I had my hand over my mouth saying oh God he's alright :cheer:Quote:
Originally Posted by moonstorm
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I had my hand over my mouth saying oh God he's alright :cheer:Quote:
Originally Posted by moonstorm
God what big softies we are!
Julian Fellowes has suggested that Downton Abbey will end in 2012.
Speaking to the Radio Times, the creator of the hit ITV1 show declared that he has always planned to write three series.
The writer explained: "The original concept in my optimistic head was for the first series to start towards the end of the Edwardian era, the second to be set during World War I and the third in the 1920s.
"In the '20s there are big changes, new inventions, different expectations I can't wait to explore."
Fellowes also revealed that he is confident ITV will recommission the drama for another series, adding: "I would like to think that we will be back next year."
According to a recent report, ITV will air Downton Abbey's planned festive special on Christmas Day.
Ooh, it's an emotional visit to Downton Abbey this week. After the last episode's close call, William and Matthew are back at the Front. And what will happen to Ethel now that she's gone and got pregnant?
You'll just have to wait until Sunday to find out, but if you want some hints in the meantime then read on for our ten teasers about the instalment...
1. The Dowager Countess sure knows how to get things done. She even uses a telephone (and it's a sight to behold).
2. "I'm ashamed. I'm so ashamed."
3. O'Brien might just regret her meddling and scheming for once.
4. Things are so bad that the Earl of Grantham almost lets slip a profanity. Oo-er!
5. An engagement is announced. Separately, a wedding is planned. And somewhere else, there's a break-up.
6. "Sometimes a hard sacrifice must be made for a future that's worth having."
7. Mrs Hughes might have softened a bit towards Ethel. Not much, mind.
8. "I don't think asking permission is his strongest suit."
9. Say hello to a new housemaid.
10. There are tears. And lots of them.
I was looking on the Radio times website to see what was on next weekend and had a peek at next week's episode. Wish I hadn't bothered :crying:
Sunday, 30 October 2011, 9:00PM - 10:15PM
As the storms of war clear will life ever be the same again at Downton? A new development stuns the family. How long can Sybil and Branson keep their secret? Carlisle puts Anna in a difficult position, Bates is reeling from the news about Vera and Thomas embarks on a new money making scheme.
Its official I hate Julian Fellows. How could he cause Mary and Matthew so much heartache. For God's how can she not just tell him she loves him and put me out of my misery :D. And as for William and Daisy well we knew it was going to end in tears. There has to be some happiness going to happen this series.
Sunday, 6 November 2011, 9:00PM - 10:30PM
Series finale:
With the wedding approaching there’s excitement in the air but will Branson’s plans rattle everyone? Spanish Flu reaches Downton and a desperate Thomas looks for a way to re-establish himself.
Ethel faces a dilemma when the Bryants return with a heartbreaking proposition and a decisive Anna forces Bates to think about their future.
The inhabitants of Downton Abbey may have survived the horrors of the Great War, but now they find themselves at the centre of a new life and death struggle.
In the drama's emotionally-charged finale, to be screened next Sunday, the Spanish flu pandemic that killed more than 50 million people between 1918 and 1920 causes heartbreak for the aristocratic Crawley family and their servants.
The drama's ten million fans will be on tenterhooks as several characters, including Cora, Countess of Grantham, played by Elizabeth McGovern; Matthew Crawley's fiancée Lavinia Swire, played by Zoe Boyle; and Carson the butler, played by Jim Carter, all fall victim to the potentially fatal condition.
The Mail on Sunday has seen the last episode of the hit ITV drama but has decided to keep the precise details of the plot under wraps.
But the storyline, which draws upon the real-life history of Highclere Castle, where the show is filmed, means life at Downton Abbey will be transformed forever.
The illness first makes its presence felt as both the upstairs and downstairs inhabitants of the household are preparing for a dinner party.
Robert Crawley, the Earl of Grantham, played by Hugh Bonneville, bemoans the fact that 'everyone is falling like ninepins'.
And Downton's housekeeper Mrs Hughes, played by Phyllis Logan, remarks that 'we are quite the hospital again', in reference to the fact that Downton Abbey looked after injured officers during the war.
But some of the most poignant scenes involve Sarah O'Brien, Cora's devoted lady's maid, played by Siobhan Finneran, who stages a bedside vigil for her sick mistress.
Cora's exposure to the illness is similar to that of Highclere's onetime chatelaine Almina, the fifth Countess of Carnarvon, who was struck down in 1918.
Almina contracted the condition while nursing wounded officers in a London hospital that she ran. Although she subsequently recovered, some of her patients and high society associates were not so lucky.
The current Countess of Carnarvon has revealed Almina's infection in her book Lady Almina And The Real Downton Abbey: The Lost Legacy Of Highclere Castle.
She told The Mail on Sunday: 'Almina did contract Spanish flu while she was in close contact with some of her wounded patients in London.
'Many of those men in her care were infected with the condition and she did not appreciate that her close proximity to them was also placing her in danger. People did not know so much about those things then.'
She added: 'Almina was particularly vulnerable because she was left so weak and exhausted by her work looking after the wounded. She was tireless on their behalf.'
It is not clear how the illness arrives at Downton Abbey, but Cora came into contact with wounded officers when Downton was a wartime convalescent home.
The Spanish flu was an influenza pandemic that broke out in June 1918 and claimed anywhere between 50 million and 100 million lives around the world.
More than 500 million people were infected in total and the pandemic left its mark on such far-flung destinations as the Arctic and the remote Pacific Islands.
The disease, which earned its name after first making its mark on Southern
Europe, was not caused by the First World War, but did spread rapidly because so many men had spent so much time in close proximity with each other.
The powerful storyline in the series finale may appease those fans who feel the show has turned into a high class soap opera.
Some viewers feel that ITV made a mistake in commissioning a second season so quickly after the success of the first last year. They say the rapid turnaround means that some of the plot lines are bordering on the ridiculous.
One viewer wrote: ‘It has become Dynasty with hats, hasn’t it?’
But viewers can expect even more heartbreak with the screening of a Christmas special which includes a funeral and a wedding.
The funeral scene has already been shot at St Mary’s Church in the Oxfordshire village of Bampton, which provides Downton’s locations outside the Abbey.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz...#ixzz1cFvZehPs
Downton Abbey has been picked up for a third series by ITV. :cheer::cheer:
The hit period drama will return for another run of eight episodes, written by show creator Julian Fellowes.
The third series will be set in 1920 and 1921, and will cover a period of 18 months in the lives of the Crawley family and the servants who work for them.
"I am extremely grateful to ITV for this," said Fellowes. "I have grown very fond of my Downton family and I certainly do not want to say goodbye to them quite yet."
The second series of Downton - which concludes this Sunday on ITV1 - has achieved a consolidated average of 11.5 million viewers, making it the most popular drama series on UK television for over ten years.
"We're absolutely delighted to be bringing Downton Abbey back for a third series, as we follow the inhabitants of Downton as they move into the roaring '20s," said ITV's director of drama commissioning Laura Mackie.
"It's rare to find a drama that the audience connects with so strongly and we're extremely proud to have commissioned a series that has become such a phenomenon."
Maggie Smith, Hugh Bonneville, Elizabeth McGovern, Penelope Wilton, Jessica Findlay Brown, Lesley Nicol, Rob James-Collier, Joanne Froggatt and Brendan Coyle are among the show's stars.
Downton Abbey will also return for a festive special, to air on ITV1 this Christmas