Welcome to British Isles Friday! British Isles Friday is a weekly event for sharing all things British and Irish — reviews, photos, opinions, trip reports, guides, links, resources, personal stories, interviews, and research posts. Join us each Friday to link your British and Irish themed content and to see what others have to share. The link list is at the bottom of this post. Pour a cup of tea or lift a pint and join our link party!

Last week, I wrote my 16th post about the ongoing saga of Brexit. I’ve heard that people in Britain are starting to label Brexit in “seasons” like a TV series. The fun arguments are exactly which season we’re in now and how long can it keep going. Tina enjoyed Eric Clapton’s autobiography.

I’ve been enjoying the run-up to the release of the Downton Abbey film.

Starting with the trailer:

A ton of interviews popped up on YouTube in the last week or two. Michelle Dockery and Jimmy Fallon had a fun conversation:

Over the summer, I re-watched the entire series in anticipation of the film release. The whole run is available at PBS with the PBS Passport, a benefit of joining my local PBS station. Amazon Prime is also streaming the series. Or, you can watch the DVDs, available in many libraries.

Re-watching the shows reminded me of how much I love Maggie Smith and her character, Violet Crawley, Dowager Countess of Grantham. I was inspired to capture some her wit and wisdom on a page in my sketchbook.

It’s been years since I’ve seen a movie in the theater because we have a great set-up at home. My husband would want me to say that our sound system is superior to the the over-blown sound we hear in our local cinemas. But, I’m going to make an exception for Downton Abbey because I don’t want to wait for it to come out on DVD. I’m planning to avoid the crowds by attending a weekday showing next week. When do you plan to see the Downton Abbey movie?