A sequel to Downton Abby!!!

[PALADIN85020]

I was in one of my pensive moods this morning, and over a cup of Bailey's-spiked coffee, I was mentally lamenting the fact that the popular British show "Downton Abbey" has been discontinued.

Then it occurred to me that a similarly popular sequel to the show might be formulated! Let it be known that I hereby copyright both the title and the concept. It would be called:

DOWNTOWN CABBY!

The concept would be to chronicle the life of the "other half" as it existed in the time frame of the turn of the 20th Century. It would focus on a cockney cab driver and his family, living from hand to mouth on what money he could earn driving horse-drawn and early motorized cabs in downtown London. The folks would be the exact antithesis of the well-to-do gentry featured in Downton Abby. They would live in an apartment slum on the 5th floor, having to climb steps to get there. A coal-fired hot pot would be their only warmth in winter. Their clothes would be obtained from the garbage dumps of society. Often, food would be obtained from the same source. Their teeth would be crooked and/or missing. Shoes would be re-soled by stuffing them with cardboard. The uneducated cabby would have a common-law wife and 5 out-of-wedlock children; snotty-nosed and living in total squalor.

I am now calling on you writers and would-be writers to come up with a story line - how would you introduce the characters and how would the plot develop? I think that Downtown Cabby would be a smash hit! Go for it! Then we can sell the concept to Public Television and make millions!

John

 

[shaggist]

Did you forget to take your medication again?

 

[OFT II]

Did you forget to take your medication again?

I think that it must be the Bailey's.

 

[arjay]

One more coffee and start typing.I think you're on to something [emoji1]

 

[rwsmith]

Sex, violence....

....and a dog..... it has to have a dog. The youngest has to be very precocious and smart mouthed. They have to pull the wool on the buffoon landlord's eyes every time. The younger women in the family must not wear too much in the coldest weather. Their clothes are torn strategically and they must jump around a lot. (In this story ostensibly to keep warm) The neighbors must be an 'unconventional family' on one side and a nosy old bag on the other that always misinterprets what's going on...

Wait a minute. Hasn't all of this been done before?...

Who cares? Right. It's all about the sex and violence anyway.

 

[Big Cholla]

John: Put down the Bailey's and refresh your coffee. Now, repeat after me, " Bushmill's is the only liquor worth my while to add to coffee."

I have written some of my best work after two coffees with a shot of Bushmill's in each.......Well maybe two shots in one of them.

 

[PALADIN85020]

C'mon, guys and gals! I am expecting story lines, embellishments and plots to build on here! Tongue-in-cheek is fine! I'm betting that we have a lot of untapped writing talent here! I've roughed it out - now get busy! Let's see what can be done with this!
Remember that "All in the Family" was once just a wild idea!

John

 

[UncleEd]

The cabby fails his test on "the way" and must take a job as chimney sweep where he meets a woman with an umbrella who can fly.

But she won't stop singing, so he strangles her, ends up in Old Bailey and is hanged for his crime.

On his headstone it was etched A Man Who Lost His Way Without "The Knowledge."

 

[walkinghorse]

There used to be a show on PBS called Eastenders, trials and tribulations of families in London's east end. My wife used to watch it, and I watched bits and pieces until it bored me. She says it was a blue collar type of enviroment though in town. So maybe a sequel?

 

[Straightshooter2]

Well, let's see. For your opening sequence to introduce him, your cabby could be driving a doctor and his friend who is wearing a deerstalker hat, smoking a pipe and playing the violin while high on a 7 percent solution of cocaine.

 

[shouldazagged]

Funny, I was thinking of a somewhat racier sequel. I was going to call it "Uptown Trixie".

Probably have to go on HBO or Showtime, though, instead of PBS.

 

[Absalom]

Didn't "Downton Abbey" start out in 1912 by having the presumptive heir going down with the "Titanic"? So you need to get started by having the breadwinner of the family drown, maybe while rowing a load of illegally distilled gin across the Thames ......

 

[jdlii]

One more coffee and start typing.I think you're on to something [emoji1]

Forget the coffee, pour more Bailey's! You need to write a part for Hugh Grant as a double decker bus driver and Adele as the Meter Maid!

 

[mg357]

I would like to take a crack at this but I have some questions does it have to be set in England? and does he have to have 5 children?

 

[LedFowl]

As long as Lady Edith ends up happy this time, I don't care what the plot is.

 

[PALADIN85020]

I would like to take a crack at this but I have some questions does it have to be set in England? and does he have to have 5 children?

I'd like it to parallel Downton Abbey with respect to locale and time frame. Number of children optional, although I think lack of birth control knowledge would probably call for more children. Oh well, they can always be lost to accidents, war, jealous spouses, overdrinking, etc.

John

 

[HOUSTON RICK]

Dogs in this period and locale were not raised as pets....

Don't forget uncle Jack - the Ripper.

 

[S42N8]

Didn't "Downton Abbey" start out in 1912 by having the presumptive heir going down with the "Titanic"? So you need to get started by having the breadwinner of the family drown, maybe while rowing a load of illegally distilled gin across the Thames ......

...while rowing a boatload of S&W TLs across the Thames. Gotta play to the audience.