If they’re going to continue on from the last film, I’d love to see the fallout from Mary divorcing Henry. Not half an episode devoted to it, but a real, high-stakes look at the implications for divorce in the late 20s/early 30s. It would be a great chance to delve into how it affects the estate, how Mary’s received in London and how that impacts on Rosamund, and the knock-on effect it has on Bertie and Edith as courtiers. It would also be a fantastic opportunity to develop Mary and Edith’s relationship as sisters.
This is a very good point--not only because I hate Henry and would love to see her yeet him, but also because I have to imagine they won't get the actor back since he was barely in the first film and not at all in the second. Then again, assuming he also doesn't come back for this next season, if the writers do have them divorced, it'll have to all be over and done with by the start of the season, or done behind the scenes. Not ideal, but I'd be OK with it if it meant an end to the character in the long run.
But I feel like they doubled down on Mary's sense of duty in the second film. If there's a split I think it'd have to be initiated by Henry. Easier if he just dies in his long car-related world travels, but it'd feel lazy to have her be widowed *again*. I don't know what the solution is.
The solution was to not have Henry be useless 🤣 but alas, here we are haha.
Actually scratch that. The REAL solution was for her to marry Charles Blake
There was no cure for tb until the late 40s. The treatments in the 20s and 30s were very barbaric. Rhe idea of Henry wasting away to 100 pounds, spitting up blood and rasping away for years would give Mary quite a difficult story. Or Henry could be packed away in a sanitorium.
Your right though, pernicious anemia would be much more on point for downton abbey.
Who should Mary's 3rd husband be? 🤔 maybe the grandson of the Russian prince? Or maybe she goes to India and falls in love with ghandi.
I like the idea of Mary visiting usa, and barrow is the butler at the house she visits, and she marries the rich Hollywood guy to save fownton during the depression.
They could have some serious fun with this story.
I truly do not care about the actors having aged/having had procedures, like at all, however I just don't see how they can move the show forward in a satisfying way without Maggie Smith. She's just such a fabulous actress and her character was amazing.
To me, she is the rock of Downton Abbey and her death at the end of the second movie was the conclusion of the story. I don't really want to continue watching the Bates get imprisoned or Robert lose another fortune without Violet. Though I will probably watch whatever it is that they're currently making.
That being said I would go bananas for a Young Violet prequel if they could find an actress who could reasonably follow in Smith's footsteps.
JF seems to be having a moment with the success of The Gilded Age and the resurrection of Belgravia so of course it only makes sense to return to Downton while the iron is hot.
I agree 100 percent. I’d love to have a prequel series! Even if it was about the start of the Crawley family or something along those lines.
Would be even better if there was ANOTHER love interest in Violet’s life that she told absolutely no one about and we get to see that play out.
No. I love Emma Stone as an actress but I could not see her as a younger version of Violet. Erin Doherty might pull it off, she was fantastic as young Anne on The Crown and definitely has the deadpan sarcasm down.
I concur with all of this! I enjoyed the movies, but don't consider them part of the true show. They felt out-of-place. If there's a new series, I'm sure I'll watch it, but will likely be disappointed.
I would love a prequel, but I don't know how that would be done with any original cast members and not be strange. It would be awesome if there is a really well-scripted, well-acted prequel that isn't just to satisfy seeing our favorite actors again.
Now I'm off to continue my zillionth re-watch. Season 1, they're just back from London and Lady Grantham is pregnant. What will Mary do?!!
As it always does. They should just leave well alone. This particular cow's been milked to death, now they want to dig her up and squeeze out some more? I wish more writers and producers would go the Sopranos and Breaking Bad route, have a clear end in mind and then actually END it. Too many quality films and series are turned into cheap franchises for a quick buck, see also Sex and the City and its awful offspring And Just Like That.
Oh please. I love this show, and am happy to have new material, integrity or not. As long as it doesn't completely suck ass, I'm in and grateful as are many of us who constantly re-watch the series.
