Downton Abbey

[Perdita]

Rob James-Collier has been confirmed for upcoming ITV1 costume drama Downton Abbey.

The actor, who played Liam Connor in Coronation Street, has been cast alongside Dame Maggie Smith.

Collier also joins Benidorm actress Siobhan Finneran, Joanne Froggatt, Hugh Bonneville, Penelope Wilton and Jim Carter.

The drama, said to be a subtle remake of Upstairs, Downstairs, has been written by Oscar-winning scribe Julian Fellowes.

Fellowes told What's On TV: "In 1912, England was teetering on the brink. Apparently placid, still rooted in the traditions of many centuries, it would be less than ten years before the First World War and the Jazz age had ripped every certainty to shreds.

"This is the moment when we enter the world of Downton Abbey, the great house of a great family, where the Granthams and their daughters preside over a household in the charge of Carson, the butler, and Mrs Hughes, the housekeeper. All these people must, in their different ways, deal with the changes that are coming."

ITV's director of drama Laura Mackie said: "We're delighted with the stellar cast who have come together for Downton Abbey. It's testament to the quality of Julian's wonderful scripts and the calibre of the production team that some of the brightest and best of the UK's leading actors have come on board."

The show, which is seven episodes long, plans to launch with a special 90-minute film in the autumn.

[tammyy2j]

I cant really see Rob James-Collier in a costume drama

[Perdita]

Rob James-Collier has revealed that it was his idea to add a gay kiss into a scene in his new ITV show.

The former Coronation Street actor will play 'greedy' footman Thomas in new costume drama series Downton Abbey.

"It's a dream job because it’s completely the other side of the spectrum, particularly as it carries on," the actor told the Manchester Evening News. "My character gets nastier."

He admitted that it was his idea for Thomas to kiss a visiting Duke, played by Charlie Cox, in the first episode.

"It wasn't actually in the scene but at the second rehearsal it dawned on me that there was a moment missing and we could improve it," he said. "I'm sure my friends back in Manchester will have a few things to say. But you play a character who happens to be gay. It's not an issue."

James-Collier confessed that he had found the kiss easier to film than on-screen embraces with female co-stars.

"When you're kissing a woman and you want it to look realistic, you're thinking, 'Am I taking advantage of her? Is her boyfriend going to think I'm over-stepping the mark?'" he said.

"Whereas when you are kissing a man, those thoughts don't cross your mind. I'm more scared of it looking false, so I went for it fully to make it look real and hopefully I've achieved that."

The 33-year-old added that he is not sure how Coronation Street viewers will react to his new role.

He said: "I don't know if Coronation Street fans will be shocked. I want to show myself in a different light. Before Coronation Street I was a jobbing actor and after it I'm a jobbing actor again. You're in different parts all the time and people have to twig that it's not real."

[Dazzle]

Aww, I'm looking forward to seeing Rob James-Collier again, especially since his character in this sounds very different from Liam in Corrie.

[Perdita]

Sunday, 26 September 2010, 9:00PM - 10:30PM

Set in an Edwardian country house in 1912, Downton Abbey portrays the lives of the Crawley family and the servants who work for them.

ITV’s new costume drama series, Downton Abbey, written and created by Oscar-winning writer Julian Fellowes and made by Carnival Films for ITV stars Maggie Smith as Violet, Dowager Countess of Grantham, Hugh Bonneville as Robert, Earl of Grantham and Elizabeth McGovern as Robert’s wife, Cora, Countess of Grantham.


They lead an all-star cast, which also includes Penelope Wilton, Dan Stevens, Michelle Dockery,Jim Carter, Phyllis Logan, Lesley Nicol, Siobhan Finneran, Rob James-Collier, Joanne Froggatt, as well as new and emerging actors, Rose Leslie, Sophie McShera, Laura Carmichael, Jessica Brown Findlay and Thomas Howes.

Guest artists include Robert Bathurst, Samantha Bond, Allen Leech, David Robb, Brendan Patrick and Theo James.


EPISODE ONE:

As Daisy the kitchenmaid opens up the house a telegram is delivered. It is 16th April 1912 and the Titanic has gone down, taking with it Lord Grantham’s heir, James Crawley, and his son, Patrick. So who is the new heir? Not just to the earldom but to Downton Abbey, itself, which is entailed to the title. Violet, the Dowager Countess, assumes Robert, the present Earl, will break the entail and make an heiress of his eldest daughter, Mary, but Robert is not so sure. To make matters worse, his wife, Cora, has her own money tied up in the estate, and there is no way to extract it without crippling Downton. Even if Robert could break the entail, or take Cora’s money out of it, would he want to?


Below stairs, a new valet, John Bates, arrives. Bates was Robert’s batman during the Boer War and Robert welcomes him. However, he looks as shocked as the rest of the servants when he sees Bates’s limp. Will this hamper his duties? Cora’s maid, O’Brien, and first footman, Thomas, who wanted Bates’s job, deliberately try to sabotage his first days at work.


Mary was supposed to marry the heir, the late Patrick Crawley, but his death has freed her to move on. She believes her own prospects have changed for the better, and now she angles to catch the young Duke of Crowborough. Her sister, Edith, was in love with Patrick and seethes with resentment towards Mary. The Duke arrives at Downton, ostensibly to present his condolences, but after dinner he requests an interview with Robert, presumably to ask for Mary’s hand. But when he learns that Robert is not
intending to challenge the entail he withdraws his offer, without ever in fact making it. It was Thomas who bought the Duke to Downton, luring him with the prospect of the Grantham money. He and Thomas shared a summer dalliance and Thomas intends to use this to further his own career, blackmailing the Duke with his own letters if he has to. However, the Duke is one step ahead of Thomas who can only watch as the incriminating pages go up in flames.


Meanwhile, Robert informs Bates that his disability is interfering with his work and he will have to go. Bates seems to take the news well, but the Head Housemaid, Anna, hears him crying in his room. However, as Crowborough leaves Robert finds himself unable to let Bates down in this way, and to the amazement of Cora and the servants he asks the valet to stay.


Mary’s fury is matched by Cora’s surprise when they realise Robert has made up his mind and will not challenge the entail. He has discovered the identity of his new heir, a distant cousin, and intends to write to the young man and invite him to Downton.

[tammyy2j]