Once feared shuttered for good, “Downton Abbey” has grandly reopened its doors, and for those who found pleasure within its magisterial walls, that is the best of news., in fact PBS’ highest-rated dramatic series of all time, “Downton” has adroitly transitioned to theaters with all its satisfying qualities — and just about its entire core cast — intact.
And, going even further back, the glorious 1970s PBS series “Upstairs, Downstairs” pioneered this sort of thing and won seven Emmys in the process. Not only is it filled with involving characters beset by a whole range of intimate problems but they’re all smoothly acted by a cast of regulars that includes Elizabeth McGovern, Michelle Dockery, Hugh Bonneville and, as everyone’s favorite dowager countess, the irreplaceable Maggie Smith.