Exposing the snobbery, backbiting and machinations of a disappearing class system, this seven-part British series chronicles the comings and goings of the upper-crust Crawley family and their assorted servants. Ensconced in their stately manor, the Crawleys delight in their aristocratic life -- until the sinking of the RMS Titanic in 1912 muddles their line of inheritance. Maggie Smith plays the sneering Dowager Countess of Grantham.