I miss Downton Abbey

I miss Ed Speleers.

Given that the Dowager Countess is the Patron Saint of DL, especially the Maiden Aunt Brigade, this comes as no surprise OP

I've been watching it on a friend's recommendation and I love it. It's the sort of middlebrow thing I would often sneer at, but I've become addicted. The Dowager Countess and Lady Mary are the best. There's a gay butler who apparently was added to prove that characters can be gay and yet be more boring than straight characters.

Oh yes, Ed Speelers. The sexual tension between him and the actor who played Thomas was off the charts.

When Edith finally told Lady Cunty what we'd all been thinking for six years.

Well, be of good cheer: The tacky Di Sarrano ad on television (some kind of bogus, 'favorite' Italian booze) uses background music that cribs heavily from the frantic, heavy-handed piano music used as the theme song for Downton. Perhaps the ad is merely seasonal. It's really stupid, though. So is the overwrought music.

It's Edith I can't stand. She's such a mope. I can understand why Lady Mary scorns her. I would too.

Edith was my favorite character.

I liked Edith, too. I felt like her running the newspaper would have made an interesting spin off but they chose the 'happily ever after' option instead.

Why did they have Mary dump Tony and end up with Henry? Tony was 10 times cuter than Henry.

I caught a couple of episodes over Christmas week and honestly I just loved the fashion. Those women wore some serious period costumes. And of course the Abbey and the Dowager's house, etc. Love it all.

Most TV shows and movies do a poor job of capturing period fashion and especially hair styles, so it is great that Downton Abbey is so accurate with them. I loved how everyone was shocked when Mary bobbed her hair.

R9, given Edith's propensity for moping and self-pity, it is really hard to picture her being able to successfully run a magazine for an extended period. Mary perhaps, but not Edith. It wouldn't run true to the character, and I think the writers realized that.

Why was Elizabeth McGovern cast? She's the weakest link in the whole ensemble.

The Shirley MacClaine episodes were a disaster. Like all series I'm done after two years, three at the most.

So was Thomas the gay butler a top or a bottom?

I miss hearing the opening theme song Sunday nights.

... and I want to consume Allen Leech in one gulp.

OP = Cockgobbler Aaron Schock

R16 it's on Amazon. You can watch it any time.

R17, this is for you. The time Allen Leech gave great bulge.

I'd pay money if they'd do more "Uptown Downstairs Abbey".

R20 - God Bless Us, Everyone!

Maggie Smith - being sexy. Getting old sucks. Nice legs and tits.

WHET Mr. Pamuk?

[quote] Why did they have Mary dump Tony and end up with Henry? Tony was 10 times cuter than Henry.

Because Tony and Charles had more chemistry with each other than with Scary Mary.

Interesting that both Edith and Mary started off with two good looking guys and ended up with two bland ones.

Mr. Pamuk is Theo James and his career hasn't necessarily been very successful. He was in the Divergent series with Shailene Woodley, and he made a couple Underworld movies with werewolves and vampires, but he has had a lackluster career and you have to wonder because he is seriously hot.

I miss the show too. This is the time of year that a new season would be starting in the U.S. I am full on "Team Mary" . Edith was a mope and Mary had to be the tough one to take on second lead in family. My view is that Mary should have ended the series alone, forsaking all men. The closing scene for series should have been her walking towards house in the distance, pledging herself to the land and the family, as the camera pulls way back showing her alone on the great lawn.

Allen Leech shirtless. Yummy!

I was able to get it on Amazon Prime, so I watch all of Season one this past week. Love it. And I would have been pissed off at Edith too had I been Mary. Edith wrote to the Turkish Ambassador telling him her sister was fucking Pamuk and he died under suspicious circumstances. It almost destroyed Mary's reputation. Just last night I watched the scene where Evelyn Napier came to call on Lady Mary when she was in London ( and had very few social invitations) after he cancelled his engagement to someone else, and he was the one who told her about the vicious gossip circulating about her, and he had discovered its source. He told Lady Mary the reason why the gossip wouldn't die and why it had such credibility, was because the Turkish Ambassador had confided in Napier that it was Edith who was the source of it. What an ugly thing to do.

I think most of the cast miss it too.

Evelyn Napier was hot.

I was struck at how lean and muscular Alan Leach was in the early episodes. I feel bad for Rob James Collier. He's a fine actor and I don't think he's done much since Dowton. I think Lord Grantham and Lady Mary have been the most successful. And of course the Dowager.

