ticle yesterday that ruffled some feathers on this side of the pond. Seems that British reporter Chris Hastings chose to be selective about details that he posted about the upcoming American broadcast of Downton Abbey on PBS Masterpiece. If one reads his article, it is plain to see that his attempt was to insult American viewers as seen by his suggestive title: "Downton downsized... by two hours because American TV executives fear its intricate plot will baffle U.S. viewers".First off, let me clarify (since the Daily Mail seems unwilling to do so) that 2 hours have NOT been cut from the series. The British telecast on ITV had the equivalent of 2 hours of commercials over the 7-episode run. So as far as editing scenes for the American broadcast, there should be minimal changes. I've been informed by Evangeline Holland of Edwardian Promenade, who has seen both the British and American versions and she explained, "I like the cuts they've made... The pacing is better since they've cut a lot of the repetitious dialogue and scenarios... And I was worried about the cuts as well, but PBS did a very, very good job of retaining the flow of the plot." Holland also points out there are extra scenes not in the UK version: One with Edith where she and the Earl grieve together before the fireplace and another with Matthew and his mother regarding his treatment of Moseley at the end of the episode 1.
I was also informed by an American tv reviewer, Jace Lacob (Televisionary and The Daily Beast) that when he was called for an opinion by Hastings, he pointed out that the difference was due to 2 hours of ads but The Daily Mail chose to ignore that in the article. Hastings also included an unattributed quote from Lacob's review of Downton Abbey. I find it odd that The Daily Mail took the time to point out that "On ITV, the series, ...ran with advertisements, while PBS - the Public Broadcasting Service - is free of commercials" and yet they still ran with the headline and the premise throughout the article that 2 hours have been sliced.
Update-Read Jace Lacob's reply:
In Defense of Downton Abbey (Or, Don't Believe Everything You Read)
Last evening, there were no comments posted regarding the Daily Mail's article when I posted a comment to them. Today, I notice multiple comments are now shown but they chose not to post mine. No big surprise there.
With regard to comments made by Rebecca Eaton, executive producer of PBS, I'm surprised that she's not giving the American audience more credit since I believe she's aware of the type of highly-discerning viewers that frequent PBS.
Eaton explains, 'American audiences are used to a different speed when it comes to television drama and you need to get into a story very quickly. We also wanted to get to the point where Matthew Crawley [the family's middle-class cousin and unlikely heir] arrives on the scene much faster than in the British version. He is a pivotal character and his arrival brings with it drama and conflict. 'In the British version he doesn't arrive until episode two. In our version he is there in episode one.'
However, this point of Matthew appearing in Episode 1 seems evident to me since the British telecast was only 65 minutes long so it only makes sense that we would in fact see Downton's heir in PBS's first episode of 90 minutes. (Personally, I did not find the first episode on ITV to be lacking in any way considering we only get a glimpse of Matthew in the final minutes. Not all of us were interested in Dan Stevens' character as a romantic lead. There are other interesting fish to fry, not to mention the plot revolving around the rest of the cast including the presence of Dame Maggie Smith!)
Eaton also said, 'We thought there might be too many references to the entail and they have been cut. It is not a concept people in the US are very familiar with.'
Modified to add: I've just previewed the first episode on PBS and there are still scenes which reference the entail so not all scenes have been cut including one of my favourite moments between the Dowager Countess (Maggie Smith) and Lady Cora (Elizabeth McGovern)!
So to Mr. Hastings, who described America as the "land of the notoriously short attention span", I'd just like to say that don't take it for granted that we can still read between the lines!
FYI: Although there might me minor edits for the PBS telecast,
the DVD is the original and unedited UK version
Link: Daily Mail article the DVD is the original and unedited UK version
In Defense of Downton Abbey (Or, Don't Believe Everything You Read)
