![\"Picnicathangingrock1\"](\"http:\/\/www.georgiahill.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/Picnicathangingrock1-198x300.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nOn a supremely shallow note, the fashions are exquisite. Who remembers the beautiful, virginal white dresses in Peter Weir\u2019s haunting Picnic at Hanging Rock, another of my favourites.<\/p>\n
Like thousands of others, I\u2019ll sit down to enjoy another episode of Downton Abbey this Sunday. I loved the early episodes when the family had to grapple with love and loss during the Great War. I was glued to the love affair between Branson and Lady Sybil. Her character was defiant and forward thinking. Inevitable then, that she should be punished for her independent spirit by being killed off in childbirth! I had a girl-crush on Jessica Brown-Findlay who played her \u2013 such a beautiful actress.<\/p>\n
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The series specialises in strong women characters. Mrs Patmore dominates the kitchen (when not optically challenged) and Daisy has come into her own since receiving a smattering of an education.<\/p>\n
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And \u2013 who can forget the conniving O\u2019Brien? Siobhan Finnerton is unrecognisable as Angela Purefoy in Midwinter of the Spirit also running on ITV on Wednesdays at 9pm. A much underrated actress, she has also popped up in Benidorm and the fantastic Happy Valley. Such a wide range! Of course, the duels of wit between the Dowager Countess and Mrs Crawley are a joy to savour too.<\/p>\n
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Influences from many different sources feed into what you are writing. In While I Was Waiting, <\/em>I have the new-money Parker family. They are the Trenchard-Lewis\u2019 far wealthier but not as established neighbours \u2013 Flora, with her prized bicycle, and who flirts with just about everybody – and her older brothers. They are partly based on a family who owned a small country house near where I live but elements of the Downton lifestyle filtered through too. While watching, I absorbed the riding costumes, the high-waisted fashions, the intransigence of the class system and the mores of the time. It\u2019s a form of research and one which complements others (and is highly enjoyable too!)<\/p>\n <\/p>\n
Downton Abbey has lost its way a little in recent series but I\u2019ll be tuning in to the end. How else will I find out if Anna has her baby and is happy with the stoic Bates? What will happen to the delightfully evil Barrow? Is Lady Edith going to publicly out herself as Marigold\u2019s mother and conquer her fearsome editor? And will Lady Mary ever find a suitor brave enough to take her on, or will she live out her life content in the sty with her piggy companions?<\/p>\n
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Yes, Downton Abbey, you\u2019ve got me watching until the end of the series and onto the Christmas special. How could I not? Besides, those twenties hats and fur-collared coats are simply gorgeous.<\/p>\n
Love,<\/p>\n
Georgia x<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Autumn telly season is upon us. Time to draw the curtains, light the wood-burner and pour a glass of something nice. A dry sherry for me, please Carson. It\u2019s no secret I\u2019m a big fan of Strictly Come Dancing but I also love a good period drama, especially on Sunday evenings. The BBC\u2019s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[258,470,468,459,472,471,469,28],"class_list":["post-1336","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-downton-abbey","tag-itv","tag-jessica-brown-findlay","tag-midwinter-of-the-spirit","tag-period-drama","tag-picnic-at-hanging-rock","tag-siobhan-finnerton","tag-world-war-1"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.georgiahill.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1336","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.georgiahill.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.georgiahill.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.georgiahill.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.georgiahill.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1336"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"http:\/\/www.georgiahill.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1336\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1624,"href":"http:\/\/www.georgiahill.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1336\/revisions\/1624"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.georgiahill.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1336"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.georgiahill.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1336"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.georgiahill.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1336"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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