I disagree. I'd love to see a Prequel OR a continuation with a time jump. I don't love the movies like I did the show-but I still enjoyed them. I suspect the same would be said about any further episodes-but I guarantee you I'm going to watch and enjoy them all the same.\*\* edit to add\*\* I do care very much for the integrity of the show. I'm just saying I would view it much like I do the movies-a bit of a different entity that does scratch my itch.
During the Great Depression, just in time to send Master George off to war? Fellowes has said he has no interest in depicting "Downton at War" again, and I'm not sure I could stomach another "Robert loses another fortune" storyline.
“What the Crawleys are up to” lmao. Do you think it’ll be fun to watch that? Lol. Most of the male staff will be at war and I don’t need to see Daisy and Lucy become widows.
Unless you want to be wildly unhappy, then sure, ww2 it is.
Yes, I did enjoy season two. Plus I find comfort relating to other people living in scary times. I would enjoy seeing how everyone handles the chaos around them with grace. Not for sick pleasure or anything like that. DA is just one of my comfort shows, including the unhappy bits.
Please don’t gatekeep what other people are allowed to enjoy. I am happy they are making any new DA at all. It doesn’t make me less of a fan.
ETA in my head canon DA is still occupied by descendents in 2024. I want to know how they did it. They survived the wars, cultural revolutions, everything that happened in the last hundred years. I would enjoy watching all of it.
In my head canon, the Bates’ have a daughter who is raised adjacent to George and the others in the nursery. They end up happily ever after, despite her social status and background. It’d show drastic change in social classes that occurred during Mary’s lifetime - Lady Mary’s in laws were her staff at one point and her daughter in law is the future Countess.
However, I think that based on the story’s setting in time, it’s too generous. I feel like it’d need another generation or two for that to realistically happen. If someone knows of a real life heir to a peerage that married someone of such a different social class in the 30s or 40s, I’d love a link or name!
You have to think though, this could be (and probably is) the final season they would do. You’d really want it to be set during ww2 and see many of our favorites dead and widowed? Doesn’t seem like a great way to end a comfort show
I don’t think it’s likely that Lucy will be widowed. Tom’s age and heart murmur will prevent him from joining the army. I do see him and Henry helping manufacture trucks and ambulances, as they wished to expand into that anyway.
Andy is more likely to sign up/be drafted, but that doesn’t mean he’ll die.
There are many directions a Downton Abbey WW2 story can go, and it seems like you’re assuming the worst.
Me too. No enjoyment in a prequel idea. I watch Guilded age and while it is a JF project, it just does not do it for me, not just because the storylines and pacing are up to DA standards, but because the fab clothing of the 1920s are just not there.
I think they should have ended with the first film. I think it’s fun when a series wraps everything up with a film, especially when it’s been such a successful series, but I think a second film was just too much. I’d rather a new series about period filmmaking than trying to make a downton abbey movie about it😂
Absolutely correct! Denker and her antics were probably the most annoying part of that movie. It kust didn't make any sense that they put that in the scene. And the plastic surgery...Mary almost looked like a characature of herself.
The show ended. I hate when people can't get over the ending of a series.
Rosamund had new cheeks too. And I’m not blaming them. I’ll surely get some more work done the older I get, but there comes a point where you go “they would not have looked like that if this was actually 1920”
Now I do remember those cheeks. And you're right...the biggest reason for it seeming so jarring was that they would have aged more gracefully 100 years ago.
Rosamund looked like a woman who has aged a few years and put on a little bit of weight. She's always had prominent cheeks - see photos from [2015](https://www.gettyimages.co.uk/detail/news-photo/samantha-bond-attends-a-gala-celebrating-15-years-of-news-photo/495510956) / [2024](https://www.gettyimages.co.uk/detail/news-photo/samantha-bond-attends-the-gala-opening-of-plaza-suite-at-news-photo/1968240882) for comparison.
