Downton Abbey fans: It's A Very Carson Christmas

Been a long time since I’ve seen the latenight commercials for the Ronco Inside the Shell Electric Egg Scrambler, Ron Popeil’s Pocket Fisherman or the Ginsu knives that could cut a metal can in half and still be sharp enough to slice a tomato to perfection. We’ve all seen the music compilation CD’s or DVD’s […]

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Birdsong – Another BBC/PBS 'Masterpiece' for 2012

With the States in the final days until the premiere of the second series of Downton Abbey on PBS’ Masterpiece and the UK only days removed from the Christmas Day conclusion of series 2 on ITV, it seems only fitting that the BBC has begun to fight back against those in the post-Downton Abbey era […]

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Christmas Day numbers show Eastenders ⇑ and Downton Abbey ⇓

Downton Abbey may very well be the darling of the 2011 television season on both sides of the pond, but the critically-acclaimed, viewer mega-hit from ITV couldn’t quite muster the audience on Christmas Day, finishing in fourth place against the perennial Christmas ratings winners, Eastenders (BBC), Coronation Street (ITV) and Doctor Who (BBC). Some immediately […]

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A few Boxing Day bits and bobs

Doing a bit of Sherlock work on and around the Internets, post-Downton Abbey Christmas special, post-Doctor Who Christmas genius and post-Eastenders Christmas, one realizes that time does not stop for Boxing Day. Telly fans in the UK have now set their sights on the 1 January premiere of the Steven Moffat, Mark Gatiss brilliant second […]

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Doctor Who – say goodnight, Amy…you too, Rory

Just doing a bit of catch up before the holidays totally engulf everyone, if they haven’t already. Lots of news swirling around the internet as the annual Doctor Who Christmas Special gets ready for transmission on Sunday, 25, December on BBC One. You may have read, maybe not, that Karen Gillian, who plays the current […]

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Spooks 10 – A look back at Section D

Time to shelve the Downton Abbey 2 talk for a day. Everyone already has the DVR set for Sunday, January 8, 2012 for the second series premiere as part of PBS’ Masterpiece series. Time to turn our attention to, perhaps, the best television series, bar none….Spooks, or MI-5, in the United States. With the final […]

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Strictly Come Downton Abbey

Full credit to Ian Wylie, London-based freelance journalist with a particular interest and acute knowledge of all-things television, for the brilliant headline, photos and accompanying story. As we recently learned, one of the Downton traditions on Christmas Day is that the staff is traditionally given the day off and Lord Grantham (Hugh Bonneville) takes charge […]

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To: Julian Fellowes; From: Judi Dench; Re: Downton Abbey 3

While the second series of Downton Abbey is coming to a cliff-hanging close on Christmas Day in the UK and with all eyes in the United States on Sunday, January 8, 2012 when the second series premieres as part of PBS’ Masterpiece, series 3 is just around the corner. As most everyone, except maybe the […]

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BBC1 vs. ITV1 in Christmas Smackdown 2011

Will 2011 be the year that ITV unseats the 600 pound giant in the room, BBC One, for Christmas Day ratings dominance? Cue Michael Buffer….Let’s get ready to rumble! The infamous long-awaited Christmas Day schedules for both BBC One and ITV1 have been set, sort of, (as of today, anyway) and war has officially been […]

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