{"id":2014527,"date":"2025-09-11T16:22:07","date_gmt":"2025-09-11T16:22:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/?p=2014527"},"modified":"2025-09-11T16:22:07","modified_gmt":"2025-09-11T16:22:07","slug":"soapy-british-franchise-goes-out-with-a-scandal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/soapy-british-franchise-goes-out-with-a-scandal\/","title":{"rendered":"Soapy British franchise goes out with a scandal"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content%2Fuploads%2Fsites%2F2%2F2025%2F09%2Fnewspress-collage-ua5ns58aw-1757604021081.jpg?quality%3D90%26strip%3Dall%261757589739\" \/><\/p>\n<div>\n<div class=\"inline-module inline-module--review alignleft\">\n<div class=\"inline-module__inner\">\n\t\t<span class=\"inline-module--review__eyebrow subsection-heading-semi__label\"><br \/>\n\t\t\tmovie review\t\t<\/span><\/p>\n<h2 class=\"inline-module--review__title subsection-heading-semi\">\n\t\t\tDOWNTON ABBEY: THE GRAND FINALE\t\t<\/h2>\n<div class=\"rating\">\n<div class=\"rating__stars\">\n<div class=\"rating__star rating__star--filled\"><?php \/**\n * Review star.\n * \n * @package nyp-editor\n *\/\n\n??><\/p>\n<style><![CDATA[\n\t.review-block-star {\n\t\t--review-block-star--empty-color: #585858;\n\t\t--review-block-star--fill-color: #000;\n\t}\n]]><\/style>\n<p><svg class=\"icon-star review-block-star\" stroke=\"var(--review-block-star--fill-color)\" fill=\"var(--review-block-star--empty-color)\" stroke-width=\"0\" viewbox=\"0 0 16 16\" height=\"13px\" width=\"13px\">\n\t<defs>\n\t\t<lineargradient id=\"half-gradient\">\n\t\t\t<stop stop-opacity=\"1\" offset=\"50%\" stop-color=\"var(--review-block-star--fill-color)\"\/>\n\t\t\t<stop stop-opacity=\"1\" offset=\"0%\" stop-color=\"var(--review-block-star--empty-color)\"\/>\n\t\t<\/lineargradient>\n\t<\/defs>\n\t<path d=\"M3.612 15.443c-.386.198-.824-.149-.746-.592l.83-4.73L.173 6.765c-.329-.314-.158-.888.283-.95l4.898-.696L7.538.792c.197-.39.73-.39.927 0l2.184 4.327 4.898.696c.441.062.612.636.283.95l-3.523 3.356.83 4.73c.078.443-.36.79-.746.592L8 13.187l-4.389 2.256z\">\n\t<\/path>\n<\/svg>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"rating__star rating__star--filled\"><?php \/**\n * Review star.\n * \n * @package nyp-editor\n *\/\n\n??><\/p>\n<style><![CDATA[\n\t.review-block-star {\n\t\t--review-block-star--empty-color: #585858;\n\t\t--review-block-star--fill-color: #000;\n\t}\n]]><\/style>\n<p><svg class=\"icon-star review-block-star\" stroke=\"var(--review-block-star--fill-color)\" fill=\"var(--review-block-star--empty-color)\" stroke-width=\"0\" viewbox=\"0 0 16 16\" height=\"13px\" width=\"13px\">\n\t<defs>\n\t\t<lineargradient id=\"half-gradient\">\n\t\t\t<stop stop-opacity=\"1\" offset=\"50%\" stop-color=\"var(--review-block-star--fill-color)\"\/>\n\t\t\t<stop stop-opacity=\"1\" offset=\"0%\" stop-color=\"var(--review-block-star--empty-color)\"\/>\n\t\t<\/lineargradient>\n\t<\/defs>\n\t<path d=\"M3.612 15.443c-.386.198-.824-.149-.746-.592l.83-4.73L.173 6.765c-.329-.314-.158-.888.283-.95l4.898-.696L7.538.792c.197-.39.73-.39.927 0l2.184 4.327 4.898.696c.441.062.612.636.283.95l-3.523 3.356.83 4.73c.078.443-.36.79-.746.592L8 13.187l-4.389 2.256z\">\n\t<\/path>\n<\/svg>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"rating__star rating__star--half\"><?php \/**\n * Review star.\n * \n * @package nyp-editor\n *\/\n\n??><\/p>\n<style><![CDATA[\n\t.review-block-star {\n\t\t--review-block-star--empty-color: #585858;\n\t\t--review-block-star--fill-color: #000;\n\t}\n]]><\/style>\n<p><svg class=\"icon-star review-block-star\" stroke=\"var(--review-block-star--fill-color)\" fill=\"var(--review-block-star--empty-color)\" stroke-width=\"0\" viewbox=\"0 0 16 16\" height=\"13px\" width=\"13px\">\n\t<defs>\n\t\t<lineargradient id=\"half-gradient\">\n\t\t\t<stop stop-opacity=\"1\" offset=\"50%\" stop-color=\"var(--review-block-star--fill-color)\"\/>\n\t\t\t<stop stop-opacity=\"1\" offset=\"0%\" stop-color=\"var(--review-block-star--empty-color)\"\/>\n\t\t<\/lineargradient>\n\t<\/defs>\n\t<path d=\"M3.612 15.443c-.386.198-.824-.149-.746-.592l.83-4.73L.173 6.765c-.329-.314-.158-.888.283-.95l4.898-.696L7.538.792c.197-.39.73-.39.927 0l2.184 4.327 4.898.696c.441.062.612.636.283.95l-3.523 3.356.83 4.73c.078.443-.36.79-.746.592L8 13.187l-4.389 2.256z\">\n\t<\/path>\n<\/svg>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"rating__star rating__star--empty\"><?php \/**\n * Review star.