happy.  Ashes to ashes, dust to dust, we put one more episode to bed.  What is Peachy Deegan ever going to do now with only one episode left?  What do you do to combat Downton Abbey withdrawl symptoms?  She just might have to watch that last episode over and over...

Previously, Whom You Know Highly Recommended Downton Abbey Season Two Episode One: 



& Season Two Episode Two:


& Season Two Episode Three:

And Season One Blew Us Away: 

Watch them all, in order! 


Whom You Know Highly Recommends Downton Abbey Season Two Episode Eight! 



Join our Facebook group, Downton Abbey is PEACHY


Get your own copy, and start watching: 



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ONE OF THE MOST PHENOMENALLY POPULAR MASTERPIECE SERIES IS BACK – 


“DOWNTON ABBEY SEASON 2” 


Available on DVD and Blu-ray from PBS Distribution February 7th 

Release Timed with Premiere Airing on PBS Sundays January 8 through February 19 

The First Season of “Downton Abbey” Won Six Primetime Emmy Awards

PBS Distribution today announced it is releasing “DOWNTON ABBEY SEASON 2” on DVD and Blu-ray. The second season promises to be as satisfying as the first, with thwarted and rekindled romances, forgotten and fresh scandals, and enough new plot twists to weave a tapestry with Lord Grantham’s family crest. “DOWNTON ABBEY SEASON 2” will be available on DVD and Blu-ray on February 7, 2012. The running time of the program is 544 minutes. The SRP for the DVD is $44.99 and the SRP for the Blu-ray is $49.99. The program comes on three discs. 

The returning cast includes Dame Maggie Smith, Elizabeth McGovern, Hugh Bonneville, Dan Stevens, Michelle Dockery, Siobhan Finneran, and many more. The DVD and Blu-ray feature the original U.K. edition of the program and are being released a little less than two weeks prior to the airing of the last episode on PBS. Both the DVD and Blu-ray will include special bonus features. 

The first season of “Downton Abbey,” which was released on DVD January 11, 2011, won a host of prestigious awards in the U.K. and was recently honored in the U.S. with six Primetime Emmy awards, one of which was for Outstanding Miniseries or Movie. American critics called “Downton Abbey” “an instant classic” (New York Times), “compulsively watchable from the get-go” (Variety), “the U.K.’s best abbey since Abbey Road” (Entertainment Weekly), and “a quintessential Masterpiece Classic” (TV Guide).


Program Details 

Last season opened with the sinking of the Titanic in 1912, which had dire consequences for Downton Abbey. The new season picks up in the middle of another disaster, World War I, which affected every aspect of life in England, accelerating the social change that was already transforming an age-old system of class and privilege. 


As the Great War rages across Europe, discord is sown even into the serene Yorkshire countryside. Simmering tensions behind the gates of Downton Abbey are beginning to come to a boil as the men and women of Downton do their part on both the front lines and the home front. What’s more, the brutality and intensity of war seem to inflame more familiar passions – love, loss, blackmail, and betrayal – leaving family and staff alike to struggle in an ever-changing world, against a host of new demons. 

About MASTERPIECE 

MASTERPIECE on PBS is presented by WGBH Boston. Rebecca Eaton is executive producer. Funding for MASTERPIECE is provided by Viking River Cruises, with additional support from public television viewers and contributors to The MASTERPIECE Trust, created to help ensure the series’ future. 



About PBS Distribution 

PBS Distribution is the leading media distributor for the public television community, both domestically and internationally. Jointly owned by PBS (Arlington, VA) and WGBH (Boston, MA), PBS Distribution extends the reach of public television programs beyond broadcast while generating revenue for the public television system and our production partners. 

PBS Distribution offers a diverse range of programming to our customers, including Ken Burns’s films (Prohibition, The National Parks, The War, Baseball, Jazz), documentaries from award-winning series NOVA (The Elegant Universe, Origins), FRONTLINE (God in America, Bush’s War, Growing Up Online), and American Experience (Freedom Riders, We Shall Remain), dramas from Masterpiece (Downton Abbey, Jane Eyre, Inspector Lewis), films from independent producers (Easy Yoga for Arthritis, The Buddha, The Story of India, Carrier, Journey into Buddhism, I.O.U.S.A.), and popular children’s programming from Dinosaur Train, Super Why!, WordGirl, Cyberchase, Martha Speaks, and Arthur. As a multi-channel distributor, PBS Distribution pursues wholesale/retail sales, consumer and educational sales through PBS- branded catalogs and online shops, and international broadcast and video sales. PBS distribution is also a leader in offering programming through digital platforms including the internet, mobile, and web-connected television.

PBS DISTRIBUTION ANNOUNCES THE 

SPECIAL BONUS FEATURES ON THE 

“DOWNTON ABBEY SEASON 2” DVD AND BLU-RAY 


DOWNTON ABBEY SEASON 2” Available on DVD and Blu-ray February 7th 

Premiere Episode that Broadcasted Sunday, January 8th Averaged 4.2 Million Viewers 

PBS Distribution today announced the bonus features included on the DVD and Blu-ray releases of the critically-acclaimed series “DOWNTON ABBEY SEASON 2.” “Downton Abbey” fans are clamoring for Season 2, and now they have another reason to be excited with more than 32 minutes of bonus features available on the DVD and Blu-ray. With Season 2 kicking off on PBS just this past weekend, averaging 4.2 million viewers, interest in the series, and everything Downton related, will only continue to increase as the series airs over the course of the next six Sundays. (Nielsen Fast National data, 2.7 household rating.) Descriptions of the bonus features are below. 