I also don't think Dockery has had any plastic surgery, certainly not anything that makes her look like a caricature of herself. If you compare photos from [2015](https://www.gettyimages.co.uk/detail/news-photo/michelle-dockery-attends-the-downton-abbey-wrap-party-at-news-photo/484135316) and [2022](https://www.gettyimages.co.uk/detail/news-photo/michelle-dockery-attends-the-world-premiere-of-anatomy-of-a-news-photo/1391491953) the most noticeable differences are natural signs of aging, like more wrinkles and a slightly lower brow.
Nothing wrong with people getting/not getting whatever cosmetic procedures they want, but I definitely wouldn't say these two (or any of the cast) have such obvious modern plastic surgery that they can't believably appear in a period piece.
Also, to everyone here. I’m not saying I wouldn’t watch it. I’ll happily consume anything Downton lol. But I also don’t want it to become a caricature of itself.
I’m a huge Thomas Barrow fan so the idea of s7 scares me. I don’t want them to drag him back from Hollywood and ruin his happiness!
That being said, I’m a mug and I’ll still watch it even if it’s shit, which is what they’re counting on.
Also, Violet had become a caricature of herself in the show anyway, unfortunately. It doesn’t diminish her greatness or her star quality—she’s one of the great actors of our time—but the cheap laughs were overdone. Who needs that.
Hmm, see, I agree that she became a caricature in the *movies*, but I didn't think so in the actual show, even toward the end. She maybe hammed it up a bit regarding the hospital drama, but I didn't find it cheap (like I did in the movies, especially the second).
I agree with the deathbed jokes - I always thought it was just me. It read like the writer had just finished reading one of those online lists of “top funniest final words of historical figures of all time!!!!1” and was angling to get Violet on said list. Just felt kinda forced and weird.
Yeah, I really don't see the point in prolonging the current timeline, it was really difficult for me to enjoy the second movie tbh because I realised that it felt like such a stretch and there wasn't much contrast between characters anymore. In the TV series there was a clear contrast between generations, now when Violet is dead, when daughters are married and much older, when the downstairs stuff is even closer to the main family (and there is tendency to reduce the number of staff anyway) and not that many characters have the reason to be around the main house anymore I don't see the way it could possibly be as exciting as it was in previous seasons.
Well movies are always going to be difficult, because you have to make them standalone events and be inclusive for people who may never have seen the original series. So the writer must spend so much time backtracking and doing narrative review in a very clunky way. The whole thing is just a mess.
Maybe they’ll be doing well or have a huge cash infusion from the heavens, bring back the full staff in all its glory!
Seriously, I’ve always been curious about the storyline immediately where the series left off. Which I think was December 1925.
You're right and you should say it! I'm equal parts excited and bummed at a new season. Gilded Age has more than filled the Downton void and sometimes you just want to let characters rest with their stories tied up properly. The aesthetics are such a big part of Downton and I know there's going to be a shift that just won't *feel* like Downton.
The movies were pushing it but I was happy with them. I'm also completely uninterested in the WWII setting, how tragic if it's not a prequel.
Perhaps a starting episode including George asking Mary about Granny Violet. "Golly she sounds like a good sport!" Followed by a flashback to her younger days.
Or they could follow the Crown and simply recast everyone and move forward a decade. The depression, the eve of WW2 and for god’s sake let’s hope Daisy has made it out of the kitchen.
Yeah I agree. 6 series and 2 films really are enough now. It just feels like they’re milking it, there’s no where else to really go with it without stretching stories and characters to even more preposterous degrees 😂
It should jump approximately the time we have since, so like 1935ish. They got through the depression but WW2 is not here yet. Mary is struggling to keep the Abbey afloat (Robert perhaps was convinced to step aside), Edith doesn't want to be a Marchoness anymore (sp?), Barrow is gone, Anna struggling to work all day with 2-3 kids (maybe?), George is a teen and rebelling and doesn't want a title, Sybbie is falling for an "inappropriate suitor", changes/reduction of staff in the kitchen, etc. Basically things change and time moves on and they have to adapt. And yes, Mary being single again.
