Fackham Hall – This Brisk, Witty Takeoff on Downton That's Refreshingly Throwaway.

It could be the notion of end times around us: after years of inactivity, the parody is making a resurgence. This summer saw the re-emergence of this lighthearted genre, which, at its best, skewers the self-importance of excessively solemn dramas with a torrent of pitched clichés, physical comedy, and dumb-brilliant double entendres.

Playful times, apparently, create an appetite for self-awarely frivolous, joke-dense, welcome light entertainment.

The Latest Addition in This Silly Resurgence

The latest of these silly send-ups is Fackham Hall, a Downton Abbey spoof that jabs at the very pokeable pretensions of wealthy British period dramas. The screenplay comes from stand-up performer Jimmy Carr and helmed by Jim O'Hanlon, the feature finds ample of inspiration to draw from and exploits every bit of it.

Starting with a ridiculous beginning to a ludicrous finish, this amusing upper-class adventure crams each of its runtime with gags and sketches running the gamut from the childish all the way to the truly humorous.

A Send-Up of The Gentry and Staff

Much like Downton, Fackham Hall offers a spoof of extremely pompous rich people and very obsequious servants. The plot focuses on the incompetent Lord Davenport (played by an enjoyably affected Damian Lewis) and his literature-hating wife, Lady Davenport (Katherine Waterston). Having lost their children in separate unfortunate mishaps, their hopes now rest on securing unions for their offspring.

The younger daughter, Poppy (Emma Laird), has achieved the aristocratic objective of an engagement to the right first cousin, Archibald (an impeccably slimy Tom Felton). Yet when she withdraws, the burden falls upon the single elder sister, Rose (Thomasin McKenzie), described as an old maid at 23 and who harbors radically progressive notions about women's independence.

Its Comedy Lands Most Effectively

The spoof achieves greater effect when satirizing the stifling expectations imposed on early 20th-century females – a subject often mined for earnest storytelling. The archetype of respectable, enviable femininity offers the best material for mockery.

The narrative thread, as one would expect from a deliberately silly send-up, is of lesser importance to the jokes. The writer serves them up arriving at an amiably humorous clip. There is a killing, a bungled inquiry, and a star-crossed attraction between the plucky pickpocket Eric Noone (Ben Radcliffe) and Rose.

The Constraints of Pure Silliness

Everything is for harmless amusement, though that itself imposes restrictions. The dialed-up absurdity characteristic of the genre might grate after a while, and the comic fuel in this instance expires somewhere between sketch and feature.

After a while, you might wish to return to the world of (at least a modicum of) reason. Yet, it's necessary to applaud a wholehearted devotion to this type of comedy. If we're going to distract ourselves to death, we might as well find the humor in it.