Product Description

Season 2 of the Emmy® Award-winning Downton Abbey returns as The Great War rages across Europe, and not even the serene Yorkshire countryside is free from its effects. The men and women of Downton are doing their part both on the front lines and the home front, but the intensity of war only serves to inflame the more familiar passions love, loss, blackmail, and betrayal.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #4 in DVD
• Brand: PBS
• Released on: 2012-02-07
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 3
• Formats: Box set, Closed-captioned, Color, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Running time: 544 minutes

Review
...it remains a glorious, escapist entertainment which, as the fabric of society is torn asunder, the economy crashes around our ears and the autumnal rain lashes down, should at least keep us distracted until Christmas. --Andrew Pettie, The Telegraph

Sex, blackmail, girls in nice frocks and now a war. Downton Abbey just got even better. --Sam Wollaston, The Guardian

Customer Reviews

Most helpful customer reviews

397 of 410 people found the following review helpful.
Absolutely Outstanding Period Drama
By Brett H
The greatly anticipated second series of Downton Abbey picks up two years on from the first series in 1916, in the middle of World War 1. Downton Abbey has been converted into a convalescent home for injured servicemen and the action covers the period from the Battle of the Somme up to the end of the war. As in the first series, topical events of the period, political, economic and military are covered.

The wartime scenario and the convalescent home setting provide an excellent background for some interesting story lines. The combination of excellent plot lines, great acting and the superb setting display all that is best in TV period drama. This time round we have eight more episodes to add to the seven in the first series. As befits wartime, the costumes are not as flamboyant as in the first series but they are thoroughly researched and appropriate to the period.

There continue to be many superb individual performances but mention must be made of Maggie Smith. What a stroke of genius to cast her as Violet. She dominates every scene she appears in and often has some very funny lines.

This DVD includes the Downton Abbey 2 hour Christmas Special which is probably the single best episode of Downton Abbey to date. High drama here with a cliffhanging murder trial as well as the usual romance, drama, betrayal etc one would expect!

The UK has a long tradition of producing fine period dramas and this is the most successful since the early 1980s when Brideshead Revisited: 30th Anniversary Edition took the world by storm. Peak viewing figures in the UK are 11m which is an astounding number for that market. It is pleasing to learn that a third series is already planned and we now know that this will cover an 18 month period from 1920 to 1921. This one is likely to run and run and I would not be surprised to see Downton Abbey continuing up to the 1930s eventually.

162 of 167 people found the following review helpful.
DVD Specs, Subtitles, and Christmas Special.
By Anthony
Amazon doesn't list some important specifications so I'm just posting it here. I got them from the PBS website.

Length : 544 minutes on 3 Discs
Subtitles : Yes
Number of Programs : 9
Includes the Downton Abbey Christmas Special

As for season 2, it's pretty much more Downton Abbey. More Matthew/Mary, Mr. Bates/Anna, and more dastardly Miss O'Brien and Thomas. It's very interesting to see things start to change in the WW1 setting as well and some characters go through some big changes. The Christmas Special in particular is beautifully shot and makes me very excited for season 3 which has already been announced.

147 of 155 people found the following review helpful.
Well Worth the Wait
By lizzie
I cannot review this set, as it has not yet been released. But I can tell others that it is well worth the wait. Here in the UK we are on the 5th episode of 8 and are promised a Chrsitmas special as well. I hope that will be included in the US version, hence the February release. The story is set during World War I and there are some spectacular twists to the story! Those you love and those you love to hate are all back, with some new characters as well. The scripts are very well written, Maggie Smith has some fabulous lines! The costumes and scenery are again lush. I am enjoying this series so much I have pre-ordered this set for my brother in the US. If you loved series 1 and got involved with the characters you will love series 2 which continues their stories. It is a huge hit here and they are already talking about series 3, to be set in the 1920's.
Update: the DVD set has come out in the UK. I cannot know what will be on the US version, but the UK version has a section of deleted scenes. Have a look at them, some bits of the story make more sense. The reveiws here are mixed, as many thought it got too "soap opera" and predictable, while others felt it was unbelievable.