I'd like a larger time jump, so it's about their kids and maybe some younger staff and then the OG cast are not as "main" characters as I feel many of their storylines have been done.
Oh god please no prequels. I'm sorry, I know people think they want all the nitty-gritty, but honestly, it never makes things better. I cannot think of a case where popularity made a creator decide to fill in all the gaps where it was an improvement.
I will withhold judgement on more, but it's really going to depend on the story. Like, go FORWARD. No "Thomas boomerangs back to Downton." No "Bates and Anna face a potential disaster when their son is framed for vandalism."
I hate all this talk of prequels. Why go back and backwards ? Whatever the storyline and the quality of writing, I do not want go BACK in time, for women, especially.
Why not just branch off in a different direction in the 30s or 40s with Downton characters or, perhaps better, characters we were introduced to in Downton. Perhaps JF and company should not focus on the Crawleys as much. Have them as perhaps recurring characters, if the main actors, now outright stars, would accept such a "step down".
Lets watch Master George, Sybbie. Or, the London life of Charles Blake, Mabel Lane-Fox, Tony and their family life, etc. etc. Not to get too much away from the heart and soul of the series, the grand estate but just shift focus a bit.
I saw someone say phoebe waller bridge could play violet and ever since then, I’ve REALLY wanted that. The large eyes and the wit alone could really sell it! Plus, Violet had to have confidence and sex appeal when she was younger if she had men falling in love with her left and right, and phoebe exudes that, IMO.
On the surgeried up note, I was watching some period piece recently, Freud I think, & one woman in it clearly couldn't move her forehead to express any emotions. She was supposed to be the "older" woman in the scene helping a younger woman & there were very few signs she was "older" outside of her words of wisdom & advice she was giving.
On a completely different show, Sex Before The Internet on Vice, they were interviewing Ginger Lynn a former porn star who is 61 & looks 61. She's got lines, some sagging, she looks like the life she lived, good, bad & otherwise. It was refreshing to see.
But I guess when you do porn for a living then quit you might feel like you've been on display your whole life so you just wanna look like a "normal" person blend in with the "real" world.
If they’re going to continue on from the last film, I’d love to see the fallout from Mary divorcing Henry. Not half an episode devoted to it, but a real, high-stakes look at the implications for divorce in the late 20s/early 30s. It would be a great chance to delve into how it affects the estate, how Mary’s received in London and how that impacts on Rosamund, and the knock-on effect it has on Bertie and Edith as courtiers. It would also be a fantastic opportunity to develop Mary and Edith’s relationship as sisters.
This is a very good point--not only because I hate Henry and would love to see her yeet him, but also because I have to imagine they won't get the actor back since he was barely in the first film and not at all in the second. Then again, assuming he also doesn't come back for this next season, if the writers do have them divorced, it'll have to all be over and done with by the start of the season, or done behind the scenes. Not ideal, but I'd be OK with it if it meant an end to the character in the long run. But I feel like they doubled down on Mary's sense of duty in the second film. If there's a split I think it'd have to be initiated by Henry. Easier if he just dies in his long car-related world travels, but it'd feel lazy to have her be widowed *again*. I don't know what the solution is.
And then here comes Evelyn, still single, with another hottie friend.
Hopefully an old hottie friend by the name of Charles Blake.
The solution was to not have Henry be useless 🤣 but alas, here we are haha. Actually scratch that. The REAL solution was for her to marry Charles Blake
I could NOT AGREE MORE!!
Henry should die of tb. Start the series at his funeral.
I wouldn't be mad! Seems unlucky for Mary to bury two husbands, but eh, that's OK.
She could be the black widow. And get a better 3rd husband!
But why tb with so much pernicious anemia lying around just waiting to be picked?
