julian fellowes – ALLIANCE OF WOMEN FILM JOURNALISTS

THE ENGLISH GAME – Review by Susan Granger

July 7, 2026July 11, 2026 Susan Granger association football, Craig Parkionson, Edward Holcroft, James Harkness, julian fellowes, kevin guthrie, mini-series, netflix, soccer, The English Game

Astutely timed to coincide with World Cup enthusiasm, Netflix’s The English Game traces the origins of ‘association football’ in England, which evolved into the sport known as soccer in the United States. Prolific screenwriter Julian Fellowes (Gosford Park, Downton Abbey, Belgravia, The Gilded Age) combines fact with fiction in this six-part historical mini-series set in a Lancashire mill town in the late 19th century when two ‘hired’ Scottish players catapulted the local Darwen working-class football club into contention for the coveted FA (Football Association) cup.

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DOWNTON ABBEY: THE GRAND FINALE – Review by Susan Granger

September 15, 2025September 16, 2025 Susan Granger Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale, Elizabeth McGovern, Focus Festures, hugh bonneville, jim carter, julian fellowes, Michelle Dockery, paul giamatti, penelope wilton

Witty writer Julian Fellowes has cleverly created and cast such fully realized, socially stratified characters that it’s completely credible that Noel Coward should come to visit Downton, accompanied by actor Guy Dexter and his ‘companion’ – former footman/valet – Thomas Barrow, and – having heard Mary’s divorce story – be inspired to write the comedy Private Lives.

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DOWNTON ABBEY: THE GRAND FINALE – Review by T. J. Callahan

September 10, 2025September 16, 2025 T. J. Callahan Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale, Elizabeth McGovern, Focus Festures, hugh bonneville, jim carter, julian fellowes, Michelle Dockery, paul giamatti, penelope wilton

Fans of the television series and two previous films will still experience the beautiful scenery and feel the warm familiar embrace of the posh lot. As the Dowager Countess looks down on the antics from her portrait in the foyer and Lord Grantham places a kiss on the home’s stone facade, the audience may just shed a tear or three as our old friend’s destinies are wrapped up nicely in a two hour love letter. Nothing extraordinary. Nothing dull. Just a fond faire thee well.

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THE GILDED AGE Season 2 – Review by Susan Granger

February 2, 2024February 5, 2024 Susan Granger Carrie Coon, christine baranski, cynthia nixon, Donna Murphy, hbo max, julian fellowes, Nathan Lane, series, The Gilded Age season 2

The second season of Julian Fellowes’ genteel, rococo soap-opera known as The Gilded Age finds ambitious 19th century NYC aristocrats dressed in bustles and top hats. Ambition meets its match as traditional customs collide with innovative schemes, proving that when the old rules don’t bend, something has to break, And since much of the filming took place in and around New York and Rhode Island, more than 60 of Broadway’s brightest musical stars comprise the cast, giving it a frivolous upstairs/downstairs aura – like ‘Downton Abbey Lite.’

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DOWNTON ABBEY: A NEW ERA – Review by Martha K Baker

June 6, 2022June 12, 2022 Martha K. Baker (Archived Contributor) downton abbey a new era, Elizabeth McGovern, hugh bonneville, julian fellowes, Maggie Smith, Michelle Dockery, penelope wilton, simon curtis

They have all been through a lot, and the new era offers just as many challenges. The prospect of another war and a depression. A leaky roof. Hetero- v. homosexuality. A French villa no one knew about from a paramour no one knew about. Lord Grantham’s lineage. Who inherits what? Plus a moving picture filmed on the premises — just as Downton is, which presents the running theme of silent films vs. “talkies.”

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DOWNTON ABBEY: A NEW ERA – Review by Susan Granger

May 23, 2022May 23, 2022 Susan Granger downton abbey a new era, Elizabeth McGovern, hugh bonneville, julian fellowes, Maggie Smith, Michelle Dockery, penelope wilton, simon curtis

If you’re an avid fan of the PBS series and followed the franchise onto the big screen, you should relish this reunion with the inhabitants of the Crawley’s stately country house who have become so familiar. But if you’re not acquainted with their backstories, this sequel may be a bit bewildering. Written once again by series creator Julian Fellowes and directed by Simon Curtis, the period drama, set circa 1929, veers between Yorkshire and the South of France and is fraught with emotional complications.

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DOWNTON ABBEY: A NEW ERA – Review by T. J. Callahan

May 20, 2022May 26, 2022 T. J. Callahan downton abbey a new era, Elizabeth McGovern, hugh bonneville, julian fellowes, Maggie Smith, Michelle Dockery, penelope wilton, simon curtis

In Downton Abbey: The New Era. the Crawleys of Grantham have invited us back into their stately manor to catch us up on what the Earl, his family, and all of the spunky servants have been up to of late. This is the sequel to the 2019 movie spinoff of the globally popular six-season TV series that lasted from 2010 to 2015. Fans of the Downton Abbey franchise will find The New Era scathingly delicious and sentimentally sweet. But, if you’ve never visited the Granthams before, you’ll probably have more fun watching your favorite DVD.

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THE GILDED AGE – Review by Susan Granger

February 9, 2022February 9, 2022 Susan Granger Blake Ritson, Carrie Coons, christine baranski, cynthia nixon, julian fellowes, Louisa Jacobson, taissa farmiga, The Gilded Age

If you enjoyed Julian Fellowes’ Downton Abbey, stream his latest mini-series, The Gilded Age, a period drama set in the Fifth Avenue mansions of New York City, where old money is suddenly confronted by new, threatening the aristocratic social hierarchy.

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DOWNTON ABBEY – Review by Martha K Baker

September 20, 2019June 9, 2022 Martha K. Baker (Archived Contributor) 0 Comments downton abbey movie, julian fellowes, matthew goode, Michelle Dockery, Tuppence Middleton

If you never watched “Downton Abbey” on the telly, it’s possible that the film version will be hard to follow. If, however, you were glued to the TV box for five years, you’ll be pleased to be invited back to Downton, a grand pile of a house portrayed by Highclere.

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DOWNTON ABBEY – Review by Susan Granger

September 20, 2019September 21, 2019 Susan Granger 0 Comments doownton abbey, Elizabeth McGovern, Imelda Staunton, julian fellowes, Maggie Smith, Michelle Dockery, penelope wilton

If you’re an avid fan of PBS’ dramatic series Downton Abbey, you’ll relish this big-screen version. Working with screenwriter James Fellowes, director Michael Engler manages to give all the characters their own mini-crisis and catharsis, involving proper manners and utmost civility, drawing on the trials and tribulations of England’s inherent class system, which exists despite anti-monarchist grumbles.

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