Masterpiece Classic Downton Abbey Encores

This encore presentation of Downton Abbey will lead viewers up to the premiere of Downton Abbey II on January 8, 2012.

“Downton Abbey,” winner of six Emmy Awards, including the win for “Outstanding Miniseries or Movie,” depicts the lives of the noble Crawley family and the staff who serve them, set at their Edwardian country house in 1912.

A stately country house, a noble family, and a succession crisis caused by the sinking of the Titanic are the backdrop for this epic drama by Oscar-winning writer Julian Fellowes(Gosford Park) about the lives of aristocrats and servants in the years before World War I. A runaway hit during its premiere on PBS in early 2011, Downton Abbey stars Hugh Bonneville, Dame Maggie Smith, Elizabeth McGovern, and other great actors in a production that brings a glittering bygone era to life.