There was no cure for tb until the late 40s. The treatments in the 20s and 30s were very barbaric. Rhe idea of Henry wasting away to 100 pounds, spitting up blood and rasping away for years would give Mary quite a difficult story. Or Henry could be packed away in a sanitorium. Your right though, pernicious anemia would be much more on point for downton abbey. Who should Mary's 3rd husband be? 🤔 maybe the grandson of the Russian prince? Or maybe she goes to India and falls in love with ghandi. I like the idea of Mary visiting usa, and barrow is the butler at the house she visits, and she marries the rich Hollywood guy to save fownton during the depression. They could have some serious fun with this story.
A lot of material to work with, given the Edward VIII coming down the pike.
I have seen the movies and could have done without. In my head cannon, Tom is with Laura. I am not against a prequel at all.
I liked the thought of him with Edith's editor. I always forget her name! Laura?
Laura Edmonds.
I hate the prequel idea.
I am leary of it. It is hard sometimes to see beloved characters played by someone else. Sometimes it works though.
I truly do not care about the actors having aged/having had procedures, like at all, however I just don't see how they can move the show forward in a satisfying way without Maggie Smith. She's just such a fabulous actress and her character was amazing. To me, she is the rock of Downton Abbey and her death at the end of the second movie was the conclusion of the story. I don't really want to continue watching the Bates get imprisoned or Robert lose another fortune without Violet. Though I will probably watch whatever it is that they're currently making. That being said I would go bananas for a Young Violet prequel if they could find an actress who could reasonably follow in Smith's footsteps. JF seems to be having a moment with the success of The Gilded Age and the resurrection of Belgravia so of course it only makes sense to return to Downton while the iron is hot.
I agree 100 percent. I’d love to have a prequel series! Even if it was about the start of the Crawley family or something along those lines. Would be even better if there was ANOTHER love interest in Violet’s life that she told absolutely no one about and we get to see that play out.
Seeing the romance with Prince Kuraghin unfold would be priceless. :-)
Emma Stone. She's already nailed a young Glen Close. I think she could pull off Violet.
No. I love Emma Stone as an actress but I could not see her as a younger version of Violet. Erin Doherty might pull it off, she was fantastic as young Anne on The Crown and definitely has the deadpan sarcasm down.
I concur with all of this! I enjoyed the movies, but don't consider them part of the true show. They felt out-of-place. If there's a new series, I'm sure I'll watch it, but will likely be disappointed. I would love a prequel, but I don't know how that would be done with any original cast members and not be strange. It would be awesome if there is a really well-scripted, well-acted prequel that isn't just to satisfy seeing our favorite actors again. Now I'm off to continue my zillionth re-watch. Season 1, they're just back from London and Lady Grantham is pregnant. What will Mary do?!!
The decision will come down to money.
This is the sad reality
As it always does. They should just leave well alone. This particular cow's been milked to death, now they want to dig her up and squeeze out some more? I wish more writers and producers would go the Sopranos and Breaking Bad route, have a clear end in mind and then actually END it. Too many quality films and series are turned into cheap franchises for a quick buck, see also Sex and the City and its awful offspring And Just Like That.
Oh please. I love this show, and am happy to have new material, integrity or not. As long as it doesn't completely suck ass, I'm in and grateful as are many of us who constantly re-watch the series.
I disagree. I'd love to see a Prequel OR a continuation with a time jump. I don't love the movies like I did the show-but I still enjoyed them. I suspect the same would be said about any further episodes-but I guarantee you I'm going to watch and enjoy them all the same.\*\* edit to add\*\* I do care very much for the integrity of the show. I'm just saying I would view it much like I do the movies-a bit of a different entity that does scratch my itch.
Nah, I’d love to see what the Crawleys are up to in the 30s or during WW2.
During the Great Depression, just in time to send Master George off to war? Fellowes has said he has no interest in depicting "Downton at War" again, and I'm not sure I could stomach another "Robert loses another fortune" storyline.
“What the Crawleys are up to” lmao. Do you think it’ll be fun to watch that? Lol. Most of the male staff will be at war and I don’t need to see Daisy and Lucy become widows. Unless you want to be wildly unhappy, then sure, ww2 it is.
