TV Review: “Belgravia” (2020)

The Julian Fellowes costume drama is everything you’d expect from the creator of Downton Abbey.

Say what you will about Julian Fellowes, but the man know how to write and stage a compelling, and deeply melodramatic, costume drama. There’s a reason, after all, that Downton Abbey became a global phenomenon. While Belgravia, the series based on his novel that aired on Epix last year, doesn’t have quite the emotional or intellectual heft of its predecessor, it’s still a gripping and at times surprisingly moving story about two families drawn together through tragedy.

The narrative centers largely on two powerful women: Anne Trenchard (Tamsin Greig), whose husband is a merchant and business , and Lady Caroline Belassis, Countess of Brockenhurst. As Britain hurtles toward a final confrontation with Napoleon, their two children engage in an affair and, when Lady Brockenhurst’s son is killed in battle, it’s revealed that Anne’s daughter is pregnant. The rest of the series focuses on the two women, their families, and the ultimate revelation that not only did child survive but that, in fact, he was legitimate all along, thus solving the Brockenhurst’s dynastic problems.

If this sounds like the plot of a Victorian novel, well, it really is, and that’s precisely what makes Belgravia such a…