They acknowledge their heroes who pulled in "30 million viewers a year every Christmas" but there is a jovial, irreverent tone that avoids charges of servility.

BBC: The Right Size fit the bill

The large staff of domestic servants has its own rigid hierarchy, presided over by Mr. Carson, the butler who finds honor in the refinement of his own servility.

WSJ: Theodore Dalrymple on the Secret Appeal of Downton Abbey

The receptionist, already oozing servility thanks to the five thousand baht I gave him an hour ago, starts to stutter when he sees Vikorn, who is by way of being emperor of these sois.

NPR: Excerpt: 'Bangkok Tattoo'