Monday, September 17, 2012

The Return of Downton Abbey

In some aspects of life, I am not a patient person. I usually can't wait for a chocolate chip cookie fresh out of the oven to cool completely before I devour it (besides, a warm homemade cookies is THE. BEST.). Getting to work in the morning behind a line of slow-moving cars tests me each and every day. And let's not even go to that dark place when I have no chocolate. No chocolate = no patience.

I am also not patient when it comes to watching my very favorite show of all time, Downton Abbey.

Season 3 has begun in the U.K., but sadly, it will not be available on Masterpiece Theatre here in the United States until January.

If you thought I was going to wait until January to watch it, you'd be wrong.

However, short of moving to England for three months (not that I'd be averse to that), I wondered if I'd be able to watch it without violating my morals - i.e. watching a pirated version.

Turns out that I can have my cake and eat it, too.

I found a wonderful program called Tunnelbear. It is a VPN (Virtual Private Network) that allows you to access videos from other countries that would otherwise be unavailable simply because of your location. Thus, if you visit the website of ITV, the British television channel that airs Downton Abbey, you would not be able to watch the videos because of your location. With Tunnelbear, however, you can. ITV, much like other television stations, puts complete shows on their website after they have aired on t.v.

It works brilliantly. And yes, it's perfectly legal.

So! I am happy to announce that I have watched the first episode of Season Three's Downton Abbey and am thrilled with how wonderful it was. Even better? I can satisfy my desire for all things British t.v.!


15 comments:

  1. My fingers are crossed that it works in Canada.

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  2. I need to watch this! I can't believe I haven't yet; so many people have told me I'd like it. :)

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    1. Oh, yes, you DO need to watch it, Erin! I'm one of those that thinks you'd adore it, too!

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  3. Thank you, thank you, thank you Melissa!!! I'm not patient either;)

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  4. Yay for Tunnelbear! I must check it out for here.
    I must rewatch the second series first! Last year a friend and I watched the whole first series, back to back, over an entire day!! Totally recommend this. Lots of chocolate consumed too!

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    1. Now THAT sounds like a good day, JT!

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  5. What a good idea! I didnt watch it as we went to a gig at St Ives on sunday and next sunday am away - the 2nd series wasnt so good I didnt think.

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    1. Flower, I've heard quite a few people say they didn't like the second series as much. But I think series 3 is going to be back on track. The first episode was quite well done!

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  6. I feel the same about Doctor Who; fortunately BBC America shows it at the same times as the true BBC.

    But... In a perfect world, there would be none of this their channels, our channels.
    Aren't we past that? Or am I just being ridiculous? :)))

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    1. I agree with you, Anna. I read an editorial today talking about how it's ridiculous that we in America have to wait until January to watch Downton Abbey (which is wildly popular here) on television. I don't get it.

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  7. It's such a good show, even my dad's watching it now, and he's caught up on the other series too.

    I just nominated you for Seven Things About Me. :-)

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    1. Yay! I wish my husband would watch it, but that's wishful thinking. *grin*

      Thank you for the nomination!

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  8. AHHH!! Thanks so much, I'll have to check that out! I'm so very excited about it starting up again since they left me hanging at the end of season 2!

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