The British have successfully invaded not only the music industry, but also America’s hearts and minds with their award winning television show “Downton Abbey”.

To be perfectly honest I never wanted to watch this show in the first place. The idea of watching rich, old, British people in the early 1900s complain about their lives was not appealing to me.

None the less I found that I had a lot of time on my hands this winter break since Principal Mark Greenfelder was so kind as to suggest to my teachers that giving us homework over winter break would be a monumental injustice to our mental health and well-being (thank you so very much), so I cranked up Netflix and began to watch the first season of “Downton Abbey”.

I was hooked instantly and completed watching the unfairly short first season in one weekend. I had been transported into the glitz and glamour of British society in the beginnings of the twenty first century. The season began with the sinking of the titanic and ended with the beginning of World War One.

I found myself becoming invested in the characters’ lives. Would Mary finally notice Mathew for the honest man he is or continue to see him as a middle class lawyer? Would Downton be forced to go to war? I needed to know the answers. I quickly borrowed the second season from a friend and greedily watched every episode, oohing and aweing at the how exquisitely the show captured the early 1900s.

From the clothes to the many new inventions, Downton kept up with the trends. Watching Violet Crawly (played by the lovely Maggie Smith, McGonagall in “Harry Potter”) stare at the telephone like it was an alien from outer space was priceless. Don’t even get me started on Lady Sybil’s pantaloons.

Season three of Downton Abbey premiered on January 6, and you can bet that I was glued to the screen. The time is now 1920 and I’m just waiting for Mary to cut her hair short and become a flapper. American actress Shirley MacLaine was cast to play Cora Crawley’s mother, an extremely rich and extremely modern American woman. Heads are going to roll.

I am pleased to say that the two hour season premiere did not leave me disappointed like many highly acclaimed shows tend to do when they get too full of themselves. I won’t give anything away by saying too much, but fans of “Downton Abbey” will agree with me when I say, “Thank God,”  they made it to the church.

If you haven’t started watching Downton Abbey because of silly preconceived notations like I felt a little over a month ago then get over yourself. It is truly a work of art. If you don’t agree with me then, well fine. As the Brits would say, I’ll “keep calm and carry on.”