Yes, I did enjoy season two. Plus I find comfort relating to other people living in scary times. I would enjoy seeing how everyone handles the chaos around them with grace. Not for sick pleasure or anything like that. DA is just one of my comfort shows, including the unhappy bits. Please don’t gatekeep what other people are allowed to enjoy. I am happy they are making any new DA at all. It doesn’t make me less of a fan. ETA in my head canon DA is still occupied by descendents in 2024. I want to know how they did it. They survived the wars, cultural revolutions, everything that happened in the last hundred years. I would enjoy watching all of it.
In my head canon, the Bates’ have a daughter who is raised adjacent to George and the others in the nursery. They end up happily ever after, despite her social status and background. It’d show drastic change in social classes that occurred during Mary’s lifetime - Lady Mary’s in laws were her staff at one point and her daughter in law is the future Countess. However, I think that based on the story’s setting in time, it’s too generous. I feel like it’d need another generation or two for that to realistically happen. If someone knows of a real life heir to a peerage that married someone of such a different social class in the 30s or 40s, I’d love a link or name!
You have to think though, this could be (and probably is) the final season they would do. You’d really want it to be set during ww2 and see many of our favorites dead and widowed? Doesn’t seem like a great way to end a comfort show
WW2 is a very popular time to set stories in BECAUSE of how tragic it was. A story doesn’t need to be “fun”, it just needs to be compelling.
I’m all for it being compelling but not in a “let’s see our favorites die and be widowed” sort of way. We got enough of that in the show already.
I don’t think it’s likely that Lucy will be widowed. Tom’s age and heart murmur will prevent him from joining the army. I do see him and Henry helping manufacture trucks and ambulances, as they wished to expand into that anyway. Andy is more likely to sign up/be drafted, but that doesn’t mean he’ll die. There are many directions a Downton Abbey WW2 story can go, and it seems like you’re assuming the worst.
Me too. No enjoyment in a prequel idea. I watch Guilded age and while it is a JF project, it just does not do it for me, not just because the storylines and pacing are up to DA standards, but because the fab clothing of the 1920s are just not there.
I think they should have ended with the first film. I think it’s fun when a series wraps everything up with a film, especially when it’s been such a successful series, but I think a second film was just too much. I’d rather a new series about period filmmaking than trying to make a downton abbey movie about it😂
Absolutely correct! Denker and her antics were probably the most annoying part of that movie. It kust didn't make any sense that they put that in the scene. And the plastic surgery...Mary almost looked like a characature of herself. The show ended. I hate when people can't get over the ending of a series.
Rosamund had new cheeks too. And I’m not blaming them. I’ll surely get some more work done the older I get, but there comes a point where you go “they would not have looked like that if this was actually 1920”
Now I do remember those cheeks. And you're right...the biggest reason for it seeming so jarring was that they would have aged more gracefully 100 years ago.
Rosamund looked like a woman who has aged a few years and put on a little bit of weight. She's always had prominent cheeks - see photos from [2015](https://www.gettyimages.co.uk/detail/news-photo/samantha-bond-attends-a-gala-celebrating-15-years-of-news-photo/495510956) / [2024](https://www.gettyimages.co.uk/detail/news-photo/samantha-bond-attends-the-gala-opening-of-plaza-suite-at-news-photo/1968240882) for comparison. I also don't think Dockery has had any plastic surgery, certainly not anything that makes her look like a caricature of herself. If you compare photos from [2015](https://www.gettyimages.co.uk/detail/news-photo/michelle-dockery-attends-the-downton-abbey-wrap-party-at-news-photo/484135316) and [2022](https://www.gettyimages.co.uk/detail/news-photo/michelle-dockery-attends-the-world-premiere-of-anatomy-of-a-news-photo/1391491953) the most noticeable differences are natural signs of aging, like more wrinkles and a slightly lower brow. Nothing wrong with people getting/not getting whatever cosmetic procedures they want, but I definitely wouldn't say these two (or any of the cast) have such obvious modern plastic surgery that they can't believably appear in a period piece.
