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.

[foxymoon487]

As Matthew was the only one Edith's bloke confessed to about his locked-away
wife,(except Edith of course) what are the chances that some sort of
bigamous marriage might be embarked upon in the next series ?

[tangofan]

^hmm, interesting thought. Would have to be without her knowledge though as she would never enter into one willingly so can't end well and she's already has one disastrous marriage storyline....

[diddl]

Well obviously others know that he´s married, which is how Edith found out!

[tribpot]

I'm hoping Edith will do something far more scandalous and just live with him. Remind me - the problem is the wife can't consent to a divorce?

[OComeAllYeFaithBaby]

Just finally caught up (what with visitors and having to go to work). It was rubbish. Not Christmassey, I knew enough from FB updates that someone was going to be bumped off then saw his interview in a paper Why I'm happy to be leaving so I spent the whole time anticipating it.

Lady Mary's bump was similar size to mine. I am currently 23+6

[Fiderer]

I think Edith is planning just that. The wife cannot legally agree to a divorce as she's deemed incapable. Even though she no longer knows who her husband is.

Agree that Lady Violet was underused, no cracking one-liners. Not sure Rose will find life in Yorkshire that agreeable. I felt sorry for Cordelia Susan, though. Not sure that she deserved it, but she was very bitter and unhappy.

[foxymoon487]

Yes, I felt a twinge of compassion for Susan too.Can't have been that much fun
stuck in the highlands with a husband named Shrimpie watching all the
money drain away

[SavoyCabbage]

I could not cope when the slutty maid didn't stand up when Tom Pickle came into the kitchen. He must have been there for twelve seconds at least and she just sat and sat. Horrifying.

[Fiderer]

Shocking, indeed, Savoy

Mrs Hughes seems to have developed some sort of eye tic. She used to convey a lot with a Look but she's taken to squinting with displeasure - at SluttyMaid3, at PortlyDriedGingerMan. Maybe she was envious of Carson's eyebrows and thought she'd add her own non-verbal acting accessory.

Sad to say I thought the detailed packing shots were the most interesting of the episode, and I'm a great lover of Downton tosh. All those cases for 10 days Diamond stars and a tiara.

Did enjoy the O'Brien/SharpfacedMaid skirmish. And Molesley's dancing

[ppeatfruit]

trib I love 'correctly proportioned Sybil' . Apart from the incredibly predictable and badly written ending. I enjoyed most of it. I used to really LOVE Peter Egan (actor who played Shrimpie) I also think he deserves congratulations and respect for not going down the botox route but he's not PRETTY any more .

[diddl]

So now that there´s an heir & no Matthew-will Lord G-with Mary´s help- run the place into the ground?

The heir dies in WWII & Downton just disappears or is taken over by a Carlisle type?

[tribpot]

diddl, I was hoping Nameless Heir would be too young for WWII (not that a lot of civilians didn't die of course).

[ppeatfruit]

What date is it meant to be? It looks like 1921 or 22 to me. Just right date for dying in W.W.2.

[diddl]

I thought 1921.

So aged 18-24 for the war?

[tribpot]

I had thought it was a bit later by now, like 1925. But this was wishful thinking ...

[ppeatfruit]

It IS hard to go by the costumes and hair in DT; I spose in RL they would've all bobbed their hair and shortened their skirts at different times the ados first. It COULD be 1925ish.

[tribpot]

Well, from the way Thomas described Jimmy as 'the shizzle' I think we can see this is clearly no later than 1923 (bloody JF and his ridiculous Vocab Lesson No-one Wants).

Anyhoo, Wiki to the rescue - it is indeed 1922, September to be exact.

[diddl]

I read somewhere else that it was Sept 1921!

[tribpot]

Hmm, good point. The Wiki entry references a Daily Fail story that makes no mention of the year.

It said 'One Year Later' at the very beginning, but didn't Mary announce her pregnancy to Matthew at the end of season 3? Which was supposedly set in January 1921 despite the fact they were all playing cricket?

[diddl]

Well it seems odd to me that they wouldn´t visit Rose´s family until 18 months later.

There´s not usually such a gap, is there?

Well, for me I think that´s the end of it.

There´s an heir-& wasn´t that the whole point.

I haven´t bothered to watch the Christmas one, just caught up on here-that´s how bothered I am!

[ppeatfruit]

Thanks for the link tribpot. So we can look forward to Lady Violet fainting with indignation at the new short styles of hair and skirts.

[tribpot]

I think the only historical reference of note in series 3 was to women's suffrage being ratified by Tennessee in 1920 ... which I think is more likely to make this 1921 than 22, but anyway.

No doubt Violet will be sporting a Mary Quant geometric hairdo by the end of series 4 and smoking a pipe. As was common practice in 1925.

[ppeatfruit]

[SecondhandRose]

Getting fed up with the 'spoon fed' story lines we seem to be getting. The Matthew thing at the end, more spoon feeding.

[MarthasHarbour]

i was jolly cross to say the least [fanrgy] i didnt know DS was leaving but knew something sad was happening (only watched it two days ago and tried to avoid social networking!) so i sat there going 'oh FFS' when they were talking about how fabulous MC was whilst he was driving through the wind with a big on his face.

Just jolly cross i was - i agree that having two parents die within a year of eachother less than 24 hours after the birth of their child - pfft

Also - y'know when Carson went and gave Giant Baby Sybs a cuddle, first of all i thought they had neglected her - left her in her crib whilst they all buggered off to the fayre - but i got it that there was a nanny floating about somewhere. But when Mrs Hughes came back and saw Carson in the Library with GBS she said 'where's nanny' he flippantly said she was somewhere or other and would find them.

I got myself all in a fluster - poor nanny would go to the nursery and find GBS 'gawn'. And there would be a 'Giant Baby Hunt' all in the style of Call the Midwife....