Allen Leech is one of those beautiful men who looked as good husky and beefy as he did lean and muscular. I wanted to eat that ass for days.

I never watched it (though I know it was a big hit, and discussed on DL, too). I guess it will give me something to binge on when I get around to it.

I already feel like the movie will be lame. I don't know where they could go with the characters at this point.

They should have had some kind of spin off, not a movie.

[quote] I already feel like the movie will be lame. I don't know where they could go with the characters at this point.

Yeah, exactly, If we want to be honest they stretched a year of story out over the last three seasons. It was already out of gas.

The only two things they could really do is lose the estate and/or lose everything in the Depression.

Watch the Crown! It even has a couple of the same actors.

Dang, those two are cuties

Here's another

It was a fairly bad show, nothing other than a poorly written soap. Given the hype I was expecting it to be something better than it was.

The spinoff should’ve been the Levenson’s in NY.

Get a whiff of Our lady of High Standards at R44.

Well, World WW 2 was looming on the horizon,the abdication of the Prince of Wales, the Great Depression, the rise of Churchill...and the Nazi sympathizers in Great Britain, etc. so there was certainly a lot going on. I felt they milked the Lady Mary finds a husband theme tooo far. I think there is certainly ample plot lines available to make a spin off series worthwhile if they go that way. Showing how world events impact one particular family would be interesting. But I'd much rather Julian Fellowes and his team stay away from it nd let the people who are doing The Crown have a go.

Think about it. The Dowager would be dead. Who else? And the remaining ones would be older. They'd have to kill a lot of the downstairs staff off, starting with Mrs. Pattmore and Carson, and dear god please don't bring back Anna and Bates. Ugh.

It's the truth. Compare the writing to Downton Abbey to the writing of The Crown.

It is a night and day difference. Don't fool yourself into thinking it was an intelligent show.

Which is fine, I enjoy plenty of things that are more lowbrow so I get it.

They're doing a movie?

Rumors of a movie are flying...supposedly to be shot this summer. Lady Edith could easily carry a spinoff with her life in London and her new castle. Daisy and Mrs. Patmore solving mysteries or in a comedy drama. Baxter and Moseley also could solve mysteries. The boys could have a spinoff with their auto dealership. Thomas with a partner. You arrogant New York queens should be visiting the big Downton Abbey exhibit which premiered in Singapore, not your precious new york.

The heavily-anticipated Downton Abbey movie could finally be heading into production, if a new interview from star Phyllis Logan is anything to go by.

Logan, who played housekeeper Mrs Hughes in the much-loved ITV period drama, recently told the Mail on Sunday that producers have been in touch with the show's cast, asking them to "clear their diaries" and working with them to coordinate a shooting time.

"Everyone’s been asked what’s going on between this date and that date,’ she told the newspaper. "So we just hope that all the elements – because there are so many – come together. To have a last hurrah with all the characters, going back to the castle and seeing all the old muckers will be fantastic. I’m certainly up for it."

Check out the original "Upstairs, Downstairs" series produced from 1971-1975. It's excellent.

[quote] Lady Prudence Fairfax

OMG, that name almost makes me wish I was a drag queen. I would totally adopt that as my drag pseudonym.

Several of them have moved to the states. Lesley Nicol (Mrs. Patmore) and Joanne Froggatt (Anna) both live in L.A.. And I think Brendan Coyle (Bates) lives in New York.

I'd love to see little Marigold in a "fank you for fixting my cheeseburger" scene.

Henry Talbot was a wimp.

Honestly, Mary.

R53, here's Lady Prudence Fairfax, who was played by the late Joan Benham:

I could totally work that look!

Downton Abbey, Mad Men, and Outlander all whipped up old white Americans into a nostalgic tizzy that ultimately led to the election of Trump.

They can't make the movie happen too far into the future. All the actors will look bad. When did the series end? I mean what year was it? 1920's? I seem to remember that it was the jazz age so roaring 20's?

[quote] There's a gay butler

I am NOT gay!

The series ended in 1925.

Thomas was the butler by the last episode.

Mrs Patmore and Daisy finally bump pussies.

I was sad when Ed Speleers left the show, he was one hot piece. I wish he would've just let Thomas nail him when Thomas snuck into his room that night. It would've been a much more interesting storyline.

He should have just opened his footman's trousers, let Thomas down on his knees in front of him, and thought of England.

All cats are gray, darling.

