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I don't like the detrimental way he says Dame Maggie is a handful. She is a National Treasure she's allowed to be a handful. Anyway I'm not liking a character being killed of, as it could be "Granny", "Mary", "Matthew", "Bates" or "Carson" and I don't want it to be any of then. Actually I don't want it to be anyone apart from Thomas he's a pain.
Nigel Havers has revealed that he was "hacked off" about not being cast in the first two series of ITV1's Downton Abbey.
The actor, who is a longtime friend of the period drama's creator Julian Fellowes, spoke of his relief at being asked to play Lord Hepworth in last year's Christmas special.
"I've known Julian Fellowes all of my life so I was really hacked off that he didn't ask me to be in it in the first place, but now I've finally been asked to be in it, it's really nice," he told Lorraine.
Havers is currently starring in ITV1 soap Coronation Street as male escort Lewis Archer.
"Being in Coronation Street has been one of the highlights of my career," he said.
"It was a big honour when I was asked to go on. I said, 'God, I'd love to go on, I'll do it straight away'."
He added: "I was very nervous and I was amazed by the street because the houses are two-thirds of the actual height. I love doing it."
Havers recently said that he was unsure about the future of his character Lewis Archer in the soap.
Meanwhile, Downton Abbey executive producer Rebecca Eaton has revealed that a major character will die in the show's third series.
Dame Maggie Smith has reportedly told Downton Abbey creator Julian Fellowes that the third series of the popular show will be her last. :(
A source informed the Daily Mail that the 77-year-old actress has asked to be written out of the show in order to "pursue other roles" on the big screen and stage.
"She is filming until August and then wants to leave, going out on a high. She thinks that three series is enough and she wants to get back to the stage and big screen," the source said.
The actress plays the Dowager Countess on the show, a character that is well liked for her witty one-liners.
Fellowes is reportedly still completing the plotline of the upcoming series, though executive producer Rebecca Eaton has revealed that a character who is "pretty key in the cast" will die.
Other cast members including Dan Stevens, who plays Matthew Crawley on the programme, were said to be stalling on contracts last month.
The source added: "She is keen to pursue other roles so Julian is preparing to write her out. He [Fellowes] always has several endings so it won't be too difficult for him, but losing Maggie will be a great loss."
Downton Abbey returns this summer on ITV in the UK and PBS in the US.
Hmmmm......Quote:
Originally Posted by Perdita
Producers of the hit drama Downton Abbey have denied reports that Dame Maggie Smith is to leave the show.
It was earlier reported that the veteran actress has asked showrunner Julian Fellowes to write her fan favourite character out of the third series to free up time for her movie and stage pursuits.
The LA Times now reports that a representative from Carnival Films, which produces the Julian Fellowes-created programme, is now denying the actress's departure.
The spokesperson says: "Series three is currently filming with Maggie along with the other cast. We do not comment on future storylines. However, there is no truth in the story that Maggie is leaving the show."
It was earlier revealed by producer Kate Beaton that the third series of Downton Abbey will have a major character death, which some speculated to be Smith's character.
The third series will see Shirley MacLaine joining the cast. The actress has signed on to play the mother of Lady Grantham.
Downton Abbey will return to screens later this year on ITV1 in the UK and on PBS in the US.
Downton Abbey star Elizabeth McGovern has admitted to feeling underwhelmed by the show's second series.
The actress, who plays Lady Cora Grantham, said that the ITV period drama wasn't fully equipped to tackle the gravity of WWI.
"There is a slightly different tone to the second season," she explained to LA Times. "It's kind of a taste thing. And the show in the first season was more to my taste than the show in the second season.
"[We had to] deal with this huge elephant. In some ways, Downton Abbey wasn't set up for that."
It has been announced that Shirley MacLaine will portray Lady Grantham's mother in the upcoming third series.
Ed Speleers, War Horse's Matt Milne, Cara Theobald and Lucille Sharp have also joined the Downton Abbey cast.
IT’S an Abbey day in Downton as wedding scenes are filmed.
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Sir Anthony, played by Robert Bathurst, is seen strolling with a parish priest.
Last series Lady Mary accepted a proposal from Matthew Crawley, but clues hint that it may be Lady Edith Crawley and Sir Anthony Strallen that will tie the knot.
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All dressed up ... Elizabeth McGovern who plays The Right Honourable Cora Crawley, Countess of Grantham
Lady Edith, played by Laura Carmichael who is not pictured here, is more used to having romantic attention given to her siblings, but it seems that is finally her time to wed.
The cast have been filming in Bampton, Oxfordshire.
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Suits you ... Charles Carson who plays Jim Carter
Other members of the cast to take part included Dame Maggie Smith, as the Dowager Countess and housemaid Anna, played by Joanne Froggatt.
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Hat's glamorous ... housemaid Anna played by Joanne Froggatt
Rex
The show returns to screens in September.
Downton Abbey star Brendan Coyle has admitted that he is not opposed to a film version.
Rumours of a movie based on the hit period drama, in which Coyle plays valet Mr. Bates, have recently circulated.
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"If it's a great, great script, [I'd do it]," said Coyle during a recent press call for his new Sky1 drama Starlings. "You'd have to regard it on its own merit at the time.
"It's a good idea. [Julian Fellowes] is a terrific writer, so it would have to be something, I imagine, completely removed from the series."
Coyle admitted that he has no clue what has led Downton to become a "cultural phenomenon".
"I don't know what tipped it over," he said. "Nobody does. There's always theories that in times of austerity we look to nostalgia for comfort. There's all those social theories.
"There's [also] something about the open-ended, rolling nature of the story lines. You don't know what is going to happen, it's not finite in the same way a classic novel is, so... you get engaged in it in a different way."
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Downton Abbey star Hugh Bonneville (Robert Crawley) has dismissed speculation that a film version is currently in the works.
"Julian Fellowes was at the Golden Globes and was... in conversation with people who work in films," he explained. "But to deduce from that that there is going to be a movie is a step too far. We'll have to do series three first and see what happens."
Coyle will next be seen in Sky1's Starlings which begins on Sunday (May 13) at 8pm.
Downton Abbey airs on ITV1 in the UK and on PBS in the US.
We haven't got that long to wait for the new series. only four months.
four months can seem a loooooong time :(Quote:
Originally Posted by Chloe O'brien