Downton Abbey

[Chloe O'brien]

Rubbish there are loads of viewers who will want to watch both these quality dramas. It's okay if you have Sky or Cable tv, but what if you only have council telly.

[Dazzle]

If you have freeview, you could watch Spooks at 9 and Downton Abbey at 10 on ITV1+1, which is what I plan to do. It's really silly putting two such good, homegrown dramas up against each other.

[Chloe O'brien]

It's cool I have cable and plan to watch Spooks then catch up with Downton Abbey on ITV+1 at 10pm. I'm just hacked off that they have put the two shows up against each other.

[Perdita]

Downton Abbey creator Julian Fellowes has admitted that he should not have got "the hump" when viewers pointed out a string of historical inaccuracies in the hit period drama.
The 62-year-old has been filming a second series of Downton Abbey with Hugh Bonneville and Dame Maggie Smith among its cast, after the first became a ratings hit, attracting 11 million viewers for the final episode.
But viewers spotted apparent anachronisms - such as the use of the word boyfriend, the sight of a TV aerial fixed to a home, a modern-style conservatory and double yellow lines on a road - in the first series.
Fellowes, the drama's writer and executive producer, had lashed out at those highlighting the inaccuracies, saying: "The real problem is with people who are insecure socially."
He added: "They think to show how smart they are by picking holes in the programme to promote their own poshness and to show that their knowledge is greater than your knowledge."
Now he has told the Radio Times that it was "sloppy" to have let the TV aerial slip through in the ITV1 drama.
The Oscar-winning Gosford Park screenwriter said complainants were not always correct, citing the use of the word boyfriend, which he says was in print in 1889, so would have been in speech before that.
"But," he told the Radio Times, "I thought I behaved rather badly by getting the hump."
Asked whether he anticipated the drama's popularity, Fellowes said: "I thought we'd made a good show and people would enjoy it, but it was extraordinary. We were playing to something like a third of the adult population.
"I mean, nobody could expect that level of success, except for Simon Cowell. It was completely mad."

PA

[Perdita]

Sunday, 25 September 2011, 9:00PM - 10:15PM
Drama


April 1917

With most of the male staff serving at the front, Carson, finds himself under pressure to ensure the duties are carried out to his exacting standard, which causes him undue strain. Much to his horror he finds himself forced to accept help in the dining room from the female staff.

With Bates gone, Robert has hired a new valet, Lang (Cal Macaninch), who has just returned from the war. Something is not quite right with him and uncharacteristically it is O’Brien who shows a more compassionate side of her nature when she is the only one to recognise the problem.

However, O’Brien’s true nature is never far from the surface and she is determined to get her old ally Thomas a job back at Downton by whatever means she can, even if it means manipulating her Ladyship.

William is delighted when he receives an important letter and Mrs Patmore learns some devastating news about her nephew that rocks her to the core.

Having returned from the front under dubious circumstances Thomas begins work alongside Lady Sybil in the local hospital. When a patient comes in suffering from gas blindness Thomas finds himself becoming attached to the handsome young Lieutenant. But his admiration soon turns to despair when events take a turn for the worse.

With Bates out of the picture the Crawley’s butler Molesley (Kevin Doyle) takes an interest in Anna. Will she be tempted to try to find love again?

Having learnt to drive, Edith offers her services to one of the estates’ tenants who no longer has anyone to drive his tractor or tend the land. Finally Edith has a purpose and can contribute to the war effort. However, this fulfilment is short-lived and she is bitterly disappointed when she hears suddenly that her services are no longer required!

In the trenches, Matthew (now a Captain) is informed of his temporary transfer back to England for a recruitment drive in the north. A visit to Downton will certainly be on the cards but new visitors to the house will open old wounds for Matthew.

Meanwhile Carson tells Mary that if she still loves Matthew she has a duty to tell him before it is too late, but will Mary take his advice?

Elsewhere, Rosamund (Samantha Bond) and Violet take a dislike to Sir Richard Carlisle and after hearing him argue with Matthew’s fiancé Lavinia in the gardens, Rosamund endeavours to discover just how they are acquainted.

[layla]

Looking forward to the new series. It's nice to have some decent viewing. I know not every one has catch up TV. and I player. ITV+1 is good. At least we have the opportunity to catch up if we miss a program. Years ago, we would have just missed them.

[Perdita]

DOWNTON Abbey actress Amy Nuttall has revealed her employment with the Crawley family is to be short-lived.

