A Look at Fackham Hall – A Brisk, Humorous Downton Abbey Spoof Which Is Pleasantly Ephemeral.

Perhaps the sense of end times pervading: after years of quiet, the parody is staging a resurgence. This summer observed the re-emergence of this playful category, which, at its best, mocks the pretensions of pompously earnest genres with a barrage of heightened tropes, physical comedy, and dumb-brilliant double entendres.

Frivolous periods, apparently, create an appetite for deliberately shallow, joke-dense, welcome light fun.

A Recent Entry in This Silly Trend

The latest of these absurd spoofs is Fackham Hall, a takeoff on the British period drama that jabs at the very pokeable airs of gilded English costume epics. Co-written by British-Irish comedian Jimmy Carr and overseen by Jim O'Hanlon, the feature finds ample of material to draw from and wastes none of it.

Starting with a ridiculous beginning all the way to its ludicrous finish, this enjoyable silver-spoon romp crams each of its hour and a half with puns and routines that vary from the childish all the way to the authentically hilarious.

A Mimicry of The Gentry and Staff

Similar to Downton, Fackham Hall presents a caricature of very self-important rich people and overly fawning staff. The plot centers on the hapless Lord Davenport (portrayed by a wonderfully pretentious Damian Lewis) and his literature-hating wife, Lady Davenport (Katherine Waterston). After losing their four sons in a series of calamitous events, their plans are pinned on securing unions for their offspring.

The junior daughter, Poppy (Emma Laird), has secured the aristocratic objective of an engagement to the right kinsman, Archibald (a perfectly smarmy Tom Felton). But after she withdraws, the pressure falls upon the unmarried elder sister, Rose (Thomasin McKenzie), who is a "dried-up husk of a woman" and and holds unladylike beliefs regarding women's independence.

Where the Laughs Succeeds

The spoof is significantly more successful when satirizing the oppressive social constraints placed on pre-war females – a subject often mined for earnest storytelling. The archetype of idealized womanhood offers the best comic targets.

The narrative thread, as one would expect from a deliberately silly spoof, is of lesser importance to the bits. The co-writer delivers them maintaining a pleasantly funny pace. There is a murder, a bungled inquiry, and an illicit love affair featuring the roguish street urchin Eric Noone (Ben Radcliffe) and Rose.

The Constraints of Lighthearted Fun

The entire affair is in the spirit of playful comedy, but that very quality comes with constraints. The dialed-up absurdity characteristic of the genre may tire after a while, and the entertainment value on this particular variety runs out in the space between sketch and feature.

Eventually, audiences could long to return to a realm of (very slight) logic. But, it's necessary to respect a genuine dedication to the artform. If we're going to entertain ourselves unto oblivion, it's preferable to laugh at it.