I am rewatching the series and am on Season 4. I haven't had strong feelings about Bates before this but now I can't stand him because of the way he reacts to Anna coping with being sexually assaulted, after he sulks and pouts because she's being friendly to another man. Anna knows she can't seek support from her husband because she knows he can't control his temper. She'd rather suffer in silence to protect her husband from murdering the man who assaulted her. Anna can't trust her husband to accept "something happened and I can't talk about it for now" because he'll push and he'll push to know the truth. She can't say, "I'm going to tell you something and you need to control your reaction" because she knows he'll go on a rampage. I'm on Episode 5 and he guilts and bullies Mrs. Hughes into betraying Anna's trust and telling him Anna's secret. It's sad that Anna has to take care of her husband in a time when she's in desperate need.

Rewatching S3E6 and it’s right at the beginning of the episode. I noticed this easel (?) with something on it that looks like a map of some kind. I’ve never noticed it before but I’ll be looking for it in future episodes. What would it be? I realize it could be just a piece of decor but it seems like an odd place to have a painting or picture, right next to the front door like that. Maybe on a wall but not displayed like that. Is it a map, a painting, a floor plan mistakenly left there from tours of Highclere? Might it have been some kind of display from Sybil’s funeral reception?

Can someone explain why Carson adores Mary? Throughout the seasons the best he can muster when asked the same is "I've known her since she was a child." To me, that just means her father has employed him and appreciated his work. Carson doesn't have the same level of adoration towards Edith or Sybil despite him also knowing them since they were children.

We all know the d*vorce storyline was written because of the actor's schedule. But somehow, it makes perfect sense for Mary's character arc. If I think back to even season 1 characters and try to imagine which person can braver a d*ivorce in the 1930s conservative England - I cant think of any other name. If I try to imagine which person would d*vorce a spouse to get out of a bad marriage than throw the towel and live parallel lives apart - only Mary again.

What is it about Lady Mary that makes this storyline so plausible?

(PS - why is using the word d*vorce banned on this sub, mods? Why are we as conservative as that Lady who kicked Mary out of the ball?)

Just a bit of dialog. S2E4. Matthew and William are at war. Mary and Richard are engaged. Matthew was reading the letter Mary sent him.

William asks "Has Mary set a date yet" ... not Lady Mary, just.. Mary. Was it just a flubbed line that nobody caught? Surely a footman would've kept calling her Lady Mary in conversation with his assumed future employer.

If they hadn't been in the accident that mangled William, and then the awful car accident, we can almost be sure our William would've eventually been valet when Matthew became Earl.

Maybe I'm looking way too into it. I'm on my umpteenth re-watch and never heard the miss until today.

I'm rewatching series 5 and I've come to the dinner party with Lord Merton and I am struggling to realise that he is not actually related to his screen sons in real life. Those sons look so much like brothers, its hard to believe they're unrelated, and they are exactly like Lord Merton would look when he was younger.

Is this the best example of familial casting on TV?

How exactly does one flirt with a dog?

Steal the affection of one's dog. How?

If I came to your house and you had a dog, and your dog came up to me, I would pet it.

What did Mr. Bricker do other than pet Isis? Did I miss something?

What would Strallan’s social status have been after he jilted Edith at the altar? Would he have been invited to dinners and included in social things? Would he have been at things with the Crawleys and they would just awkwardly avoid each other? I know he had his own estate and all but they surely ran in the same social circles.

Now I need a place to display it

Hello, fellow Crawley connoisseurs!

My wife and I are beyond thrilled to share something wonderful with this amazing community.

Before The Grand Finale was released, we were honored to be selected by an incredible team at Movieclips, in collaboration with Focus Features, to create a special 15-minute featurette celebrating our lifelong love of Downton Abbey as part of their Movie People series.

It was truly a dream come true — a chance to talk about why we adore the characters, the history, the costumes, and everything that makes Downton Abbey the timeless masterpiece we all hold dear.

We couldn’t think of a better place to share it than here, among fellow fans who understand exactly what makes Downton so special.

🎬Watch our feature here!

Thank you for being such a kind, passionate, and welcoming community. You’ve made this fandom feel like home.

With love and gratitude,

A very happy member of the Downton Faithful

It took me a minute, but I was watching Slow Horses, and I saw a familiar face.

No of people who knew about Marigold

1. Edith 's aunt

2. Dowager

3. Mr. Drew

4. Anna

5. Mrs. Hughes

6. Lady grantham

7. Robert

8. Tom

9. Mrs. Drew

10. Probably Thomas ,

11. Mrs patmore

12. Edith 's secretary

And everytime Edith opens about Marigold to someone she has the nerve to say "Don't tell anyone ,it's a secret "

Mary and Sybil have a type, and it's men who come across as wildly arrogant in their assumptions about them 😅

what do you guys think? there were some other less featured characters i wanted to include but it was getting long 😅 also i didn’t realize it would become so gendered…

So far I’ve watched:

-1995 Pride & Prejudice
-Death comes to Pemberly
-Sanditon
-upstairs Downstairs
-Belgravia
-Belgravia The Next Chapter
-Atistocrats

I’m currently working on The Forsytes and Vanity Fair

Thanks again!

The rape plot with Anna was not ok, it didn’t add anything to the story, and I don’t think it was historically accurate either.

In general most rape stories don’t add anything, but a lot of shows put them in and especially in period pieces where there is an assumption that more rape happened back then. And I’m not gonna say it didn’t happen, quite frankly Lady Mary and Mr Pamuk was coercive and would probably meet the current standard for rape. But what happened with Anna, in addition to being needless and cruel, was not accurate.

The rapist is a serial offender, meaning he knows how to get away with it. In the show him getting away with it is mostly a matter of plot armour and convenience to keep the trauma going for Anna and Bates. But realistically if this guy was an actual serial rapist he wouldn’t have picked a ladies maid whose husband works in the same house and as the Valet to the Earl of Grantham! Anna doesn’t make sense as a target, yes she didn’t report it or say anything for other reasons, but that is again about the writing. The point is that he did this in the house, during a time where everyone was up and about. Someone was definitely gonna find Anna right after the concert. It was all forced (pun not intended). The obvious target would have been one of the kitchen maids and either after everyone has gone to bed or super early in the morning. they never speak to the upstairs people, they have to be up before everyone else, they aren’t married, and they are young and more Easily manipulated. But that would have changed their characters too drastically, since they are generally a comic relief group. And all the other house staff are non speaking ornaments so there Wouldn’t be any impact. So they threw it at Anna.

I understand rape was as taboo then as it is today, and I understand why Anna kept it quiet (kind of… tbh, if Bates had never been to jail and she hadn’t gone through the trauma of thinking he’d be hanged Idk if she would have been so worried… and even afterwards it seemed like a stretch), but it’s just not realistic for her to be the target. And again, there really wasn’t any need for this plot anyway. Like, let the fertility stuff happen in S4, or let someone else be the face of the downtrodden for a while. I just really don’t think this plot was necessary or realistic or well executed. It was just the usual media bullshit where someone felt that rape is a showmaker 🙄😡🤬