Downton Abbey

Highclere castle, location for Downton Abbey

Really? As if waiting for the new Upstairs/Downstairs series to begin wasn't torture enough, the world now has Downton Abbey: GORGEOUS and GLORIOUS. My daughter and I were hooked (after a couple of "cover your eyes!" we made it through relatively unscathed, she is, after all, only 11. But then again that's about how old I was when I saw Jeremy Iron's naked butt in Brideshead Revisited...). So now we wait patiently for them to make a second season of DA.
If you didn't see it when it aired on PBS, do try and watch episodes 3 & 4 online at PBS. The costumes are amazing, and an old favorite of mine, Elizabeth McGovern, is lovely as the Countess of Grantham, american born wife of the Earl of Grantham. And of course Maggie Smith as the Dowager Countess of Grantham is perfection. I literally laughed outloud several times because of her.
If you need some help sorting out all the upstairs/downstairs characters, there is a good wikipedia page you can find here.