A British period soap opera about the masters and servants at an English country estate circa World War I: It may not sound like the buzziest, most addictive TV show to premiere since Mad Men, but that's exactly what Downton Abbey is. The drama, which PBS airs in America as part of its Masterpiece series, was watched by over 13 million people last year — a massive hit not just by public broadcasting standards, but by any network's — and took home four trophies at the 2011 Emmy Awards. "People are saying, "Oh, PBS is cool again," says network president Paula A. Kerger. After a year of building hype, Abbey returns for season two on PBS Sunday night. Is it already poised to be, as one critic predicts, the "best TV show of 2012?"
It's that good: Downton Abbey "elevates prime-time soap to a high artform worthy of viewers' time," says David Hinckley at The Daily News. If the series' first season was the "best TV show of 2011," then, notwithstanding Mad Men's imminent return, expect season two to be "the best show of 2012." Covering the years between 1916 and 1919, this installment of Abbey chronicles the "helplessness and horror" of war and its immediate aftermath — but not without peppering in the "joy, humor, and laughter" of Maggie Smith's dour punchlines as the Countess and the delicious "soap opera DNA" of the tangled romances. "Season one set the bar high. Season two clears it."
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