This period drama, set in the fictional Yorkshire country estate of Downton Abbey, follows the lives of the aristocratic Crawley family and their servants during the reign of King George V. In this splendid home, the Earl and Countess of Grantham and their three daughters of marriageable age live under the watchful eye of the Dowager Countess (Dame Maggie Smith). Their secure and ordered world, and the social hierarchy are rocked as their lives are shaped by the great events in history, romance, heartbreak and ambition. The first series spans the two years before World War I beginning with news of the sinking of the Titanic in 1912. The second series covers the years 1916 to 1919.