The Gilded Age Is Different To Downton Abbey (& That's Good)

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Warning: SPOILERS for The Gilded Age Episode 1 — «Never The New»

Although Julian Fellowes created both period dramas, HBO's The Gilded Age is very different from Downton Abbey, but that's also a very good thing for audiences. Set in 1882 New York City, The Gilded Age is Fellowes' long-awaited follow-up to Downton that's ostensibly set in the same universe. Back in 2012, Fellowes originally conceived The Gilded Age as a Downton Abbey prequel, showing the courtship of Robert Crawley (Hugh Bonneville), the future Lord Grantham, and Cora Levinson (Elizabeth McGovern), who would become his wife, the Countess of Grantham. After years of research, Fellowes waited until Downton Abbey's TV series ended in 2016 before he could concentrate on The Gilded Age, which was originally greenlit at NBC before it received a straight-to-series order on HBO in 2019 just months before Downton Abbey became a hit movie.

Downton Abbey was a global sensation that aired on BBC in the United Kingdom and on Masterpiece PBS in the United States. Beginning in 1912 on the same day the RMS Titanic sank, Downton Abbey focused on the Crawley family, who lived in a splendid estate in Yorkshire, United Kingdom (which is the real-life Highclere Castle), and their loyal servants. Downton Abbey ran for six seasons from 2010-2016, which explored the highs and lows of the Crawleys in the post-Edwardian era from 1912-1925, with the Downton Abbey movie continuing the story in 1927. Lord and Lady Grantham, the Dowager Countess Lady Violet (Maggie Smith), and the Crawley daughters, Lady Mary (Michelle Dockery), Lady Edith (Laura Carmichael), and Lady Sybil (Jessica Brown-Findlay), and their servants endured marriages, deaths, tragedies, and celebrations as Downton