Emotions run rampant for our favourite aristocratic family as they are forced to embrace the dawn of a modern era, writes Debashine Thangevelo
CREATOR Julian Fellowes is as cunning as he is genius. He has masterfully shattered the mirage of the life of an aristocratic family in the post-Edwardian era in Downton Abbey. He has done so by drawing parallels between two converging worlds – the upstairs and downstairs – in the Crawley manor.
On the one hand, there is this sheer opulent backdrop upstairs; a place where social graces also make way for thriving bigotry. But in this world where nobility is supreme – or so it is assumed, moralities are sorely tested with greed, ambition, status, lust and deception.
Meanwhile, there is much hustle and bustle downstairs, not to mention whispers among the help chatting about the dirty little secrets they stumble upon daily. There is also a commendable sense of hierarchy and order among them, but this is undermined by certain ruthlessly ambitious types amid the domestic flock.
Season four opens on a bleak note, following on from Matthew’s tragic passing six months earlier. Lady Mary Crawley is still grieving the loss of her husband and can’t seem to bring herself to be much of a mother to their one-year-old son.
While Robert Crawley is protective of his daughter, he is also pushing to obtain full ownership of his estate again now that Mary is the heir to Matthew’s fortune. And, just to make things a tad more interesting, her childhood friend, Viscount Gillingham (Tom Cullen), is back.
And the tragedies abound, as do those bursts of comedic moments intertwined with romance and, of course, a delicious dose of scheming and backstabbing.
MAN OF THE HOUSE?
ROBERT Crawley (Bonneville) has always found himself in a tricky spot. Then again, he lives in a house overrun by strongly opinionated women: from his wife Cora, his domineering mother Violet to his daughters and their bouts of defiance.
That said, he manages to keep himself from getting totally emasculated. But losing part of the title of his house has been eating away at him.
And so he finds himself in an interesting conundrum this season.
Bonneville notes: “The family is traumatised and Robert’s responsibility is to protect his daughter as best he can from the agony she’s going through. But alongside that, he has to protect Downton itself, and this is going to be difficult with potentially catastrophic death duties looming large.
“At the beginning of the third series, we saw Robert’s own folly jeopardising the future of the estate. This time, it’s something he could not have avoided, which is the death of his heir and the burden of death duties. Fifty percent of the estate was owned by Matthew and punitive taxes are now due to the revenue.”
Although the family believes Robert’s attempt to regain control is motivated by selfish motives, the actor explains: “Robert’s aim – as it has always been – is to try to do what is best for the estate and for the family.
“Unfortunately, this well-meaning approach may not actually be what’s best for the very person he is trying to protect. It’s as if he wants to keep Mary swaddled in her widow’s weeds. What others in the family believe is that she needs to break out of what you might call the chrysalis of mourning. In the first episode, we see him almost suffocating Mary with his desire to protect her.”
Thankfully, Cora and Robert are reunited following their personal wobbles after losing their daughter, Sybil.
Although the season opens on a sombre note, it livens up with the party scenes that follow.
Bonneville reveals: “I love it when we do the big ensemble scenes. I mean they are a nightmare to shoot – when you have got 15 or 20 people in one scene. It’s always agony for the director. But the criss-crossing of storylines is always satisfying for the audience, particularly in the scenes when the house is buzzing. So, I completely agree with Robert’s line, ‘It’s good to see the old house at full strength again’.”
But will he be the master of it once again? – that is the big question.
OUT OF THE CLOSET
ROB James-Collier is so deviously brilliant in his role as Thomas Barrow. The unapologetically opportunistic former footman gets a sort of fresh start this season. More so after he was outed last season when he tried to kiss Jimmy.
James-Collier explains: “The dust has settled, everything is as it was and he’s been promoted to under butler. So he is kind of revelling in that a little bit.”
Of course, given his long-running reign of scheming, the novelty won’t last for very long.
And he has a pawn in mind for his next move.
The 38-year-old actor reveals: “We see the dawning of a new partnership. Edna, a character from the past, comes back to take Miss O’Brien’s post of lady’s maid and we see a partnership develop with her and Thomas. So yes, he is building relations because he is a survivor and he needs an accomplice. He needs someone to feed him information from around the house and this new maid looks like she fits the bill.”
While he has mostly been a self-serving individual, Thomas redeemed himself – a bit – when he bonded with the late Lady Sybil at the military hospital.
Since then, he has become quite protective of her little one. And he doesn’t take too kindly to the new nanny keeping him at arm’s length.
He shares: “She gets quite protective with the baby – and that’s obviously the wrong thing to do with Thomas. He takes umbrage and marks her card from that point in. What can I say: if you rile a tiger, he’s going to show his claws.”
And so that devilish streak takes root once again.
KITCHEN NIGHTMARES
SOPHIE McShera as Daisy Mason, is one of the most delightful characters in the series. Accident-prone and on the ditzy side, she has a heart of gold. And there is that underlining desire to impress in all she does – even if her efforts boomerang on her more often than not.
One of the big themes this season is the whole dawn of the modern era, with an electric mixer making its way into the kitchen.
McShera explains: “Lady Cora buys us an electric mixer for the kitchen and this is like the devil incarnate to Patmore. She can’t bear it. But Daisy’s really up for it – or at least she was – until she stuck her finger in a bit and got an electric shock.
“The mixer, of course, is suggestive of Downton’s forced march into modernity. It’s the same dynamic that has Daisy herself dreaming of moving up in the world at the beginning of series four.”
While she proved her chutzpah with the strike last season, she continues to remain vulnerable in the romance department; pining after Alfred, who loves Ivy.
As for where things stand between Patmore and Daisy, she reveals: “Their relationship has always been like mother and daughter. There is still a massive status difference, but they are in this weird kind of friendship as well. There are tensions, too.”
Thanks to Downton Abbey, McShera has gone from an unknown actress to instant stardom. And it certainly helps when you have such a marvellously charming and comical character at your disposal. Talk about being “maid” for this role.
• Downton Abbey 4 airs on BBC Entertainment (DStv channel 120) on Sunday at 9pm.
FACT FILE
• Downton Abbey was recognised as the most critically-acclaimed English-language television series of 2011 by Guinness World Records.
• It earned the most nominations of any international television series in the history of the Primetime Emmy Awards, with 27 nominations two seasons in.
• It became the most successful British costume drama series since Brideshead Revisited, a 1981 TV series.
• By season three, it became one of the most widely watched shows in the world.
• Parts of season four were filmed at The Historic Dockyard Chatham, Kent – The Tarred Yarn Store is used as a workhouse in episode one. The ballroom of The Savile Club in Mayfair, London, was another location used.
• Professionally trained butlers became the rage between 2010 and 2012, with particularly British butlers being in high demand in China, Russia and parts of the Middle East. They were handsomely rewarded with salaries of up to £150 000 a year (then about R1.8 million).
• Last year, China opened its first school for butlers.
• The Equality (Titles) Bill was introduced unsuccessfully in the UK parliament in 2013. It was also nicknamed the Downton Abbey law as it addressed issues that affected Lady Mary Crawley. It would have allowed for equal succession of female heirs to the hereditary titles and peerages.
• US First lady Michelle Obama is a huge fan of Downton Abbey, and President Barack Obama has been known to enjoy the series among many others like House of Cards and Breaking Bad.
• Last month, Kate Middleton, the Dutchess of Cambridge, visited the cast and crew on the set.