And why not show some hot Ed and Thomas ass...have Tom the former chauffeur show his juicy round ass. This show had many hot men. What about that tall guy who left to be a chef and the tall guy who liked daisy in season 6? Spratt could have serviced them all...giving us stateside queens something else to look forward to.

Dow-Uhn Abbey= Don't you people know how to talk?! I am born in Connecticut!

Beautiful production values. Good enough actors. Poorly written

I'm watching on Amazon Prime and just finished season 3, which includes the story line where Tom sneaks into Jimmy's room. Does Tom (or any other character) get any more action than that in later seasons?

All the lively characters left early- O'Brien, Lady Sybill, the one who was killed.....

I loved the music on the show.

It was amazing at first but, imo, it lost the plot at some point. Most shows get cancelled far too late and the quality suffers.

Mini-series is what the UK, and the US for that matter, does best.

You just know Allen Leech has a thick cock.

Allen Leech's bulge in motion

The biggest turn off for me is Anna and Bates. Ugh I cannot stand either of them. He makes my skin crawl and she makes me want to slap her viciously in the face.

Luckily they're a lot livelier in season six

I always wanted Branson and Lord Grantham to go at it.

With Thomas walking in, perhaps.

What seasons should I watch? Which are the best?

Or should I just watch it all?

1-3 are the most fun, R81.

Your mileage on seasons 4-6 will depend on your patience. 4 and 5 are mostly boring, especially as it concerns the relentless and constant sorrow of the Bateses, but S6 perks up a bit.

Thanks, R82!

Downton Abbey was basically a retread of Upstairs, Downstairs 1971. UD had superior writing though, and a more charismatic cast. Lord Bellamy was UD's Earl of Grantham, Mrs. Bridges was UD's Mrs. Patmore etc. Elizabeth Bellamy = Mary. The only casting that DA did better was Thomas - he was a hotter gay servant than poor Alfred.

The biggest misstep with UD was killing off Marjorie and DA did the same misstep by killing off Matthew- it did the show no favors by the endless plots and half plots of trying to marry Mary off again.

I remember Upstairs Downstairs being on TV all the time as a kid and never wanting to watch it. It looked dreary.

Upstairs Downstairs was before my time, and I tried to watch it, but like r85 said it was dreary. Also the production values were pretty cheap, and the dialogue stilted. I know a lot of old queens love that show, but it's definitely a generational thing.

Over the last two weeks I watched the entire series, I don't think there was a bad episode. I just have the series finale to watch and then I'll be very sad

Yeah, UD didn't have the budget for the sets and wardrobe that we are used to seeing. Pretty much any British television production of the same era had that "look" to it. But it was still a good show. It was before my time but I watched it all a few years ago on Netflix.

If you did watch UD, like R84 says, you'd see that Downton basically ripped off a ton of UD ideas and story lines: the gay footman, the stuffy butler, the cook always yelling at the kitchen maid, a death on the Titanic...I thought Lizzie was more like Sybil. There was also a niece/cousin brought in when the other characters got too boring.

Both of them had their story lines that dragged on too long (I couldn't stand Sarah on UD and didn't much care for any of the episodes that focused on her...) Despite this, I enjoyed both shows.

"If I shouted blue murder every time someone tried to kiss me at Eaton I'd have gone hoarse in a month"

Eton

[quote]I always wanted Branson and Lord Grantham to go at it.

I wanted to plant my face in Allen Leech's big round pasty white mick ass in the worst way. That little paddy was just delicious.

It should've gone on longer so that they could have had lots of opportunities to call Bates and Anna's son "Master Bates."

R84 you claim 'Downton' is ripped from 'UD' ideas and story lines: ...the cook always yelling at the kitchen maid, a death on the Titanic. etc etc.

Both are derivative from this 1933 Noel Coward film.

R84 you claim 'Downton' is ripped from 'UD' ideas and story lines: ...the cook always yelling at the kitchen maid, a death on the Titanic. etc etc.

Both are derivative from this 1933 Noel Coward film.

R84 you claim 'Downton' is ripped from 'UD' ideas and story lines: ...the cook always yelling at the kitchen maid, a death on the Titanic. etc etc.

Both are derivative from this 1933 Noel Coward film (below).

'Downton's writer says it was based on his own film 'Gosford Park' as well as the Mitford family

^ You are REPEATING yourself in order to make the point that most things on TV are REPEATS of something else.

