The Best Miniseries of 2011 Returns to WEDU, Downton Abbey Season 2

Dec. 22, 2011 - PRLog -- DECEMBER 22, 2011 (Tampa, FL) — Multiple Emmy® winner (including Best Miniseries!), Downton Abbey, premieres the long awaited second season on Sunday, January 8, 2012 at 9pm on WEDU.

Last season opened with the sinking of the Titanic in 1912, which had dire consequences for Downton Abbey. The new season picks up in the middle of another disaster, World War I, which affected every aspect of life in England, accelerating the social change that was already transforming an age-old system of class and privilege.

The second season promises to be as satisfying as the first. One of the most phenomenally popular series in MASTERPIECE history: Downton Abbey Season 2 resumes its story of love and intrigue at an English country estate, now mobilized for the trauma of war. With a returning cast including Dame Maggie Smith, Elizabeth McGovern, Hugh Bonneville, Dan Stevens, Michelle Dockery, Siobhan Finneran, and many more, Downton Abbey Season 2 airs over seven weeks from Sunday, January 8 through February 19, 2012, at 9pm ET on WEDU (check local listings).

MASTERPIECE on PBS is presented by WGBH Boston. Rebecca Eaton is executive producer. Funding for MASTERPIECE is provided by Viking River Cruises, with additional support from public television viewers and contributors to The MASTERPIECE Trust, created to help ensure the series’ future.

# # #

WEDU is west central Florida’s leading PBS station and public media company reaching 16 counties through multiple media platforms including on-air programming and online experiences that broaden horizons, transport and transform and open gateways to new ideas and new worlds. Financially supported by the community, the organization offers a wealth of award-winning inspirational, educational and enlightening content over a variety of multi-media platforms including: television programming; opportunities to serve extended communities through the station’s fully interactive website, wedu.org and various social media platforms; monthly member magazine Premiere, educational outreach activities and a myriad of special events. WEDU prides itself on its position in the Tampa Bay community as a leader, partner, informed citizen and a member of PBS, the most trusted institution in America (2010 GfK Roper Public Affairs Media Survey).