This book explores television's current fascination with the Edwardian era. By exploring popular period dramas such as Downton Abbey , it examines how the early twentieth century is represented on our screens, and what these shows tell us about class, gender and politics, both past and present.

Katherine Byrne is Lecturer in English at the University of Ulster, UK. She has published articles and book chapters on Victorian fiction and medicine, adaptation, and neo-Edwardian television. Her previous book, Tuberculosis and the Victorian Literary Imagination, was published in 2011.

Acknowledgements Introduction: Neo-Edwardian Television, and 'Heritage' Today 1. The Edwardians in Popular Memory. 2. An Adaptation of an Adaptation: 3. Class and conservatism in Downton Abbey 4. From to the Department Store: Sex, Shopping and Heritage in 5. A Return to 'Quality': 6. 'An Ordinary Epic': Conclusion