<Tr> <Th> Website </Th> <Td> www.itv.com/downtonabbey </Td> </Tr> <P> Downton Abbey is a historical period drama television series created by Julian Fellowes and co-produced by Carnival Films and Masterpiece . It first aired on ITV in the United Kingdom on 26 September 2010, and on PBS in the United States on 9 January 2011 as part of the Masterpiece Classic anthology . </P> <P> The series, set in the fictional Yorkshire country estate of Downton Abbey between 1912 and 1926, depicts the lives of the aristocratic Crawley family and their domestic servants in the post-Edwardian era--with the great events in history having an effect on their lives and on the British social hierarchy . Events depicted throughout the series include news of the sinking of the RMS Titanic in the first series; the outbreak of the First World War, the Spanish influenza pandemic, and the Marconi scandal in the second series; the Irish War of Independence leading to the formation of the Irish Free State in the third series; the Teapot Dome scandal in the fourth series; and the British general election of 1923, the Jallianwala Bagh massacre, and the Beer Hall Putsch in the fifth series . The sixth and final series introduces the rise of the working class during the interwar period and hints towards the eventual decline of the British aristocracy . </P> <P> Downton Abbey has received acclaim from television critics and won numerous accolades, including a Golden Globe Award for Best Miniseries or Television Film and a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Miniseries or Movie . It was recognised by Guinness World Records as the most critically acclaimed English - language television series of 2011 . It earned the most nominations of any international television series in the history of the Primetime Emmy Awards, with twenty - seven in total (after two series). It was the most watched television series on both ITV and PBS, and subsequently became the most successful British costume drama series since the 1981 television serial of Brideshead Revisited . By the third series, it had become one of the most widely watched television drama shows in the world . </P>

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