It's happened every February for the past three years: Downton Abbey concludes its run on PBS and suddenly Anglophilic audiences across the country are left hankering for some more British period drama, stat. HBO is well-aware of this phenomenon, which is precisely why they launched the five-part miniseries Parade's End last night for a three-evening run that wraps up on Thursday. Unfortunately, despite its impressive pedigree, the series probably won't fill that Downton-shaped hole in your heart. It is, however, a terrific cure for insomnia.

Although its version of Skins may have been an epic botch, MTV hasn't given up trying to transform a hit UK teen show into a stateside success. Last night, the network unleashed The Inbetweeners, the Americanized version of the acclaimed and award-winning British comedy about a quartet of sex-obsessed teen boys dealing with the humiliations of high school life. The original series ran for three seasons on the E4 network and spawned a 2011 movie that became a big worldwide hit (it opens here in two weeks).

We miss Downton Abbey, too, but if you're desperately in need of quality British television entertainment to tide you over until the Crawley clan's return in January 2013, we strongly recommend that you give Sherlock a try. A big hit in its native land when it premiered two years ago, the Steven Moffat co-created series -- which brings Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's classic sleuth Sherlock Holmes fully into the modern day -- had a successful run on PBS's Masterpiece Mystery franchise in late 2010. Now, it's back for a second batch of three 90-minute episodes, which kicked off last night with "A Scandal in Belgravia." Yes, we know Sunday is a busy night for television and everything, but if you don't already have Sherlock on your DVR, here are five reasons to add it right away:

Based on your feelings towards the original The Office, Extras and Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant's dark British humor in general, you can pretty much precisely predict how you're going to feel about Warwick Davis-starring Life's Too Short on HBO. After watching the first three episodes, I'd also factor in your thoughts on Curb Your Enthusiasm, Gervais' Golden Globe shtick and how much you really liked Willow. Proceed from there.

The second episode of Downton Abbey's second season literally brought the war home, as the Crawley clan began sharing their opulent house with a legion of wounded soldiers in desperate need of a peaceful place to convalesce. But with all the tensions running through Downton at the moment, those poor guys might find more relaxation back in the trenches. Here are the biggest feuds that are currently making life in the house difficult.

Normal is not a word ever really used to describe the AbFab ladies, but that's exactly what last night's reunion special felt like: normal... by their standards, at least. The ladies were up to their typical antics with Saffy shooting disparaging looks at her mother -- if it hadn't been for Bubble trying to use an iPad and jokes about Twitter and Dubstep, I would just have thought this was an ordinary lost episode, instead of the show's 20-anniversary special.

Right now we're inundated with shows that feature celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay. Not only is Hell's Kitchen on several nights a week, but thanks to Masterchef and Kitchen Nightmares, Fox pretty much has him on year-round. And BBC America airs the UK version of Kitchen Nightmares as well. It's a whole lot of Gordon Ramsay to deal with. So when I saw that the second season of another show of his was airing on BBCA, I was less than enthused, to say the least. But then after my mother (a lover of all shows Ramsay) watched several episodes and raved about them, I felt compelled to at the very least check it out. You know how moms can be.

It's not exactly a secret that I love Torchwood and that I was impatiently waiting for Friday night's season premiere. While there were some moments that were fantastic, a lot of it felt like set-up and left me underwhelmed. It seems like this 10-episode arc is trying too hard to bring in a new audience by debuting in the US on Starz before airing in the UK and moving the setting of the show stateside as well. Because of that, this isn't exactly the same show that I've loved all along. Then again, this episode didn't exactly make it easy for new viewers to jump right in. So its somewhere in the middle of the road and hopefully in the second episode they'll pick up the pace, get their groove back and everyone will have a clue what the hell is going on.

The royal wedding of Kate Middleton and Prince William may have been over-hyped, but let's face it, it's like the Super Bowl for girls, gays and Brits and it only happens once in a blue moon, so how could we not get up at the crack of dawn to watch the breathless TV coverage? (It was also good preparation for how we'll have to wake up in the wee hours to watch the pentathlons, swimming competitions and rhythmic gymnastics from next year's Olympics in London.) If you opted to sleep in, here's what you missed:

It seems like the entire world is focused on the upcoming wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton, but we don't see what all the fuss is about. Sure, the British royals are occasionally great entertainment when they're being all majestic or scandalous, but they've got nothing on the royal families of Westeros. HBO's racy new fantasy series Game of Thrones will see your royal wedding and raise you an arranged marriage, an incestuous dalliance and a murder plot, and that's all in the first two episodes. Here are some traditions that the Windsors might want to consider adapting from Game of Thrones: