A tale of secrets and scandals set in 1840s London. When the Trenchards accept an invitation to the now legendary ball hosted by the Duchess of Richmond on the fateful evening of the Battle of Waterloo, it sets in motion a series of events that will have consequences for decades to come as secrets unravel behind the porticoed doors of London’s grandest postcode.
I suppose if I were cynical, I could say that Julian Fellowes has gotten good at cranking out these period dramas since Downton Abbey, but that would do an injustice to his later work. He creates realistic and relatable families and comes up with imaginative storylines for them. They are human stories, but are also tied to historical events, such as the battle of Waterloo in this case.
There were places where I found the plot a bit predictable, because people in real life can be predictable also, but there were a few surprises in the story as well that caught me by surprise. I may never watch the series again, but it entertained me throughout and did so without violence or f-bombs raining all around us. Bring on the next one, Mr. Fellowes.