Downton Abbey premiere draws record 7.9 million viewers to PBS

Downton draws record viewership.

Good thing former Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney never got the opportunity to cut funding for PBS. Nielsen reports that a record 7.9 million viewers tuned in to the Season 3 premiere of Downton Abbey on the network this Sunday.

In one hour PBS quadrupled its usual nightly average of viewers, and saw a nearly twofold increase over the 4.2 million fans who watched the Season 2 premiere in January, according to the Los Angeles Times.

Although the entire third season already aired on the UK’s ITV last fall, leaving both pirated episodes and spoilers scattered across the internet, Downton’s loyal viewers seem more enthusiastic than ever.

So what’s new in the third season? The entire cast and crew are on hand, which is excellent news to begin with. Furthermore, veteran character actress Shirley MacLaine has been added to the show’s already talented lineup, as the American mother of Cora Grantham (played by Elizabeth McGovern).

As we rejoin the Crawley family, World War I has ended, spurring the erosion of social hierarchies and traditional practices that preceded it. We learn that Lord Grantham (Hugh Bonneville) has lost the family fortune in a bad railroad investment, threatening to dim the glow of Lady Mary’s long-awaited marriage to Matthew.

Quite fortunately, however, it turns out that Matthew may be in line to inherit a separate fortune from the father of his tragically deceased fiance Lavinia. Not early 20th century Britain’s unluckiest guy, it would seem.

Despite such fortune, Matthew yearns for a simpler married life with Mary and proves to be reluctant about accepting the inheritance, causing consternation from more self-interested (and rational) parties.

As for the rest– well, I won’t give it away.

So why does the show hold such tremendous international, intergenerational, inter-gender appeal? It has many of the dramatic and sometimes farcical trappings of a soap opera, and at first seems out of touch with younger audiences more accustomed to 4-minute YouTube clips.

Downton Abbey also happens to have a superb and witty script, capably performed in a charming variety of English accents, and woven fluidly together across a backdrop of richly detailed historical sets and convincing period costumes.

The time span of the series makes it especially interesting, as the house gradually converts to electric appliances, cars become increasingly popular, and long-held social traditions are turned on their head in the wake of World War I.