Downton Abbey

[Perdita]

Michelle Dockery has revealed that there will be "a wedding, a funeral and a sex scene" in the new series of Downton Abbey.

However, the actress hinted that her alter ego Lady Mary will only feature in one of the three scenes in the Julian Fellowes period drama.

She revealed to Metro: "There's a wedding, a funeral and a sex scene. I'm in two - no, wait. I'm in one of those.

"The thing is, I can see people will think that I am involved in a particular one of those three, but I'm not. People will be really surprised.

"The incident with the Turkish diplomat comes back to haunt Mary in the second series. I can't tell you why, but it could literally bring down the whole of the Crawley family - it's huge."

Downton Abbey, which also stars Hugh Bonneville and Maggie Smith, returned a fortnight ago with huge ratings for ITV1 and continues this Sunday at 9pm.

[Perdita]

Rob James-Collier has said that he enjoys playing "evil" Thomas Barrow in Downton Abbey.

The former footman-turned-soldier has returned to Downton after his self-inflicted injury at war. Speaking to TV Times, the actor admitted that people affectionately boo him for the character's actions.

"The devil always has the better tunes!" James-Collier quipped, revealing that he had been bought an espresso coffee by a fan of the character.

"A man and his family bought me one for being evil. Evil is rewarded in this country! Basically I'd ordered it, and he paid for it! I should have ordered something else."

James-Collier continued: "I do have a bit of Thomas banter, too, with the ladies in the bank and post office of my local village. They boo me when I come in! But it's all affectionate and nice because it's good that your character has an effect on people."

The former Coronation Street star added: "Thomas definitely isn't dull. They don't actually believe I'm like him though, thankfully."

Downton Abbey continues on Sunday at 9pm on ITV1.

[Perdita]

ITV could win the Christmas Day ratings war for the first time in a decade with a feature-length special of Downton Abbey.

This year’s festive contest between the two major channels is expected to be even more hotly fought than usual, with BBC bosses desperately trying to decide what to pitch against the hit costume drama. Their attempt to derail the current series by running Spooks against it backfired earlier this month.

Now BBC1 schedulers must work out which weapons to use against the 90-minute special, which stars Hugh Bonneville as the Earl of Grantham.

Contenders include The Royle Family, a Christmas favourite which pulled in a respectable 10 million viewers last year.

Or the Beeb may rely on EastEnders – last year it drew the biggest audience of the day with 11.4 million. The yuletide plot will feature Pat Evans perishing in a house fire. That is meant to be a secret!!

Another possibility is a three-part special of Great Expectations, starring Ray Winstone.

If ITV bosses decide to screen Downton earlier than its normal 9pm slot, it could even find itself up against Doctor Who.

The BBC traditionally triumphs on Christmas Day – last year it screened eight out of 10 of the most watched shows. During peaktime hours, 6pm-10.30pm, the BBC got 39% of the audience, compared with ITV’s 23%.

A TV insider said: “A feature-length episode of Downton Abbey is likely to skew the figures considerably in ITV’s favour.”

Last night an ITV spokesman said that the Christmas Day scheduling was yet to be confirmed, saying only: “We are delighted that Downton Abbey will be part of ITV’s Christmas line-up.”

ITV has beaten the BBC in the Christmas Day peaktime ratings just twice in the past 27 years. In 1999 two editions of Who Wants to be a Christmas Millionaire? helped it to a narrow victory over BBC1, which suffered without former favourites Men Behaving Badly and Only Fools And Horses.

The following year the channel was again pipped by ITV1 after fewer viewers than anticipated watched Titanic.



Read more: http://www.mirror.co.uk/celebs/tv/20...#ixzz1ZPpcGzyR

[parkerman]

Perhaps they should put on the Morecambe and Wise Show followed by the Two Ronnies. Always worked for the BBC in my day!

[Perdita]

ITV1's hit drama series Downton Abbey has seen its audience slide in recent weeks amid criticism from viewers over excessive advertising breaks in the Sunday evening show.

Downton Abbey's second series launched on September 18 with nearly 9 million viewers, but dropped to just over 8.7m for the third episode last Sunday.

The ratings decline is relatively minor, but it is in stark contrast to the show's steady rise over the last series and comes despite the programme enjoying recent awards success at the US Emmys.

The Daily Mail reports that viewers are upset over the amount of advertising breaks in the drama, particularly that the final part of one episode lasted only three minutes, including a highlights clip of next week's broadcast.

One viewer complained: "Nice of ITV to broadcast a bit of Downton Abbey in between the ad breaks."

Another added: "These bloody adverts drive you mad. Each one is over four minutes long and the last one was five minutes from the end."

Viewers have also complained that the launch episode of Downton Abbey was marred by a series of advertising idents run by insurance giant Aviva.

The new eight-part series of Downton Abbey features a 90-minute episode at the start and finish, with the middle episodes being 75 minutes. It is estimated that a 30-second ad slot during the programme would have cost up to £100,000.

An ITV spokesman denied that viewers have been put off by the adverts during Downton Abbey, pointing out that the show had a 36% share of the audience this Sunday, roughly the same as the previous two episodes.

He also claimed that the unexpected, record-breaking hot weather so far in October has led to TV viewing being down across all channels over the weekend.

"While the record breaking hot weather affected viewing to all television channels over the weekend, last Sunday's Downton Abbey was watched by exactly the same share of the overall television audience as the opening two episodes," the spokesman added.

"We're delighted that more viewers than ever are enjoying events from Downton with audience figures for the first three episodes this autumn up 20% on the first series."

[Chloe O'brien]

Perhaps they should put on the Morecambe and Wise Show followed by the Two Ronnies. Always worked for the BBC in my day!

Don't forget to add a bit of Tommy Cooper to the mix as well.

[parkerman]

Don't forget to add a bit of Tommy Cooper to the mix as well.

Now you're talking. If only, Chloe, if only....

[Perdita]

Sunday, 23 October 2011, 9:00PM - 10:15PM

1918

A wounded Canadian officer comes to Downton to recuperate and unsettles everything. He confides his secret to Lady Edith but what are his motives? Where will this leave the family?

Robert declares that the ceasefire will begin on the 11th November. Isobel has plans for Downton to continue to help the war’s wounded in some way but Cora has other ideas.

Thomas continues his scheming, this time with encouragement from Mrs Patmore.

Elsewhere below stairs, Bates receives a phonecall, which sees him depart for London. With Robert’s warning to remain calm ringing in his ears, does Bates heed the Earl’s caution not to lose his temper with Vera?

Ethel is struggling to look after her baby. Mrs Hughes has been helping Ethel until she is discovered by Carson.

[Chloe O'brien]

You know me I'm not one to have a weep over the telly, but I admit I had a bit of a wobbily moment on Sunday night when Mary and Edith were singing and in walked Matthew and William.

[moonstorm]

OOOhhh, my eyes filled up too Chloe!