\n * \n * @package nyp-editor\n *\/\n\n??><\/p>\n<style><![CDATA[\n\t.review-block-star {\n\t\t--review-block-star--empty-color: #585858;\n\t\t--review-block-star--fill-color: #000;\n\t}\n]]><\/style>\n<p><svg class=\"icon-star review-block-star\" stroke=\"var(--review-block-star--fill-color)\" fill=\"var(--review-block-star--empty-color)\" stroke-width=\"0\" viewbox=\"0 0 16 16\" height=\"13px\" width=\"13px\">\n\t<defs>\n\t\t<lineargradient id=\"half-gradient\">\n\t\t\t<stop stop-opacity=\"1\" offset=\"50%\" stop-color=\"var(--review-block-star--fill-color)\"\/>\n\t\t\t<stop stop-opacity=\"1\" offset=\"0%\" stop-color=\"var(--review-block-star--empty-color)\"\/>\n\t\t<\/lineargradient>\n\t<\/defs>\n\t<path d=\"M3.612 15.443c-.386.198-.824-.149-.746-.592l.83-4.73L.173 6.765c-.329-.314-.158-.888.283-.95l4.898-.696L7.538.792c.197-.39.73-.39.927 0l2.184 4.327 4.898.696c.441.062.612.636.283.95l-3.523 3.356.83 4.73c.078.443-.36.79-.746.592L8 13.187l-4.389 2.256z\">\n\t<\/path>\n<\/svg>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>\n<p>Running time: 124 minutes. Rated PG (suggestive material, smoking and some thematic elements). In theaters.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>It would be a dangerous drinking game to take a swig every time a character in \u201cDownton Abbey: The Grand Finale\u201d mentions that times are changing.<\/p>\n<p class=\"is-nowrap is-layout-flex wp-container-core-group-is-layout-1 wp-block-group-is-layout-flex\">But their obsession with moving on \u2014 not to mention the put-a-fork-in-it title \u2014 would seem to confirm that the 15-year-old \u201cDownton\u201d franchise is finally finished.<\/p>\n<p>Ta ta! The six-season TV series was a scrumptious, decadent upstairs-downstairs drama about a British stately home, its noble residents, the Granthams, and their hardworking servants below. Sure it was soapy, but at least the suds were Molton Brown.<\/p>\n<p>They quickly turned into Head &amp; Shoulders. <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2019\/09\/09\/downton-abbey-shouldve-stayed-a-tv-show\/\">Two movies were made<\/a>. Two overblown, charmless, long and extremely successful movies.<\/p>\n<p>A fan of the PBS show, I loathed them like the Dowager Countess loathed electricity.\u00a0<\/p>\n<aside class=\"single__inline-module aligncenter\">\n<div class=\"inline-module inline-module--more inline-module--columnist inline-module--more--thirds\">\n<div class=\"inline-module__inner\">\n<h2 class=\"inline-module__heading subsection-heading subsection-heading--single-line \">\n\t\t\tMore From\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"subsection-heading__sub\">Johnny Oleksinski<\/span><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/h2>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/aside>\n<p>The third, portentously directed again by Simon Curtis, narrowly won me over, though. Perhaps that\u2019s because from the off it feels like the final episode of a TV series that\u2019s past its prime. Even if your favorite characters have seen better days, you\u2019re still sad they\u2019re hitting the road.<\/p>\n<p>Nostalgia is a prime factor, yes, but the story is legitimately engrossing this time, however recycled it may be, rather than a lazy stack of trumpeted entrances and exits and half-witty asides that marred the 2019 and 2022 films.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>The Granthams are back for the last time in \u201cDownton Abbey: The Grand Finale.\u201d <span class=\"credit\">AP<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Lady Mary (Michelle Dockery) causes a scandal when news of her divorce from Henry Talbot hits London. She becomes a high-society untouchable, which throws Downton into chaos because Lord Grantham (Hugh Bonneville) plans to give her the keys.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>And the household doesn\u2019t need any more upheaval since it\u2019s already facing money woes brought about by visiting Harold (Paul Giamatti), the American brother of Cora (Elizabeth McGovern).\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Harold also drags along his tricky friend Gus (Alessandro Nivola), who, in a throwback to the first season, indulges in some after-dark mischief.