Downton Xmas special?

[Tryingtobecalm]

Anyone watching?

If you want something more sort-of realistic look for "The Edwardian Country House", it's brilliant.
I enjoyed it a lot even though it's twaddle. I can tell Mary's potential suitor from the others because he's Matthew Goode**!! The clothes were spectacular in this episode

Oh no I don't think I can take having to watch Lord G, loose Cora's fortune again.

The clothes were spectacular, the costume department is really enjoying the 1920s.

I wonder if Cora might be doubly screwed over in 1929 - Lord 6 loses the money he's already got and then her brother loses the rest of the family fortune (some of which might have made it to her or her children in due course). She's obviously starting to get more than a bit hacked off that she has no say in the running of this estate that she originally funded, perhaps it's time she took over.

I want tribpot to start writing the scripts!

Most of it was annoying bollocks though, wasn't it?

Alun Armstrong refusing to serve Tom

And Sinderby/Grantham saying nothing.

Barrow having to wait at table?/

Sinderby's mistress & child turning up & Rose being quick enough to save the situation!!

diddl - and you would think the mistress would not have stood in the doorway waiting (with his child) when she could see there was a huge party going on. Not a good time.
Good drama though!

What is it with Denker and Spratt? I love Sue Johnston but am finding the character of Denker really grating, still no nearer finding out why Spratt hates her and frankly I couldn't care less, just get rid of her please.

Rose is growing on me now she's settled down. Loved Carson's proposal. Really had hoped Bates was guilty and was being written out, he's awful.

Can't bear Anna and Bates. Can't see any chemistry there, it feels all wrong and storyline is getting boring.

Loved the show though. No one has mentioned the Russians. So what will happen to the prince and princess now in Paris? Will they still be destitute?

I don't get the Denker/Spratt thing either - she seems to have been parachuted on for no apparent reason whatsoever.

in not on

I thought that when Denker first arrived she refused to do something that she considered beneath her(?), but Spratt thought was part of her job.
Not sure if he ended up doing it, but I have a feeling that Violet sided with Denker.
For some reason, laundering Violet's smalls comes to mind.

I was surprised to see Denker as I thought she'd be gone after the drunken gambling. I love Spratt, he does the best cat's bum mouth ever

Maybe it is just that Denker gets up Spratt's nose by not doing things how he expects, but why does Violet not only tolerate but actively stick up for her?

I wonder if the Denker/Spratt dynamic is meant to show how the servants had their hierarchy and object to 'taking one for the team' when the servants are reduced to a skeleton staff (although still a ratio of about 5 servants to 1 toff?)

AllMimsy, I shall await the call from ITV for the next series.

I agree about the indistinguishability of Mary's Suitors. It's only a few years after the First World War - I vote for a one-eyed Suitor wounded in combat with a rather dashing eyepatch so we can definitively pick him out of the lineup.

The Denker plots are all over the shop. I think they snapped up Sue Johnston because she happened to be available and then had to find something for her to do in a hurry.

They've already done the servant hierarchy thing lots though, with Thomas and with Molesley.

I think Sue Johnston is too well known to be playing such a small part.

Do you think that the Drnker character has more to her than meets the eye? She does seem quite superfluous at the moment

Repeating a storyline hasn't been an impediment so far.

Yes, I was going to say - JF doesn't mind recycling storylines, particularly murder ones involving Bates. I'm expecting another Turkish diplomat to turn up at some point.

I agree about Sue Johnston, why is she playing a bit part? Mind you, the incredible Harriet Walter was only in it for about seven seconds.

I thought that that guy that mary said 'perhaps I shall see you again, shooting', he was a bit 'maybe, see you around'

I think Mary needs a man to play hard to get instead of throwing themselves at her. She only really fell for Matthew once he was engaged to that other woman. I am also having difficulty telling them all apart.

Dilys - that sounds like Strallen or whatever he was called, the one that Edith was going to marry. Did they kill him off?

I'd totally forgotten about Danker's drinking, there evidently isn't going to be any 'punishment' regarding that from employers or fellow servants.

Spratt's such a cominal character I think, he's like a character from Little Britain (I keep expecting him to appear in a pvc all in one and declare he's the only gay in the village). I really giggled when he appeared from behind the bushes after Violet and Isobelle had finished their tea outside.

I agree that the storylines are daft (especially the mistress appear at the door of the party as if she would have realised there were lots of people there prior) but some how I let them away with it all.

Finally watched it (was away over Christmas):
YAY for Carson and Mrs Hughes
Was convinced Lord Grantham was going to die - very glad he didn't
SO bored of Anna & Bates now
Also sick of Daisy whining all the time
The Dowager Countess and Violet are the best

Finally got round to watching it last night and was really disappointed. No plot! Nothing happened! It felt very padded out as if a fairly dull mid-season episode had been stretched to fill a "feature length" slot with spurious insertion of Christmas carols and additional dull little mini-occurrences added purely to use up a few more minutes.

There should have been a murder or death or theft of emeralds or something actually entertaining. This has thoroughly put me off bothering with next season.

Yes, you get the impression the plan was to have a big dramatic centrepiece in the form of Anna's trial ... and then someone decided that was too grim for Christmas so it sort of got tidied away without any proper drama. I assumed someone was going to get shot during the shooting scene, it seemed to be building up to that - but then again, nothing. Then the mistress shows up - big scene albeit involving characters we hardly know. Nothing.