Downton Abbey Discussion continued...

[ErikNorseman]

Here!

Cora said she had to write to the Doctor to apologise, as if they had listened to him LADY sYBIL might still be alive, but instead Lord G and Sir P forced the issue of staying put and as such Sybil is dead.

If either parent are Catholic then it is traditional for the children to be brought up Catholic.

Did the actress Sybil want to leave? Wish they'd killed off someone else instead.

Except for the ghastly wig, she was the best looking of the lot too.

In fairness to Lord G, he got the grand gynaecologist from London with the best intentions.
I'm surprised such an eminent doctor had so little experience of pre-eclampsia.

I know my great grandmother had to convert to Catholicism. There was no question her children would be anything but. This was 1890s though.

Cora, Edith and Carson were just excellent tonight.

Yes I do think it is a little unfair on Lord G, he was following the advices of the more senior Doctor.

Oh my throat is aching. Poor Sybil. I even feel sorry for Branson.
Glad Thomas had a little comfort from Anna.
Mary is soooooo awful. Matthew should lose it with her and then she may show him some respect.

UltraBOF, depends on where Sybil and Tom married - was it a RC wedding? If so, only way a Catholic and non-Catholic could be married in a RC church is if the non-RC signs something to swear to bring up any children as RC.

I'm surprised such an eminent surgeon was do reluctant to perform a c section.

OMG that was awful, Sybil was one of my favourite characters even is she was one of the least realistic.Sobbing here

At the risk of sounding old fashioned Matthew needs to remind Mary where her loyalties lie .

Oh that was so brilliant!

Great to see Maggie Smith being fab rather than endlessly waspish.

Great episode.

I kind of take the piss out of Downton as much as I enjoy it, but that was genuinely one of the most horrible deaths I've watched on any show ever. The way it seemed to happen in real time and kept cutting back to her not being able to breathe and going pale. Just awful. Spent the remainder of the episode curled up against DH

Still Mrs Patmores line in the "next week" preview did make me laugh.

Oh it was awful :(

I can see tensions between Branson and LG will end up in a 1920's custody battle.

UltraBOF Sorry you're completely wrong. If a non catholic marries a catholic they have to sign an undertaking that any children will be brought up catholic. Whether its the mother or the father who is the catholic. The maternal line thing is a Jewish rule. Not catholic at all.

yep, if you're a catholic, you're obliged to bring up your children in the faith.

Maybe I'm wrong about the Catholic line then, but that's what I thought from my upbringing. Ah well, anything that pisses Lord Fatty off is fine by me.

BOF, the baby would have to be Catholic, or he would be excommunicated.

It was expected in Ireland until the 1970's.

The Irish bits are really bothering me. I'm not entirely sure of their historical accuracy, and they are unlikely at best.

Aww, bawled through this episode. Poor baby doesn't even have a name yet. I can't believe the 'eminent physician' just panicked when she was fitting - with all his experience there was nothing he could do?

Yes the death was horrible. I can't understand why the two doctors appeared to turn into pillars of salt though. Even if they knew it was useless you'd think they'd at least want to appear to be doing something - I mean hadn't CPR been invented yet?

My dad had to sign in the 1960's - or else he couldn't marry my mum.

My brother was asked to sign in the 1980's but fudged it a bit.

:( so sad. Why Sybil?

Lord G was to blame.

LittleWhiteWolf me too, it was way more harrowing than I thought it would be shown. I thought it would be 'oh I feel a bit unwell, faints, dies'.

Cor! my Mum had eclampsia; hence me being 7 weeks early.

I never had any idea what it was like before.

I kind of wish I still didn't.