R85 R86 R92 get it, I tried watching UD many years after if ran and thought it dull and very cheap looking. For a bit of fun with more lavish sets and better stories, try The Duchess of Duke Street. Based on real people. Not ax good ax Downtown, but a fun romp.

R96 - I completely forgot about Duchess of Duke Street

I liked the Duchess of Duke Street but Gemma Jones as the main character with her brash personality and that horrible way she spoke kinda got on my nerves. She was supposed to be some great beauty and Jones wasn't. I could let that slide because I don't think the actual woman the character was based on was a real looker either, but that personality when paired with her plain looks just didn't work when all of the men were supposed to be falling all over her. It was a distraction for me.

R98 you are exactly right. I did like the show, but Femme is plain/butch/borderline dyke and that cute hot royal would never gave dove into that pussy. If got kind of soapy ax time went on. I liked the dog. It is very fun to watch and moves fast.

Has anyone seen the French series Dolmen? Any good? I can't find it anywhere in my area.

Damn auto correct. G e m m a not femme. And Stevie not femme either.

Allen Leech was in "Rome". I guess I have to get it from Netflix to see if we get a glimpse of that fine Irish ass..

I wanted to pound Allen's ass so hard.

Hopefully, Bates and Anna will be killed off in a grease fire. I hope Mary will be able to torment edith.

Indeed, mrs patmore tries frying a whole leg of lamb and sloppily ends up frying up Anna and bates instead. That’s okay, he was a grimp anyway

I assume Cousin Peter was a homo.

Well I for one thought "Upstairs, Downstairs" was brilliant, with writing, acting and editing that compares easily with the best TV series. The episode where Edward the footman returns from World War I is possibly television's single best drama episode. The main theme of the series was the class system, but the series covered topics that were taboo or little-mentioned in the early 1970s including homosexuality.

they called him cousin nellie behind his back

Upstairs, Downstairs 2011 is crap.

Mr. Bates was a controlling prick. I hoped he killed Green and stayed in jail.

Oooh! I just finished watching Season 2 of Downton. Ser Jorah Mormont was a real control freak. He was menacing and threatening towards Mary, and even grabbed her arm in a violent way and pushed her against a pillar to make his points. Jealous guy too. All about the money and the power. He represented the "new" aristocracy. Vulgar rich men with no breeding and no breeding. No family history either. But it all ended with YOUng Matthew Crawley kneeling in the snow to ask for Mary's hand. Daisy the kitchen maid gets on my last nerve. Ugh.

Was hoping Victoria would be fun but it is terrible. Makes me miss Downton even more.

[quote] YOUng Matthew Crawley kneeling in the snow

The only reason he should have kneeled in the snow was to help Branson with his zipper.

Dan Stevens really slimmed down and got hot after he left DA. He was such a chunk-a-lunk on this show.

Allen picked up the weight Dan lost...

Spoilers, I guess:

Watching the first (the one with the duke?) episode led me to believe they would actually explore Thomas' sexuality as the series progressed and perhaps eventually have him find a lifelong "roommate" who would teach him about love and kindness. But no, he was just a proto emo who hates everything and each one of his storylines is about him suffering: the duke, the conversion therapy, the war, the unrequited love, etc. Thomas, the character who most despised life at Downton, who was constantly dreaming of an existence beyond servitude, is the one who in the end sticks around to spend the rest of his days as a butler? FFS.

Dan and Maggie were the stars of this show.

It all became a big silly soap after he left

I'm sorry, but it was a silly soap before he left. It's not like he exactly radiates gravitas.

^ Yes, it was soap.

The premise of the show was that there would be 20 characters and each of the 20 characters appealed to a particular emotion and a particular demographic.

And some of the plot contortions became ridiculously contrived.

It's a big contrast to that new Hammer/Chalamet movie has 3 characters and two emotions.

OMG I just watched as PoorEdith got jilted on her wedding day!!!!!! And Mrs. Hughes was dealing with the possibility of breast cancer. And Matthew found out he inherited money from Lavinia's father and he wanted to not accept it but Mary said he had to save Downton from bankruptcy, so finally he said OK, and Lord Grantham made him a co-owner and equal partner.

I love you R112. Now that would have been a ratings feat!

[quote] Branson's juicy ass cheeks, ripe for eating

I reciprocate your affections, R120.

Branson just arrived at Downton, a fugitive from justice in Ireland. He was soaking wet from the rain, but when he went up to change clothes they changed the subject.