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>Mr. Carson (Jim Carter), who\u2019s married to Mrs. Hughes (Phyllis Logan), is retiring. <span class=\"credit\">AP<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Greatly missed is the late Maggie Smith\u2019s sharp-tongued Dowager Countess, <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2022\/05\/19\/downton-abbey-a-new-era-review-this-series-must-end-now\/\">who died in \u201cA New Era.\u201d <\/a>Her eruption of acid is needed to cut through \u201cDownton\u201d\u2019s richness.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>While the earl, countess and ladies are practically ripping their hair out with stress, down in the kitchen the developments are refreshingly nice ones.<\/p>\n<p>Chatty Daisy (Sophie McShera) is inheriting the ladle as head cook now that Mrs. Patmore (Lesley Nicol) is retiring, and Carson (Jim Carter), who\u2019s married to Mrs. Hughes (Phyllis Logan), is waving goodbye to his butler fineries. Anna (Joanne Froggatt) is pregnant. Times are changing. Take a shot!\u00a0<\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>Downstairs the dramas are nicer than usual. <span class=\"credit\">AP<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>What threatens to scuttle \u201cThe Grand Finale,\u201d but is ultimately essential to its tidy resolution, is the weird addition of Noel Coward to the plot. <\/p>\n<p>The \u201cBlithe Spirit\u201d playwright is a friend of actor Guy Dexter (Dominic West), the down-low boyfriend of former servant Thomas Barrow (Robert James-Collier). They pay Downton a visit as a favor, and Arty Froushan\u2019s high-pitched Coward sings songs and cracks jokes. When Lady Mary\u2019s travails inspire him to write \u201cPrivate Lives,\u201d \u2019tis a groaner.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDownton\u201d and the famous Brit come off like mismatched socks.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>Guy Dexter (Dominc West, center) and Barrow (Robert James-Collier, right) return to Downton. <span class=\"credit\">AP<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>It does the character no favors that he pals around with Barrow, whose questionable arc of going from pure evil to repentant closeted gay man is \u201cDownton\u201d\u2019s worst.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The wrap-up is clean as the glistening china. And the final scene sees Mary remembering her family members who were tragically lost over the years \u2014 her sister Sybil, her husband Matthew and of course the Dowager Countess.<\/p>\n<p>Both Mary and us are reminded that times are, indeed, changing.<\/p>\n<p>You know what to do.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><em> \u2018 The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n<p><em> \u2018 Some details of this article were extracted from the following source celebrity.land \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>movie review DOWNTON ABBEY: THE GRAND FINALE Running time: 124 minutes. Rated PG (suggestive material, smoking and some thematic elements). In theaters. It would be a dangerous drinking game to take a swig every time a character in \u201cDownton Abbey: The Grand Finale\u201d mentions that times are changing. But their obsession with moving on \u2014 [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2014528,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[25174],"tags":[25538,350377,364229,21741,21993,356228,356227,304995,21912],"class_list":["post-2014527","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-gossip","tag-actors","tag-dominic-west","tag-elizabeth-mcgovern","tag-entertainment","tag-films","tag-hugh-bonneville","tag-michelle-dockery","tag-movie-reviews","tag-movies"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Soapy-British-franchise-goes-out-with-a-scandal.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2014527","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2014527"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2014527\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2014528"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2014527"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2014527"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2014527"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}