The redhead is to join the series as naughty housemaid Ethel Parks — who causes ructions in the house that lead to her downfall.

The 29-year-old features in the second outing of the hit ITV1 period drama, where the storyline begins on the eve of World War I.

The actress — who played Chloe Atkinson in Emmerdale — joins the posh family's staff as a know-it-all servant and quickly makes herself unpopular within the aristocratic household.

Amy describes Downton as "the best job I have worked on" — despite five years as Chloe and a career in musicals that saw her play Eliza Doolittle in My Fair Lady.

Amy admitted it was not easy to join a hit show like Downton with strong established characters.

The drama returns to ITV1 on Sunday night featuring Dame Maggie Smith as Violet, the Dowager Countess of Grantham.

She is part of a family with a history of nobility who are kept afloat by a "downstairs army" of staff.

Amy said of making the series: "It was thrilling and terrifying — a mixture of emotions.


"I felt like a proper new girl on her first day at school with an already close-knit family that have made the series so successful.

"But they have all welcomed me with open arms.

"Added to that, on my very first day I was filming a scene with Maggie Smith which made it all the more terrifying."

But despite her initial nerves she was full of praise for the star.

She said of screen veteran Maggie: "She's lovely. It was more about me being in awe of the people I was working with.

"She has said some lovely things and is definitely the mother of the cast so it's been great fun."

TV Biz will not reveal how Amy's character Ethel comes a cropper — but she will NOT be returning for series three.

Coy Amy said: "I am not optioned for a third series, only the second, so that might give you an indication of where my character goes."

Meanwhile genealogists have discovered that Dame Maggie herself comes from a family who had a servant. Her paternal grandmother was Kate Gregory, who as a child worked as a shoe-machinist. Her great-grandparents Charles Nathaniel Gregory and Susan Jones worked as a shoe-maker and shoe-fitter.

The 1891 Census reveals that the family had a 19-year-old servant, Kate Rogers, who lived with them in their Newcastle home and provided general domestic duties.

Rhoda Breakell, head of Genesreunited.co.uk, said: "Life for Downton's Violet Crawley may not be a bed of roses with the trials and tribulations of her family, but she receives a lot of support from her servants.

"It is interesting that Dame Maggie Smith's ancestors also had a servant in their household.

"Perhaps it is her family history that the actress draws upon for inspiration in the role.


"The comparison also demonstrates how it was not only the upper classes and those who lived in large English stately homes who had servants, but the middle classes as well. Many of us today would probably be surprised to find our ancestors had domestic help."

- ITV has dedicated most of Sunday to Downton Abbey. The last episode of the first series will be shown at 3.05pm so fans can watch its dramatic conclusion before settling down to some series specials.

Countrywise: The Real Downton Abbey at 6pm takes a look at the real star of the show, the amazing stately home.

At 9pm the new series begins, set two years on from the first, with the family facing the looming spectre of war.


http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage...-downfall.html

[Chloe O'brien]

So Amy's character dies then at some point? I will need to watch this at 10pm as at 9 I will be tuned into Spooks.

[parkerman]

I will need to watch this at 10pm as at 9 I will be tuned into Spooks.

Me too. It's the best way to do it; watch BBC live and record ITV because you can cut out the adverts then!

[Perdita]

The creator of Downton Abbey has revealed that he is in love with Lady Mary Crawley.

Julian Fellowes, who recently brought back the costume drama after achieving an audience of 11 million viewers for the last episode of the first series, said that the character played by Michelle Dockery appeals to him because she is tough and almost "cold".

When asked if he is in love with Mary, he told the Radio Times: "Yes. I like strong, good-looking women and there's something about - not coldness, exactly, but there's something about the lack of needing to be liked which, when it's coupled with very good looks and confidence, is, I think, tremendously attractive."

Fellowes also admitted that he "loves" Bates, saying of the mysterious link between him and the Earl: "I'm sort of deferring clarifying their shared past because I'm enjoying that. [It will be] more touching than sinister."

He said that there is "lots" in store for Bates and Anna, adding: "The main thing is the war and how war changes them all, even those at home, and they all develop as people and become more self-aware. Unless you have a nuclear bomb go off, there's always an opening [for another series]."

Fellowes also revealed that in the next season of Downton Abbey, Edith will "become nicer", explaining that "she finds a sort of kindness in herself, as well as a role in life".