My first reaction to Downton Abbey's third season was that Julian Fellowes -- who played a recurring character on Monarch of the Glen -- basically took Archie's storyline vis-a-vis his problems managing the estate and gave it to Matthew. Much too derivative.
That's what I thought as well. There's quite a few similarities b/w the two series that I noticed, among them:
- An estate facing a crisis about its financial future due to lack of good financial management and the arrival of new heirs from middle class background with fresh ideas and skills to help rescue the estate (Matthew Crawley of Downton, Archie MacDonald of Glen Bogle).
- The traditionalist, conservative-minded Lord of the Manor who resisted the reforms/changes that the heirs proposed to make the family estate financially viable again (Robert, Earl of Grantham in DA and Hector MacDonald in MOTG).
- The kind-hearted, more liberal-leaning Lady of the Manor (Cora Crawley in DA and Molly MacDonald in MOTG).
- The story plots involving "Upstairs" and "Downstairs" characters, along romance between key characters from the two groups (Lady Sybil Crawley and Tom Branson in DA, Archie and Lexie in MOTG).
- The abrupt departure of the actors who played the heir to the estates in the middle of the series' run in order to pursue more lucrative acting opportunities (Dan Stevens in DA and Alastair MacKenzie in MOTG).
- Quite a few of scenes from DA's 2012 Christmas Special --when the family spent a weekend in Scotland were also featured in MOTG as well- e.g., bagpiping at the beginning of the dinner and as a wake-up morning call, stag hunting, the party with Scottish-style reel dances, etc.
- Some have mentioned that there's an ouija board scene in MOTG where Molly tried to summon Hector's spirit from the great beyond, one that's also features in the 2011 Christmas Special (when Lavinia's spirit stopped by to give her blessing to Matthew/Mary union).
Of course, there are some key differences b/w the two series as well. For instance, Matthew was killed off when DS decided to leave Downton, while Archie and Lexie moved off-screen to New Zealand to open a winery, leaving the possibility of their return which alas, never happen :-(.
Most notably IMO, there's no plain-speaking Dowager Countess in MOTG. I think Fellowes got the inspiration for her from "Gosford Park," when Maggie Smith played a plain-speaking Dowager Countess as well.
Any other similarities/differences b/w Downton and Monarch that you could think about?
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