I say is there no Downton thread? How awful!

[Moln]

I can't have been alone in my viewing!

[tribpot]

The Hughes-Carson liaison has been hinted at for the last series. Unbelievable given there was nothing at all in the first three.

I think Vera Bates is meant to be an accidental death - ingestion of arsenic.

[TheBookofRuth]

Half of the money was left directly to Mary, via a letter Matthew wrote before he carked it. It pissed off Lord 6 because it gave her 50% control of Downton and meant he couldn't piss it up the wall like he did last time. Mary is trying, along with Tom, to make the estate a viable business, so it doesn't need to be reliant on any more miracle inheritances in the future.

I don't think she's meant to be more interested in Charles Blake now because he's got money - it's more that she was afraid he was a raving socialist, and is relieved to find out he's merely a champagne socialist.

[tribpot]

So less concerned she'll have to start calling the estate workers Comrade and divide up the land into equal shares for everyone?! That's what Sybil would have done.

[breatheslowly]

How long could this possibly run for? Will we see them giving the house up to English Heritage and living in a corner of it?

[nennypops]

They probably intend to keep it going as long as they possibly can. Time in Downton world seems to be running more slowly now - having got through the whole of World War 1 in a few episodes, they've taken two series only to get as far as 1923.

[Davros]

I got confused about Mrs Dudley Edwards as I thought she was one of the Debs and assumed this Wallis Simpson type was going to turn up sometime. I also thought it was ludicrous that the old Fox fellow would have been having an open conversation with Shirley Maclaine hag about potential marriage after about a week.
Pickle's arse does look fat.
Some of the dresses were fabulous, especially early on. I think Aunt Rosamund had a gorgeous one on at the beginning. I might watch again and fast forward to dresses.
Also, what about the logistics of the servants going to the seaside? Ridiculous! But I suppose it must be soooo much warmer in Brighton or wherever than what they're used to.

[WhoKnowsWhereTheMistletoes]

I was getting Madeline (?) and Mrs Dudley Edwards mixed up as well as Charles and Gillingham.

I guess the servants all just got on a train to Margate, although I read somewhere it was filmed at West Wittering, however I've never seen West Wittering beach so empty on a beautiful day.

[insomniarules]

I really wanted there to be a French and Saunders take on this episode. All of the debs and Mrs the-one-before-Wallis all looked the same to me. The mad farcical letter stealing plan was frankly convoluted and bonkers and no one realised NastyBates had done the letter?? NO one sees that he is a sneaky secretive nasty man?
And will someone tell Lady G that simpering is not appropriate at her age and position and tell Shirley Maclaine to drop her shoulders?

[Davros]

And Bates sat in the Servants' Hall writing the letter in full view! Why didn't he sneak home to do it and wouldn't his imaginary contact have expected to be paid?!

[LondonMother]

Couldn't sneak home as they were in London, but yes, one might have expected that money would have had to change hands.

[SirChenjin]

Hang on - did I miss something very obvious? Did Bates forge the letter and then present it to Lord G as the original? If so, why did Blake (or whoever it was who stole the letter) panic when he realised the letter had gone from his coat pocket?

I hope Mrs Hughes and Carson get together - that would be a lovely, cosy storyline.

[Clunch]

No, no, Bates just forged a note in Whosit's handwriting to get the porter to let Rose and co into the apartment so they could search for the letter.

I raised my eyebrows a bit about Letter Nicker Card Cheat man actually going through women's handbags at a nightclub table - it seems a bit of a leap in terms of 'dishonourableness' from a bit of caddish card cheating to actual stealing...? I can't remember exactly, did he go through all the bags on the table or go straight to Mrs Dudley Ward's? I mean, was he specifically looking for dirt on the P of W to flog to the US press?

[SirChenjin]

Ahhhhh - got it now, thanks

[Clunch]

And no, Blake is one of Mary's tiresome suitors, along with Tony 'My valet is a Rapist' Gillingham. The man who cheated at cards at Downton and was later outfoxed by Edith's editor, and who nicked the P of W's letter, is Sampson, a minor rent-a-cad character.

It does suggest they really need to sort out their characterisation, as a bunch of dark-haired, clean-shaven male aristos in evening dress are clearly just blurring together for quite a few viewers!

[Davros]

If course Bates couldn't sneak home I now realise but you'd think he'd find somewhere more private. The suitors and co all blur, the male under servants all blur and the Debs and friends all blur. Or was it the sherry wot dunnit?!

[tribpot]

Nope, I can report that, even sober, the suitors particularly all look the same. Upstairs Downstairs had the same problem - all the male leads were indistinguishable.

[depankrispaneven]

Must admit when the Prince of Wales turned up at the ball I thought it was Sampson.

[TheBookofRuth]

See, I don't find Blake and Gillinghan hard to tell apart - mainly because I find the former quite attractive while the latter for some reason makes my skin crawl.

[SirChenjin]

Oh no - Gillingham is lovely . I'd have married him the first time he asked me. Blake is decidedly average.

[SirChenjin]

Btw - did we ever find out what happened to Lady Edith's man, other than he was manhandled by a "gang of toughies" (or was it "toughs") wearing brown shirts?

[qazxc]

I can't believe that the toffs don't realise that Bate's is the forger. Or do they think that Bate's "friend" conveniently follows him around from downtown to London? Even dopey Rose was "already? That was quick!". Or is it a ruse so that they can turn a blind eye (like with the pickpocketting or alleged murdering).
Can't stand the teacher, she is way to smug. And was when pickle was opening up about losing his wife and she totally ignored that to push to be shown the house. When he was obviously uncomfortable she got all narky and childish "why are you not ALLOWED?".
Yes Mary's suitors do look too similar, I can't tell which is which, maybe they should get name tags.

[hollyisalovelyname]

I agree re Mary's 2 suitors. Hard to distinguish them from each other.
I had the same problem with the 2 male servants involved in some 'love' triangle with Daisy. One went off to be a chef, the other is still at Downton. Can somebody please enlighten me. Daisy fancies the one who is gone to the Ritz. He fancies someone else working in the kitchen. But there is another blonde/ fairhaired valet who also fancies the other girl? Yes? No?. Very confusing.
Lady Mary is very cold. I think she speaks so slowly and clearly because it is not her true accent.
It's all a bit 'Mills and Boon' ish.

[Clunch]

I've only been watching this season and some of last, so there may be much more backstory than I'm aware of, but I can't quite decide from meeting Cora's mother and brother in this episode what section of American society her family come from...? Clearly they have serious money, but are they part of Nancy Astor's exclusive 400, or uncouth and nouveau riche and buying acceptability in US society by Cora marrying into the British aristocracy? (Do we know how Cora met Lord G?)

Cora's brother's cack- handed approach to the Prince of Wales suggested nouveau riche and unfamiliar with the requisite etiquette, or just that he was personally gauche...?

[eddiemairswife]

I think he just ticked the 'brash American' box.

[limitedperiodonly]

clunch you are crediting Downton Abbey with a bit more credibility than it is due.

I read an interview with DA's hysterical [sic] advisor in the Daily Mail's Weekend TV guide, which is the series' spiritual home.

It gave me a laugh.

I still love it though.