It made its cast members familiar faces, if not household names.
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“On first reading Mary in the first episode, she came across as a very cold person and very much a snob, and I think up until the incident with Pamuk, with the Turkish character”.
But that’s not the way in Britain, where Downton has already wrapped up and where television series often don’t last very long or have many episodes per season. Inspired by the upstairs-downstairs world he created as the writer of the film Gosford Park, for which he won an Academy Award, Julian Fellowes acted as the series sole writer during its 52 episode run.
On the sixth season premiere, a major theme was the change that was in the air, as the time of big country houses and a large staff appeared to be on the decline. The constant threats of downsizing still seem imminent and Lady Edith is even considering a move to London – but not without her big sister’s elaborate eye-rolling and jabs, (of course). “What you’ve now started to see is that very slowly in this last season the endless roadblocks will start to go and we will start to see their lives come right”.
And then there’s the possible takeover of the local hospital by a larger nearby hospital, which pits the Dowager Countess (Maggie Smith), who hates the idea, against cousin Isobel (Penelope Wilton), who sees value in synergy.
So what will happen on Episode 1 of Downton Abbey Season 6? Edith actually has a business.
Has Tom Branson left Downton in his rear-view mirror? Mrs. Hughes implores Mrs. Pattmore to talk to Mr. Carson on her behalf.
She remembers the script said something about her being “the middle child, the awkward child”, but little else. “And Violet has her talons sharpened”.
On a more positive note, the upcoming marriage between Carson and Downton housekeeper, Mrs. Hughes, now sets a sense of romance on Downton Abbey. “They are extremely good at what they do”. “Hence the scene when Robert /[Crawley/] stops the band at a garden party and announces that we are war with Germany”. Stories of transgender characters – or gay characters, or old characters, or any characters who fall short of the attractive/heteronormative standard – are well and good when they stay chaste and bloodless, when their struggles stay on the level of the theoretical and not the visceral.
Carter plays Mr. Carson, the butler and he was part of a junket on the East Coast, where he participated in a telephone interview with the Journal. Then, suddenly it stopped because the 20s was the beginning of the modern age. “But I was just delighted for the work”.
Viewers so loved the Mary-and-Matthew relationship that when Stevens told Fellowes he would be leaving when his three-season contract was up and Fellowes chose to kill off the beloved Matthew in the third-season finale, fans were in an uproar. “But you want to leave while people are still sorry” about the departure. For those of you that need a refresher: Mary and Tony shared a passionate night, which must not’ve been all that exciting because, shortly after, Lady Mary decided she just wasn’t that into him. Visiting an area estate auction, a one-time social peer warns the Crawleys, “This life is over for us”.
The actress just turned 82 (she was born December 28, 1934) and among her prizes are two Emmy wins (out of four noms) for “Downton“, and one Globe trophy (out of two noms) for the series. “We can’t let them down, you see”, the old man tells Barrow, who can barely hide his horror at the house’s decrepit state. Logan says she’s “taking time out to reflect and to catch up with normal life, friends and family and husbands and all that”.
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NEAME: I don’t think any more than previous years.
