If you are interested in British architectural history, or just love the castle that is used as a home base in the hit series Downton Abbey, PBS has a new series that may be of interest. As part of an ongoing program that delves into the glory, riches, and history of fashionable British homes, Secrets of Highclere Castle will take a look at the glorious aristocratic estate used as a setting in Downton Abbey and it will premiere on the TV network at an extremely convenient time.
Secrets of Highclere Castle will premiere on PBS on January 6, 2013. If that date sounds familiar, it is probably because that is the same evening Season 3 of Downton Abbey will reach U.S. audiences. In fact, Secrets of Highclere Castle will lead in to the popular period drama, which should be convenient for fans who aren’t big on messing with the remote.
Unless you are a lover of historical facts, the inevitable question is why fans should look into the Secrets of Highclere Castle special at all. The program will delve into the true-life aristocrats who inhabited the walls of the estate and will also look into the historical accuracies the actual castle history shares with the fictional storylines on Downton Abbey. Finally, the program will look into the castle in the present day, and will discuss it’s crazy-high budget of $1 million a year in upkeep.
If any or all of that sounds swell, you can catch Pioneer Production’s Secrets of Highclere Castle on Sunday, January 6 at 8 p.m. ET.