HOUSE TO HOSPITAL 

This eight-minute bonus feature briefly recaps where viewers left the house, a grand venue for evening soirees and garden parties. It is now 1916, times have changed and so has the house. Viewers are given a closer look at the changes that take place within the Downton house and shown how news of war impacts life at Downton and the lives of those that live there. In “House to Hospital,” viewers see how Downton is physically changed into a convalescent home and what this means in terms of the social changes taking place at that time. This special feature delves into the archives of Highclere Castle (which is Downton Abbey in the series) to see how houses of this period offered themselves to the war effort. 


Interviews: 

Alastair Bruce (historical advisor), Julian Fellowes, Lady Carnarvon (lives at Highclere Castle), Donal Woods (production designer), Hugh Bonneville, Elizabeth McGovern, Jessica Brown-Findlay, Michelle Dockery, Laura Carmichael, Jim Carter, Phyllis Logan and Rob James-Collier. 

ROMANCE IN A TIME OF WAR 

This 13-minute special feature takes a look at the relationships that blossom in this series and why the war was a catalyst to love. The main focus is on: Branson and Sybil, Bates and Anna, Mary and Matthew, and William and Daisy. 


Interviews: 

Julian Fellowes, Dan Stevens, Michelle Dockery, Laura Carmichael, Allen Leech, Jessica Brown-Findlay, Joanne Froggatt, Brendan Coyle, Sophie McShera, Thomas Howes, Maria Doyle Kennedy, Zoe Boyle and Iain Glen. 


FASHION AND UNIFORMS 

This 11-minute bonus feature takes a detailed look at costumes. Costume designer Susannah Buxton takes us on a detailed journey through the changing fashions of 1916. Viewers get an inside look at how the war has impacted fashions and of course introduced military uniforms to the wardrobe. Interviews with the cast explain how each of the key costumes comes into play. 


“Fashion and Uniforms” also explores the nature and role of uniforms, and the etiquette involved in their use. The feature shows the changing fashions – talking with both make-up and costume teams about the arrival of “the hobble skirt,” new hairstyles, and the curling irons that were introduced at the time. 


Interviews: 

Susannah Buxton (costume designer), Anne ‘Nosh’ Oldham (make-up designer), Jessica Brown-Findlay, Hugh Bonneville, Dan Stevens, Rob James-Collier, Elizabeth McGovern and Alastair Bruce (historical advisor). 

Program Details 

Last season opened with the sinking of the Titanic in 1912, which had dire consequences for Downton Abbey. The new season picks up in the middle of another disaster, World War I, which impacts every aspect of life in England, accelerating the social change that was already transforming an age-old system of class and privilege. 

As the Great War rages across Europe, discord is sown even into the serene Yorkshire countryside. Simmering tensions behind the gates of Downton Abbey are beginning to come to a boil as the men and women of Downton do their part on both the front lines and the home front. What’s more, the brutality and intensity of war seem to inflame more familiar passions – love, loss, blackmail, and betrayal – leaving family and staff alike to struggle in an ever-changing world, against a host of new demons. 



“DOWNTON ABBEY SEASON 2” is a Carnival/Masterpiece Co-Production. 


MASTERPIECE on PBS is presented by WGBH Boston. Rebecca Eaton is executive producer. Funding for MASTERPIECE is provided by Viking River Cruises, with additional support from public television viewers and contributors to The MASTERPIECE Trust, created to help ensure the series’ future. 


About PBS Distribution 

PBS Distribution is the leading media distributor for the public television community, both domestically and internationally. Jointly owned by PBS (Arlington, VA) and WGBH (Boston, MA), PBS Distribution extends the reach of public television programs beyond broadcast while generating revenue for the public television system and our production partners. 

 Distribution offers a diverse range of programming to our customers, including Ken Burns’s films (Prohibition, The National Parks, The War, Baseball, Jazz), documentaries from award-winning series NOVA (The Elegant Universe, Origins), FRONTLINE (God in America, Bush’s War, Growing Up Online), and American Experience (Freedom Riders, We Shall Remain), dramas from Masterpiece (Downton Abbey, Jane Eyre, Inspector Lewis), films from independent producers (Easy Yoga for Arthritis, The Buddha, The Story of India, Carrier, Journey into Buddhism, I.O.U.S.A.), and popular children’s programming from Dinosaur Train, Super Why!, WordGirl, Cyberchase, Martha Speaks, and Arthur. As a multi-channel distributor, PBS Distribution pursues wholesale/retail sales, consumer and educational sales through PBS- branded catalogs and online shops, and international broadcast and video sales. PBS distribution is also a leader in offering programming through digital platforms including the internet, mobile, and web-connected television. 

DOWNTON ABBEY SEASON 2 

Street Date: February 7, 2012 

Genre: Drama 

Run Time: 544 minutes on 3 Discs 

 DVD, $44.99 and Blu-ray, $49.99 

Format: DVD and Blu-ray 

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