'DOWNTON ABBEY' may have swept to acclaim in awards season on both sides of the Atlantic, but underneath the seemingly all-conquering costume period drama appears to be a sense of complacency, if a look around at what critics have been making of the latest episode is to be taken seriously. Despite massive ratings there is the worry that the consistently high quality of the first season hasn't been matched in this much-anticipated follow up starring Joanne Froggatt.

Time Magazine have been damning indeed, claiming that "the second season should be much better than it is" and going on to point out that the show existed best when its main characters merely interacted with each other in a bubble away from the outside world. Much has been of the cliff hanger at the end of the first season which saw World War I break out, and with global issues now prominent in the storyline, both Time and others, such as The New York Magazine, have been less than effusive with praise.

Nevertheless the British-made show still seems to be very much the name on the tip of all the pundits' lips, last week beating out rival 'Dr. Who' to take Best Drama at the UK's National Television Awards as well as previously taking a surprise Golden Globe across in the States for Best Miniseries or Television Film.