I Did Like Downton Abbey ...

I did like Downton Abbey. In fact I have been a devoted fan since its 2011 debut. For three seasons now, I have been following the lives of the stately home's inhabitants both upstairs and down. We've passed through the last halcyon days of the all too brief Edwardian era, the sinking of the Titanic, World War One and the Spanish Flu. Two weeks ago, though, was almost more than I could bear. Youngest daughter, Sybil, died of eclampsia hours after giving birth to her first child.

Sadly, I suppose that was the reality of life in the early part of the twentieth century - not to mention all of history up to that point. And actually women still die of that particular condition, though fortunately childbirth is infinitely safer in most ways. It was hard to see, though, and hard to accept. Of the three daughters, Sybil was my favourite. She was a sweet character, somehow the most human. She, more than any other, crossed the boundaries between the classes. She cared about the conditions of all people and ultimately ended up marrying the family chauffeur.

Tragedy isn't over for the family either. While I was reading a few news articles about Sybil's death, I unfortunately stumbled across a spoiler from the season's final episode. (The series airs in Britain in the fall.) And there will be yet another death of yet another major - and likeable - main character. I haven't told Dan about it (and I'm not going to write it here), but I'm not looking forward to it. It puts quite a damper on my enthusiasm for the show. Yes, I do know it's all fiction (and that the actors portraying these particular characters were eager to move on to other things). Still, as one immersed in the show's world, I certainly do feel sorry for the family. It seems more than anybody should really have to bear. And alongside all the personal tragedies they are also having financial difficulties due to Lord Grantham's misguided investments of (the last of) his American wife's fortune.

Now the Grantham family is, of course, fictional. But the magic of the series is the way it is recreating so exceptionally well, the lives of the day and the substantial societal changes that occurred during a relatively short period. Two world wars alone are plenty, but you add in a depressed economy, women's suffrage, and the fight for greater equality in general and it was a hard time to be an aristocrat. Already many had married American heiresses to bolster their estates, but with increasing taxes it was still a challenge to survive, particularly when they had appearances to maintain, staff to support - and no real career to fall back on. Change is hard for most people and it must truly have felt as if the world they had known was crumbling before their very eyes.

And I suppose that's what will keep me coming back and will have me glued to the set for two hours later this evening. All the characters are so well portrayed that you do care immensely about their lives and do want to see how things turn out for them. Tonight, in a relatively rare bright spot this season, a falsely-imprisoned valet, Bates, will return home to his beloved ladies' maid wife, Anna. I want to see what happens to sweet kitchen maid Daisy who married William the footman who adored her ... shortly before succumbing to his war injuries. Or Ethel, the "fallen" cook, given a second chance by the Crawley family after giving up her son. Will Mr. Carson and Mrs. Hughes' friendship ever amount to anything more? What type of trouble will Thomas and O'Brian stir up? And what about middle sister Edith, jilted at the altar by an older man - one of the few eligible men in the community thanks to the war? Just in her mid-twenties, is she already doomed to life as a spinster? How will Sybil's husband Tom make it in the new world of high society when he's really just an Irish boy at heart. What will life be like for baby Sybil? Will Lord Grantham be able to save his estate for future generations by managing it more efficiently? So many questions ... so many reasons to keep watching the exquisite series that is Downton Abbey.