But they just hired James. Pretty.

How much butt sex did our boy Thomas get from groomsmen, gardeners etc? Any forays up to London for a night of dick? Maybe a quickie with tradesmen delivering items? Spratt surely was sexually active

Edith was a noodge.

No one's mentioned Rose's totally period-inappropriate relationship with the black American jazz singer?

Cousin Rose liked BBD and who could blame her?

[quote]The only reason he should have kneeled in the snow was to help Branson with his zipper.

Now THAT would've been fun

This show had the Star Wars syndrome-killing off great characters for no reason. When Dan left they could have replaced him with any mildly attractive blonde. But killing Sybil was cruel and heartless, even if her juvederm lips looked a little out of place.

We did have some giggles that Lady Mary’s pussy killed Mr. Pamuk. Maybe he should have done Thomas and stayed away from the killer vagina.

The Black lover of Rose's hasn't emerged yet. She was caught at a London Club with a married man who used to work for her father so now she's being shipped back to Scotland.

The only one I want to see more of is Edith...

They’re having a Downton marathon of the first season on PBS Sunday.

I just finished all six seasons and found Thomas to be surprisingly asexual. Never a hint that he ever met up with anyone, or went to London for a bit of fun, or cottaging, or anything at all.

A poster upthread suggested that the dowager's butler Mr. Spratt was getting some, and I can believe it.

Spratt was getting it from Danka.

Loved Edith when she became more self-sufficient and assertive, the time she started owning the magazine. But they killed all that when she started stalking the farmer and his wife to get the daughter back. That wasn't just absurd; it also killed my respect for her.

Which season was it that Lord Grantham came back with obvious plastic surgery?

R134 you have me a big laugh, thanks. Danka was so ugly and kind of a comic relief version of O'Brien. Edith is a complex character. Loved her time in London with the magazine. Loved her happy ending with the femme guy and his big ahem castle. That should have been a spinoff. Hey, Thomas could have dropped by for a booty call with the new husband! Does anyone know if they intended Marigold to be a bit slow, or was the child they hired just a bit slow?

The scene when Mrs. Drew kidnapped Marigold and went back to the house clutching the kid was sad.

I love the name Marigold.

She didn't stalk them, she wanted contact with her own daughter. It was the farmers wife that was proven to be the nutter.

Well I'm in Season 3 right now and Edith finally met her true love and the man who would become the father of her as of yet non-existent child.

You would've thought that Thomas, being so miserable on that estate in the middle of nowhere, would've gotten a job at a house in London so he could have had a chance to be around other gay men.

Didn't Thomas try looking for work elsewhere but couldn't find any? This wasn't dramatized; he just went around whining to the other basement dwellers.

(Or, since this is England, whinging.)

That was in the last season and only dud to a cutback in staff. At one interview, the crusty old cunt man said Thomas appeared too delicate. Old fart. Thomas id notca fem

They missed a huge opportunity: if they killed off the Countess, Lord Grantham could have remarried a younger woman and the possibility of his now having a son would drive Mary crazy. Her son would no longer be the heir. Think of the dramatic tension! Instead, they kept annoying Elizabeth whatshername as Lady Grantham. This plot would have brought the show back to the original concept -- keeping the estate in the family.

They could have cast Lily James as they younger woman, r145, instead of introducing that Rose character.

I loathed Denker. But loved Spratt. He was every DL shopbottom ever.

Just imagine these episodes without any of the costumes and sets. Excruciating!!!

[quote]R135 They killed all that when she started stalking the farmer and his wife to get the daughter back. That wasn't just absurd; it also killed my respect for her.

[italic] YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT IT IS TO BE A MOTHER ! ! ! [/italic]

The farmer was hot. I wish we had seen more of him. And of Alan Leech shirtless.

Just looked up Allen Leech's recent IMDb credits and it lists him as a regular in a 2017 TV series called Bellevue starring Anna Paquin. WTF was that?

And then 2 feature films I've never heard of, though to be fair, one hasn't been released yet.

Matthew is DEAD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hey -- he knocked me up, so his usefulness was over anyway.

Wobert is trying to take over! He even went through Matthew's box sent to Lady Mary. ....and yes. Matthew had a will!

[quote]Matthew had a will!

Yes he did! Will was his fuck-buddy from the trenches in France.

Matthew's dick was, I imagine, pretty.

Not very big, but pretty.

