Fackham Hall Review – A Fast-Paced, Humorous Parody of Downton Abbey Which Is Delightfully Throwaway.

Maybe the sense of uncertain days around us: after years of dormancy, the parody is making a resurgence. This summer witnessed the rebirth of this lighthearted genre, which, at its best, mocks the self-importance of overly serious genre with a barrage of pitched clichés, physical comedy, and stupid-clever puns.

Playful eras, apparently, beget knowingly unserious, gag-packed, pleasantly insubstantial fun.

A Recent Offering in This Absurd Wave

The latest of these goofy parodies comes in the form of Fackham Hall, a Downton Abbey spoof that jabs at the very pokeable pretensions of gilded UK historical series. Penned in part by British-Irish comedian Jimmy Carr and helmed by Jim O'Hanlon, the feature has a wealth of material to draw from and exploits every bit of it.

Opening on a absurd opening to a preposterous conclusion, this amusing aristocratic caper packs all of its 97 minutes with gags and sketches that vary from the juvenile up to the truly humorous.

A Send-Up of Aristocrats and Servants

Much like Downton, Fackham Hall offers a pastiche of very self-important rich people and excessively servile staff. The narrative revolves around the hapless Lord Davenport (brought to life by an enjoyably affected Damian Lewis) and his literature-hating wife, Lady Davenport (Katherine Waterston). After losing their male heirs in a series of calamitous events, their hopes are pinned on finding matches for their two girls.

The junior daughter, Poppy (Emma Laird), has accomplished the family goal of an engagement to the suitable first cousin, Archibald (an impeccably slimy Tom Felton). But when she withdraws, the onus shifts to the single elder sister, Rose (Thomasin McKenzie), who is a spinster at 23 and and holds dangerously modern ideas regarding women's independence.

Its Humor Works Best

The spoof achieves greater effect when sending up the stifling social constraints placed on early 20th-century women – a subject typically treated for earnest storytelling. The trope of idealized femininity provides the richest comic targets.

The narrative thread, as is fitting for a purposefully absurd send-up, is of lesser importance to the gags. Carr keeps them coming at a pleasantly funny rate. There is a murder, a bungled inquiry, and a star-crossed attraction between the plucky thief Eric Noone (Ben Radcliffe) and Rose.

Limitations and Pure Silliness

The entire affair is for harmless amusement, though that itself imposes restrictions. The heightened absurdity inherent to parody might grate after a while, and the entertainment value in this instance diminishes somewhere between sketch and feature.

At a certain point, you might wish to return to stories with (at least a modicum of) reason. Nevertheless, you have to respect a genuine dedication to this type of comedy. If we're going to distract ourselves to death, we might as well see the funny side.