HBO premieres Julian Fellowes' period drama The Gilded Age
HBO launched The Gilded Age on 24 January 2022, a lavish drama set in 1880s New York from Downton Abbey creator Julian Fellowes.
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HBO debuted The Gilded Age on 24 January 2022, a period drama created and written by Julian Fellowes, the British writer behind Downton Abbey. The series was set in New York in the 1880s, an era of rapid industrial wealth and social upheaval.
The story followed Marian Brook, a young woman who arrives in the city after her father's death and moves in with her wealthy aunts. It also traced the clash between the established "old money" families and the newly rich railway-era industrialists building mansions on Fifth Avenue. Christine Baranski and Cynthia Nixon played the aunts, while Carrie Coon starred as Bertha Russell, the ambitious wife of a railroad magnate determined to win a place in high society.
The show also followed the servants who worked in these households, echoing the upstairs-downstairs structure Fellowes had used in Downton Abbey. It was known for its costumes and sets and drew an audience among fans of period drama. HBO later renewed it for further seasons, which is why its premiere audience is now a point of comparison for later seasons.
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