John Speller

For me, marrying up the horrors - in this series seemingly invented - of nconcentration camps with Tarantino type comic violence did not sit easy. It seemed to show violence for violence sake. Why? To titivate? The dialogue was in parts clunky and the plot had more holes in it than emmental cheese. I could not work out how Meyer and Ruth had a daughter who died and then a teenage grandson, all in the space of 30 years. Still, I still sat through it all. Mildly entertaining.

Watching Downton Abbey always was, and the film continues this, like batheing in a bath of warm chocolate. It was easy on the eye, Sunday evening soporific viewing. Viewers probably doubted that life upstairs and downstairs was in reality as cosy as portrayed. As regards the film, the main plot, that the inhabitants of Downton Abbey go into a tizzy over the arrival of the King and Queen, is a bit thin. The sub-plot that their would be such conflict between the Abbey staff and Palace staff seems a bit far fetched. However, there are worse ways of spending 2 hours