'I watched the first episode Downton Abbey and there's one reason I won't return for more'

I'll admit, I wanted to love Downton Abbey. Everyone talks about it and I know it's regarded as one of, if not, the best period drama ever. Unfortunately, it wasn't for me. Maybe it finds its footing in later episodes, but after the first I wasn't hooked. It opens with the sinking of the Titanic, but while some seem devastated by the unspeakable tragedy, suddenly everyone's talking about inheritance laws, distant cousins and dead fiances.

It seemed a lot of plot threads were being established at once and I wasn't even 20 minutes in. There was obvious class tensions, marriage propects and the scheming servants and at least two mysterious arrivals at Downton. Of course I understand it's laying out the groundwork, introducing us to this big upstairs-downstairs cast. Upstairs, there's tension between the sisters and who they will marry. Downstairs, the servants have their own secrets and conflicts.

It felt like the show wanted to tick every box of period drama clichés in the first episode. But my main issue - too many characters were thrown at me at once.

There was no time to connect with anyone before they moved on to the next person. I couldn't quite work out who was related to who and which characters I was meant to like and sympathise with.

Half of them were whispering in hallways while others were screaming because they'd forgotten to put something on the chicken. With so many storylines unfolding at once, it was hard to know which character I should be following. Was it Mary's? Lord Grantham's?

Then came the big reveal about Philip Villiers being gay, therefore ruling him out as a potential suitor for Mary, but I can't be the only one who saw something like that coming? A little too predictable for my liking.

That big twist just fell a little flat for me unfortunately. There was one obvious standout for me, and that has to be Maggie Smith's Violet Crawley. The Dowager's sharp wit and biting humour kept me enticed when the rest of the episode felt slow.

But with the 100 other characters included in the series, the minimal presence of Violet Crawley just isn't enough to keep me watching. I can understand why people get drawn into this world, but for me, it just didn't land.

It's not that it was bad, it's just simply that the first hour didn't give me much of a reason to stick around.