Articles by:

Barbara Hinske

‘Downton Abbey’ teasers: 10 hints for Season 6 Episode 2

The final season of Downton Abbey continues on ITV next weekend. An idea of Mary’s gives Anna new hope, while Mr Carson and Mrs Hughes can’t agree, and Edith is faced with her greatest fear. > Buy the complete Season 1-5 boxset on Amazon. Season 6 Episode 2 airs at 9pm on Sunday 26 September … >

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Our wish list for the final season of ‘Downton Abbey’

Downton Abbey returns next month for a final season. With the last ever episode due to air on Christmas Day, following eight episodes this autumn, we had a think about what we’d like the show’s many characters to get up to before they take their final bow. Cue the titles… Tom and Sybbie are off … >

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‘Home Fires’ Season 1 finale review

The season finale finds us in May 1940 – in a world vastly different than the one when Home Fires started. The British expeditionary force has been driven back and France is expected to fall. The prospect of Nazi boots marching through Great Paxford is real. Steph teaches Frances how to shoot a rifle, and … >

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‘Home Fires’ Episode 5 review

Winter has Great Paxford in its icy grip. Steph has excelled at all of the new farming protocols and proudly signs her name to the required paperwork. Meanwhile, her devoted teacher receives the devastating news that German U-boats sunk the ship carrying her lover to America. Alison realises that Teresa’s grief is akin to what … >

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‘Home Fires’ Episode 4 review

The war intrudes on Great Paxford, as more iron gates are collected and rationing enforced. Miriam Brindsley’s “possible mistake filling out the form” comes to light when David doesn’t receive a ration book. Her husband sets the matter to rights and a frustrated David sneaks out in the middle of the night to enlist. In … >

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‘Home Fires’ Episode 3 review

It’s now November 1939. As the conflict rages in Europe, internal turmoil brews at home. Farming is a reserved occupation, so Stanley Farrow is exempt from compulsory service. He feels it is his duty to fight and seeks counsel from Rev. Collingborne. Finding no help from the good padre, he broods about his decision. In … >

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‘Home Fires’ Episode 2 review

England has entered the war against Germany and the bucolic beauty of Great Paxford in the late summer sunshine is marred by troupes training in the streets. Our heartstrings are pulled taut in the opening scene when Miriam Brindsley glances out the butcher shop window at a group of young solders running in formation. She … >

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‘Home Fires’ Episode 1 review

ITV’s new WWII drama Home Fires serves up a fresh take on the quiet courage of everyday people as they determine to cope with catastrophic events. The six-part series begins in late August 1939 – days before England enters the war. Trucks loaded with soldiers careen around the narrow roads of the rural Cheshire community … >

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‘Downton Abbey’ Christmas 2014 special review

This year’s feature-length festive special is brimming with the things we love: sumptuous dinner parties, carols by the Christmas tree in the great hall, and happily-resolved plot lines. Not a single dead body anywhere. The episode opens with the Downton crowd preparing to attend a grouse-shooting party at Brancaster Castle. Lord Sinderby has rented it … >

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