I say is there no Downton thread? How awful!

[Moln]

I can't have been alone in my viewing!

[jonicomelately]

I liked Harold and Rose's friend. It was quite sweet. And it was funny how Edward Fox pursued Shirley McClaine who's now going to present him to her rich widow friends in Newport.
The Edith/pig farmer scheme was my favourite. Nice when he realized the baby was hers. I hope he doesn't blackmail her.
The Bates thing was weird. Is that it? Is he definitely a murderer

[LaurieFairyCake]

I've just watched it and thought it was the best so far.

I'm very keen on the settings, balls, music and frocks and there was plenty of good stuff to look at.

Thought the intrigue with the prince and bates was really well done - and the prince turning Rose into the most feted debutante was very clever. She was a lot less irritating in this one.

The Daisy/American valet bit was brilliant - she's such a dull character it was good to see her happy to be flirted with.

Wish Thomas had been put in his place by Branson.

I really liked it, very enjoyable couple of hours with no big things going wrong - just pleasant, good drama with a nice backdrop

Didn't like the shots of Buck Palace and the Albert memorial - really bad cgi/blue screening

[PanicMode]

Absolutely dire waste of 2 hours - I used to love the escapism of it all but thought last night was just so dull! Not sure I shall bother watching the next series....

[anonacfr]

I hate that teacher woman.
I take it she's supposed to be plucky and unconventional and a socialist but she just comes across as so rude.
When Branson was talking about Sybil's death all she could reply was 'right, so are you going to show me the house then.'

So callous. And as someone mentioned a while ago, how the hell can she afford a car in 1920?

[SirChenjin]

I can't stand the teacher either. I thought she was going to be very independent and feisty, but instead she comes across as ignorant and unfeeling.

[polyhymnia]

I think the teacher is supposed to be like the attractive, feisty teacher heroine of South Riding ( a book by Winifred Holtby televised a couple of years ago with Anna Maxwell Martin and David Morrissey).

Unfortunately JF isn't such a good writer and, having 'stolen' the character, isn't able to make her so attractive.

[MissBeehiving]

Mary is just annoying now "let battle commence!" wtaf?

Ooh and that bloody schoolteacher.

Edith is fast becoming my favourite.

[Clunch]

Yes, wouldn't it be more interesting if teacher woman were combative and socialist and clever and nice, and making Tom rethink his sort-of allegiance to the Crawleys? Rather than permanently sneery and looking for a ruck?

Actually, I thought that asking to look around the house was pretty rude, anyway. Even if her intention was to embarrass Tom into admitting he's not really one of them, asking a casual acquaintance to poke around someone's house when the family aren't home is pretty outrageous, whether it's a semi-detached in Surbiton or a stately home.

It was nice to see Ivy look anything other than hangdog, and Mrs Hughes and Carson paddling...

Paul Giamatti, Shirley MacLaine and Maggie Smith do deserve better lines. Surely the two dowagers wouldn't be quite so nakedly rude? And what about some sophisticated, subtle old-money Americans who don't start slapping the Prince of Wales on the back etc etc.

Also, am I imagining that Edith had slightly nicer clothes than usual?

[Moln]

Edith is definitely coming out better than previously, her clothes are nice. Didn't like Rose's dresses though. Weird puffballish thing going on.

Agree the teacher character isn't like she could be. If she is supposed to be like the character in South Riding it most certainly is way off!

[tribpot]

I wish if they were going to do American bits - and frankly Maclaine vs Smith is reason enough to do a whole series in the US - they'd just bloody do it. Why can the action not move there for a while? Now the programme makers have turned their head to wobbly CGI they can slap in the Flatiron Building and the job's a good 'un.

Why was Bates so worried about the pockets of his coat? Bloody careless murderer (esp one who's already been on trial once) who lives a train ticket where anyone might find it. However, if he's in a murdering mood, couldn't he do in bloody Blackmailing Thomas once and for all?

Teacher did come across as rude and unfeeling. Surely after dinner is not the time to turn up at someone's house unless you believe you have wandered into a Gold Blend advert?

So Edith is apparently Wotsisname's heir? Why?!