But it is Tom and Thomas and Pamuk and Speleers and the tall chef who went to London. These are the dicks inquiring queens want to see. Oh and Lady Edith second husband, Lady Mary second husband, and the tall man who was with Daisy in season six. They had those specials, Manners of, Weddings of, we need Dicks of Downton Abbey. Run it during the PBS pledge drive and watch the donations fly in!

The tall chef who went to London was terribly potato faced.

Lady Edith only had one husband, but Bertie was quite sexy indeed.

OMG! Spratt has seen Lady Mary coming out of the Grand Hotel in Liverpool with her suitcases....in the company of Tony Gillingham......

I bet spratt gave tony good head!

lady Daisy was a raging slut

OK I'll bite. Daisy was no lady.....

Daisy has been arrested for MURDER of Mr. Green!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sorreeee. I meant ANNA. Anna has been arrested for the MURDER of Mr. Green.

Stabby Daisy will cut a bitch.

i miss washing their clothes after each shoot

and sniffin the panties of the hot men.

floor was covered with my cum for days

I liked Mr Green as Tom in Eastenders but no so much here

Rape does tend to color one's appreciation of a person, R167.

R145, excellent plot idea, I hope they use that for the movie. Maureen McGovern was the weakest link in the whole series.

Wait, Maureen? Singer from the 70s?

It's ELIZABETH McGovern.....you fat whore!

The Gays of Downton Abbey...characters on the show and actors in reality....this would be a good book. I am wondering if some of the actors rallied behinds the scenes? Oh, Mr. PAMUK, IF ONLY you would have fucked Thomas, you might have gone on to be a regular.

[quote]R169 Maureen McGovern was the weakest link in the whole series.

It was Maureen McCORMICK...dumbass ! !

Swear to god I'm going smash Anna's face in. She has sniveling and crying for three fucking seasons. I'm finally in Season 6 and she has no been fully exonerated, she is innocent of killing Mr. Green. So she's crying now because she can't seem to carry a pregnancy to term. Jesus, Mary & Joseph.

r173

R131: Edith is the last thing we need to see more of. I loved it when Mary got in her digs. Edith's ridiculous business with the farmer and her daughter showed what a selfish, impulsive twit she really was.

R173, you’re wrong, don’t you remember the great solo hit she did for DA, “there’s got to be a teatime after. . . “

Downton Abbey really wasn't all that. Nice costumes and sets but the other then a few zingers from the Dowager the characters were mostly dull.

Not many millennials ever really had the opportunity to compare and see how it didn't live up to its predecessor.

I've been binge watching DA since the weather has been so shit. I have to tell you. It's the kind of series that makes you mad at yourself afterwards. Why did I waste my time?

Yes, I’m sure that cure for cancer would have happened a few days sooner if it hadn’t been for Downton Abbey

Upstairs Downstairs was a drawing room drama instead of a soap. That being said, it was much more realistic socially etc. than Downton Abbey is. For one thing, there were people involved in the production of UD who would were alive during the actual time period, or who knew people from that period very well. There's a gay-related episode there, and no hint of understanding or sympathy from anybody but one character. The gay guy is portrayed as evil and tormented, and ends up hanging for murder. Likewise, maids who got "in trouble" were out on their ass permanently and without ceremony. That's the way it actually would have been, not secret trysts with African-American band leaders and Irish rebels marrying into the family like DA.

R18 I am too young to have seen UD originally. But I got the DVD s after Downton Abbey, thinking I would like it. UD was a snoozefest. I did not care about the characters and it moved at z snails pace. Knock Downton Abbey if you want, but the details, production values, costumes, scenery, and characters were great and compelling. It was a world wide phenomena. I also loved the music.

I loved the hardcore element

I loved the fresh prince of downton

There was something safe and secure about the world they gave us on DA. I mean the help had a roof over their heads, and cottages in the village, and they had a hospital, and a village doctor and a village school, and parks and cricket and country fairs, and sweet Jaysus they ate well. Mrs. Pattmore should have released a cookbook when retired. You know she was going to get with Mr. Mason? I don't care if that wasn't the way it really was. I liked the DA world. I do have to say the life of the lords and ladies seemed rather boring, except for Edith. I certainly wouldn't want to spend my life the way Lord Grantham spent his. He seemed like an asshole.

Cute, R184.

It was very twee and the Upstairs treated the Downstairs incredibly benevolent. Except Thomas, of course who everybody wanted to get rid of as soon as possible, but they couldn't just throw him out for some reason. And in the end they came around and let him stay, yay! Great times!

