Downton .................predictable

[triplets]

Won`t say too much for those yet to see....................grrr just knew what was going to happen, they could have thought of another way. Spoilt it.

[Arithmeticulous]

They could have disfigured him in the car crash and swapped him for another actor - JF needs to learn that you don't have to kill orf all the actors that don't renew their contracts. They could just go on holiday.

[montage]

I had never seen Downton before and had no idea that actor was leaving but the moment he appeared so happily tootling along in his vintage car it was v obvious they had gone to the trouble of shooting that scene for a reason. I can only imagine how obvious the imminent death was if you knew the programme.

That was like Nigel off the roof.

[NuclearStandoff]

JF is clearly struggling with where to go with it.

Having married off everyone who could be married off in the previous series', he's now aiming for drama by killing off all the key characters, one by one.

[redexpat]

Hurumph. I'm cross. Frankly I expect more from JF!

[CunningPlan]

I thought it was totally ridiculous. Part way through the last series I though it was getting silly, then it redeemed itself. I don't think I will watch next year.

And all those servants being free with the upstairs household makes me want to hoik my bosom.

[Santasapunkatheart]

I am amazed that it has taken people three seasons to realise how weak and lazy the writing is on the show. When the eyes have finished feasting on the clothes, the homes and the beautiful Dan, there really isn't any substance. Reading interviews with Mr Stephens - although he is diplomatic - it's clear that he really wanted out to pursue better avenues for his talent - such as theatre and a small independent film.

[clippityclop]

Bring back Upstairs Downstairs!

[FannyPriceless]

The plots have been ridiculous for ages. At first it made me cross, but then I went through all the necessary emotional stages to arrive at laughing and accepting it for what it is.

That said, last night was ridiculous! The main storylines were so obvious and plodding. Any thread with bit of interest ended up going nowhere!

JF's thought process:

"Let's see, we need another young single lady at Downton because I've inadvertently killed or married off the others. How can I spend 2 hours constructing an explanation for Lady Rose moving in, when it actually takes 5 mins to achieve this not very astounding plot development?"

"I'll make Lady Mary 8 months pregnant - no one will ever guess that my plan is for Something Dramatic to happen surrounding the birth. Oh no, no one will sit there for 2 hours thinking 'hurry up with the birth drama you twat'."

"I have to work it that Matthew is somehow in a car on his own, but ow my brain hurts trying to work this out. Ooo, I've got it! I'll script a completely unnecessary conversation between Anna and Carson about the complicated transport arrangements so that everyone will see that it was completely natural for him to do so! Then I'll spend bloody ages filming him driving way too fast down a single track lane without looking at the road properly. I am a genius! No one will have a clue what's about to happen..."

[LittleWhiteWolf]

I got into the show back in March (borrowed my mums dvds of seasons 1 and 2) when i was on maternity leave before DS arrived and I loved it. It was silly and had overblown storylines and had unintentionally amusing dialogue. It floundered somewhat in series two due to a greater period of time being covered, but that was fun, too; having conversations about things that had just happened in the story, but that were in actual fact happening a year later.

Series three got very stupid so that it was no longer fun. I commend the show for the shocking death of Sybil because it did blow me away, although I hated what had happened with Sybils storyline. The series ended badly and the Christmas special yesterday just lost it completely. Such a shame. I will probably watch series 4 to see what happens, but I'm not looking forward to it all that much.

[JugglingMeYorkiesAndNutRoast]

I really enjoyed the Christmas night programme (loved the Midwife earlier too)

• but it did leave me feeling a bit sad at the end

[Vagaceratops]

Squoosh will be happy. I know we share a hatred of blah Matthew.

[3monkeys3]

I thought it was boring! Really really boring! I normally love downton.

[vjg13]

Lady Mary is such a nasty snob I couldn't wait for something bad to happen, hoped she'd die but that would have been too lazy even by Downton standards. Didn't find it sad at all, not like when Sybil died. Lady G is so simpering and vomit inducing too.

[triplets]

Also don`t you think Lady Ediths new beau looks a foppish and similar to the last one? Do you think that Lady Rose will bring romance back into Branstons life?

[LadyHarrietdeSpook]

We are in the US and friend of DH's spent ages figuring out how to get us set up to watch it over here. We didn't manage to yesterday, I fell asleep.

I read the reviews in the DT/Guardian today. Totally don't feel like watching it now but DH says am obliged as his friend tried so hard...

[AloeSailor]

If you look at true life histories of aristrocratic families of the time, a lot had lots of tragedies like this in them. Think of the Mitfords for example.

[BoffinMum]

Right, I have a new plot for JF to consider. Edith continues to become a feminist. It spreads to Mary, who decides to tackle the entail (the assumption it all goes down the male line). She is the eldest, after all. There is a big legal thing as it has to involve an Act of Parliament. Shehas to find masses of money to do that,and her papa is displeased. Newspaper guy tries to pay as a means of getting back into Mary's knickers. Lots of effort finding the money. Eventually an obscure female Scottish peer steps in with the cash (her title/estate already was able to be handed down the female line - forget the technical term for this). Lady Mary takes over Downton and remarries someone German. Then somebody called Hitler meets Edith in Berlin. She dislikes him on sight and comes back to Downton to tell everybody this. End of series 4.

That should stop JF having to jump the shark, as they say.

[tribpot]

It was ... meh. I was waiting for something bad to happen for ages, because nothing dramatic seemed to be happening which suggested we were in some kind of 2 hour build-up to a disaster.

Rose's arrival in the cast (god help us) could have been explained simply by her parents taking an overseas posting, the end.

Is O'Brien jumping ship as well to go with the awful Shrimpie and Mrs Shrimpie?

What was Anna's news that she learnt the reel for, in order to announce it through the medium of highland dance?

I agree it was too cheap and simple just to bump Matthew off. Tedious.

[gazzalw]

the thing is that we all knew Dan Stevens was leaving so JF had to make the best of it....It would have been so much worse if they'd just decided to split up because he discovered he couldn't give Lady Mary an heir....

What other interesting options could you have come up with that wouldn't have left Lady Mary's character on hold for any future series?

[BoffinMum]

Well, one option would have been replacement with a lookalike, frankly.

[Aquelven]

I think it would have been a lot more interesting if the new baby had been another girl, so the hunt would be on for the next heir.

Was anyone else amazed that such a substantial baby came out of such a tiny bump?

[BoffinMum]

I am so slow on the uptake that I didn't even realise she was pregnant!

[JamNan]

Tedious and dull plot; I switched off before the end thus missing the RTA!

[HoldMeCloserTonyDanza]

At least they gave us a couple of scenes of Matthew's cringey pillow talk so we know what we're not missing next series.

[serin]

I dont know where she kept that huge hairy baby hidden

It was a huge let down and was thoroughly beaten by the gripping kids show (Merlin)