[VesuviusPoovius]

So, one of (I can't tell them apart either) suitors made a comment to the Prince's mistress about being faithful - what was that about?

[tribpot]

Oh yes, that was odd. Btw did anyone notice that Mary's interest in the Communist Suitor (can't even remember his name .. Blake?) perked up when she found out he's a toff? Sybil must be spinning in her grave at her sister's irredeemable snobbishness.

Anyway, the random convo. It went like this (I've just played it back):

[Prince of Wales and Mrs Dudley Ward have just shown up uninvited at Rose's party]
Suitor Guy: How did you manage this?
Mrs D-W: I told him, in his whole life, he'd never owe more to anyone than he does to Rose.
SG: And did you tell him why?
Mrs D-W: Certainly not. But he trusts me. He's a faithful little chap.
SG: So am I, Freda. Annoyingly, so am I.

This is the guy here. I think it's Tony "Boss of the Rapist" Gillingham.

Did he mean that the love letter was not from HRH but would have revealed that Mrs D-W was copping off with him as well??

[Loopytiles]

Did Lady Mary and Dead Matthew's child appear even once?

[tribpot]

Nope - I didn't see him or Giant Baby Sybil either, I think.

[SirChenjin]

No, not one appearance. Wonder who's looking after them now - the Pig Man perhaps? He seems to look after everything else on the estate...

[tribpot]

Did I miss what happened to:

• Rose's American singer
• SlutMaid III who was after Pickle?

[NK5BM3]

So glad I found you! Watched it last night and was kinda disappointed that there wasn't much of a story but still happy to watch it!

Hated the teacher - how rude of her to ask to go round someone's house!! At night?!! And how spineless of him to agree! Like previous posters I think she is meant to be the gutsy, new modern educated girl but she just came across as Bolshy, arrogant and disrespectful.

[Clunch]

Yes, given that it's months since Bates presumably shoved the rapist under a lorry, wouldn't even the most amateurish murderer check the pockets of his coat...? Especially if we are to see him as having become highly educated in criminal stuff while in the slammer...

[Clunch]

Tribpot, I think Tony Gillingham meant only that he was 'faithful' to Mary, just as the P of W was faithful to Mrs Dudley Ward as chief mistress, and it's 'annoying' because he would rather be able to find someone who actually wanted to marry him.

Mary persuaded Rose's jazz man to give her up because the world wasn't ready for their romance, and he agreed because he was noble. SlutMaid was seen off by Mrs Hughes spitting nails.

[tribpot]

Clunch, I would think so - but why the hell would Mrs D-W care if he was or not?? Just seems odd.

[MissBeehiving]

Isn't the odd conversation man Charles Blake (Pig Man)? He seems to have gone up in Mary's estimation since she discovered that he is "one of us i.e rich and titled as opposed to just rich shallow

[limitedperiodonly]

Can you imagine how much it would cost to get those roads closed and cleared for filming though?

Nerd fact alert: Westminster Council are very restrictive about filming because of disruption. You can do news footage or small scale stuff but there isn't that kind of film that's an homage to London like lots of films are to New York.

Film makers grumble and say Westminster is missing out on fabulous free tourism advertising - because so many foreigners forget to go and see Buckingham Palace because they've never seen it at the cinema

Those who live and work here celebrate the council's zero-tolerance policy to bossy girls with clipboards.

I don't think they go far enough. Whenever I come across one barring my way I know exactly where I want to shove her clipboard.

[limitedperiodonly]

I thought Lady Violet would die during that icy confrontation with Cora's mum.

And I said it on another thread in chat, but I like the idea that the bolshy teacher was casing the joint for an antiques burglary to fund revolution.

And has Branston got a fat arse or is it the cut of his trousers?

[limitedperiodonly]

How likely is it Mary wouldn't know the family tree and inside leg measurement of that bloke? Blake, is it?

Women of her class did nothing but charity work and leafing through Burke's Peerage like it was a mail order bridegroom catalogue.

[LidlAngel]

I thought Branston's suit was deeply unflattering. I'll be deeply disappointed if it's due to a sizeable rear end.