Exactly R187, and all it took was the kindly Mrs. Baxter finding Thomas bleeding to death in a bathtub from a suicide attempt to get them to "come around." In the final two seasons of DA, and in general, I thought they did a decent job of portraying the agony of Tom Barrow' life.

R187 R188 That's what is so ridiculous about the series' political correctness. OF COURSE they could get rid of Thomas for no reason, they used to throw people who got too old to work or got injured right on the refuse pile. Not always, but very often. The sanitized version we always see on Brideshead, UD, DA, Forsyte Saga is just fluff.

Sybil helped that maid Gwen (Dawson) become a secretary over time. And she ended up marrying well and at the table at DA putting them right. It was a great scene. Of course, Thomas launched that by trying to be a bitch and calling her out.

I love the Downton World and would move there at once, if I could be a Crawley or one of their chums. A pretty world on the brink of excitement, gorgeous clothes, fun music, lots of European travel before the towel heads took over. It was escape and fun, something to look forward to. Sure beats 95% of whats on tv now. A classy show with a fantastic cast. You know the ladies playing edith and mary are close friends, dont you? Must have been fun to be catty bitches on the show. Daisy got to be a whiney bore, but mrs patmore was always good for a laugh.

Upstairs Downstairs was more accurate in the upstairs treatment of the downstairs people. But even it went too easy on the treatment of the servants by the upper class.

Lord Bellamy getting the footman reassigned in WWI because of his shell shock. The acceptance of Sarah back into the house. The weird homosexual religious fanatic footman Frederick would have likely been kicked out before he ran off with the German nobleman.

It was more like the treatment of Miss Roberts after the titanic -- get her out of here! And the treatment of Hazel by the poshes. James would have been dropped by his friends, though, after marrying meek, boring hazel. What could they talk to her about? Shooting? Fox hunts? Her private school days? Her family?

Btw, how did Gwen get that typewriter into downton with nobody noticing?

Well the thing about Downton Abbey, at least the impression I have is that they we re showing an earldom and the village that "belonged" to the Abbey, and all of the people in that village and vicinity were in some way dependent on the Earl of Grantham and the Abbey. It was like a small kingdom in microcosm. So there was a bit of the "benevolent leader" to their behavior. The whole Noblesse Oblige thing...an obligation to be benevolent to your charges. And they did look on those of lesser rank as their charges or dependents. I never felt that came through or was part of the sensibility of UD.

So yes, they could have shown people getting fired...and they did when they got rid of Ethel for fucking the Major who was convalescing. She went through hell damn near starving to death if sh hadn't become a prostitute. Of course we had Polly Do Good, Isobel, who was doing her charity work helping to rehab prostitutes, and Ethel stumbled into her orbit and got help. It's also not unrealistic to figure that Mrs. Hughes would sneak food to her but limit the kind of help she needed. But there were a couple of other instances when they just got rid of people because they had a "bad attitude" and "weren't cut out for service."

I’m surprised they didn’t release a Downton Cookbook.

um... here you go.

Edith got the best revenge over her cunt sister by nabbing a much better title. Given what a snob Marry was, you know that just ate her insides away.

R192 The UD reappearance of Roberts after the Titanic was awesome. DA would have milked every last drop out of her. On UD she was just a grim reminder, and yes, she was chucked out pretty quick.

They even sell Downton Abbey Tea.

I'm seeing the exhibit soon; anyone here seen it yet?

I will go when to comes to Toronto.

It had to end. Now Carson is the Pope in that fucking TV series about the Knights Templar searching for the Holy Grail. it's shit. Unless you're a Conservative Religious nut.

[quote]Now Carson is the Pope in that fucking TV series

And Mrs. Hughes is playing third fiddle to Zoe Wannaker and Miranda Richardson in that soap Gurlfriends!

[quote]Now Carson is the Pope in that fucking TV series

And his real life wife was getting standing ovations in National Theatre's "FOLLIES"

I hate that dwarfy Zoe Wanamaker.

[quote]I hate that dwarfy Zoe Wanamaker.

And even worse, they've cast her as a lower class mother. Nobody with her rounded vowels would be lower class.

Zoe Wanamaker is such an odd-looking fish while her father looked quite normal.

We do have Zoe and her father to thank for the building of the Globe Theatre. Left to the British, they'd be saying "Shakespeare who?"

