[mmcnickle]

A series of Downton Abbey costs approx £12MM and reaches 13MM people in the UK alone[1].

The 2hr pilot episode of LOST cost $12MM[2]. Each episode of Game of Thrones has a budget of $6MM[3].

So no, they don't cost a lot of money to make, relatively speaking.

Edit: sources.

[1] http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/tvandradio/8717969/Trench...

[2] http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/1...

[3] http://www.contactmusic.com/news/game-of-thrones-costs-6-mil...

[garethadams]

(although Downton Abbey is an ITV programme)

[mmcnickle]

So it is, my mistake. I got it from a bad source[1]. I think the point still stands though; period dramas are relatively inexpensive to make.

[1] http://www.imdb.com/list/0hV86zyDCdo/