Americans have had to do everything for the British. Build the Globe, department store shopping (Selfridges)

I kinda hated the ending. I wanted Thomas to not be stuck in a rut surrounded by people who despised him. I wanted Edith to have a totally different fate, not buying into the bullshit. Oh well, maybe somebody can do a really good followup, or new thing, maybe in the 40s. What did people do when they realized the whole damn thing was such bullshit for so many people who just didn't fit in.

r1 I would have a had a wonderful love affair with his character if he showed up on my staff. He'd learn to like the cock.

I spotted Lord Grantham in the commercial for Paddington 2.

R207 You're trying to stir us.

The British built the proper Shakespeare Memorial Theatre at Stratford.

That fish-faced woman's father raised funds for the Globe which is more of a theatrical oddity and tourist attraction; it's the kind of place one only goes to once.

R208 of course people despised Thomas. He was a conniving, manipulative prick.

but why stay, R212. Go to London, or anywhere, be a conniving prick who actually gets to fuck the occasional rentboy, once in a while.

[quote]Go to London, or anywhere, be a conniving prick who actually gets to fuck the occasional rentboy, once in a while.

And what was he going to there? Without references, without a job? He was a country boy, what did he know about the city?

oh come on, R214. hot young guy can't make it in London, in any capacity? how? by conniving and getting by. it was the obvious ending. But I admit I'm even more disappointed in Edith, becoming a hausfrau.

And Edith was a self-pitying mope. She would be perfectly happy as a hausfrau.

I disagree. She was kind of on her way, R216, breaking free, and then they scotched that and she became just another bitch marrying a lord. it seemed off, at least to me.

I agree that they missed an opportunity to give Edith an interesting arc throwing aside convention and becoming a career woman in London with her "gasp!" illegitimate child

People like Edith rarely "break free". They usually spend life doggy-paddling in their own sense of inferiority. That's how life is. Anyway, you have to admit it was always good fun watching classy, confident Lady Mary throwing shade on frumpy Edith.

it was always fun, yes, totally agree, R219, but I disagree that Edith couldn't break free. I think out of pure, true, hatred and spite, she would have. She might not have been the most attractive character at that point, but far more interesting. The Edith that would actually ruin her sister's reputation for fucking that Turk. That Edith should have had a life after the show, and potentially could have.

Didn't Thomas know the underground dive in London that where somebody was cheating in cards? If so, that would mean Thomas knows London and that means he knows where to pick up ass when needed, I I should think.

I can only hope, R221.

My point was that it would have been out of character for Edith to break free, so if it had been written that way it could only have come off as trite, contrived and unconvincing. I'm sure it is always tempting for writers to allow characters to suddenly achieve liberation and give happy endings to all, but the writing's better for maintaining discipline and continuity of character.

A good example of how catering to viewer's desire for happy or desired endings falls flat was Mad Men. In the final episode Peggy and the beardy guy fly into each other's arms, and millions of fraus went "Ooooh! Peggy's happy at last!" but it ultimately felt tacked on and unsatisfying, simply because it didn't fit with the established narrative of the characters.

totally disagree with every word R223. she was on her way, getting out, being independent. the artificial thing was pulling her back. Actually no, disagree about everything until Mad Men. Same problem.

Thomas paid attention to the cute footmen but never gave a side-eye to anyone in the village, at the fairs, or in London, all ample opportunities for some playtime. He did have a thing for the blind veteran, too.

As someone surmised upthread, Lady Violet's butler, Septimus Spratt looked like he knew how to have some secret fun.

They could have shown Edith starting the Special Olympics with Marigold as the poster child.

[quote]Lady Violet's butler, Septimus Spratt looked like he knew how to have some secret fun

He's now on The Durrells playing Leslie Caron's snooty butler.

I could see every male cast member of DA taking one up the ass in real life.

I'm watching Channel 4's "Indian Summers" (2015), which I wasn't aware of while Downton was on. Lots more action than DA.

What kind of action?

Any gay themes?

They should have called the two on Upstairs Downstairs, Lord and Lady Shitty. The sets sucked. Even for the early 70s they were low budget crap.

In case anyone's interested, NBC Universal's new streaming service, Peacock TV - peacocktv.com - has all episodes of Downton available. I'm on Peacock Free, so it must be one of their free shows.

Sequel to the movie is coming

I've been marathon rewatching this while at my mom's country place. I have a new appreciation for Lord Gillingham and Charles Blake who I didn't pay much attention to the first time.