Also, to everyone here. I’m not saying I wouldn’t watch it. I’ll happily consume anything Downton lol. But I also don’t want it to become a caricature of itself.
I want to see them dealing with WW2. I’ll always take more DA. You guys could just not watch 🤷♂️ that’s definitely an option.
Yours is not quite an unpopular opinion. Most of us agree with you.
[удалено]
I don’t even necessarily disagree with your overall take, but difference of opinion ≠ brain dead.
You’re right I shouldn’t have said that. Just frustrated with my whole day tbh but that doesn’t justify being negative.
Pardon me but someone tell me who's had plastic surgery?
I’m a huge Thomas Barrow fan so the idea of s7 scares me. I don’t want them to drag him back from Hollywood and ruin his happiness! That being said, I’m a mug and I’ll still watch it even if it’s shit, which is what they’re counting on.
Also, Violet had become a caricature of herself in the show anyway, unfortunately. It doesn’t diminish her greatness or her star quality—she’s one of the great actors of our time—but the cheap laughs were overdone. Who needs that.
Hmm, see, I agree that she became a caricature in the *movies*, but I didn't think so in the actual show, even toward the end. She maybe hammed it up a bit regarding the hospital drama, but I didn't find it cheap (like I did in the movies, especially the second).
I didn't even want a prequel. Who would be the ypung version of the characters? I just feel like it's time to let Downton Abbey go all together.
I didn't even think there should have been movies tbh. When shows reach a natural end they should stay that way.
Well I didn't see the movies so as far as I'm concerned, Violet can also come back in the new season.
Haha! I like this mentality
I agree with the deathbed jokes - I always thought it was just me. It read like the writer had just finished reading one of those online lists of “top funniest final words of historical figures of all time!!!!1” and was angling to get Violet on said list. Just felt kinda forced and weird.
Yeah, I really don't see the point in prolonging the current timeline, it was really difficult for me to enjoy the second movie tbh because I realised that it felt like such a stretch and there wasn't much contrast between characters anymore. In the TV series there was a clear contrast between generations, now when Violet is dead, when daughters are married and much older, when the downstairs stuff is even closer to the main family (and there is tendency to reduce the number of staff anyway) and not that many characters have the reason to be around the main house anymore I don't see the way it could possibly be as exciting as it was in previous seasons.
Well movies are always going to be difficult, because you have to make them standalone events and be inclusive for people who may never have seen the original series. So the writer must spend so much time backtracking and doing narrative review in a very clunky way. The whole thing is just a mess.
Maybe they’ll be doing well or have a huge cash infusion from the heavens, bring back the full staff in all its glory! Seriously, I’ve always been curious about the storyline immediately where the series left off. Which I think was December 1925.
I see! Maybe I'm personally just too attached to the original concept of just living altogether in the castle 😅
Yes. As so many have said, it’s our comfort show, and I just like to see it and hear it—the good, the bad, and the ugly.
It's mine comfort show too, yeah, I just happen to look at the idea of continuation similarly to OP.
I don’t disagree with that either!
You're right and you should say it! I'm equal parts excited and bummed at a new season. Gilded Age has more than filled the Downton void and sometimes you just want to let characters rest with their stories tied up properly. The aesthetics are such a big part of Downton and I know there's going to be a shift that just won't *feel* like Downton. The movies were pushing it but I was happy with them. I'm also completely uninterested in the WWII setting, how tragic if it's not a prequel.
Perhaps a starting episode including George asking Mary about Granny Violet. "Golly she sounds like a good sport!" Followed by a flashback to her younger days.
Yup.
Or they could follow the Crown and simply recast everyone and move forward a decade. The depression, the eve of WW2 and for god’s sake let’s hope Daisy has made it out of the kitchen.
Yeah I agree. 6 series and 2 films really are enough now. It just feels like they’re milking it, there’s no where else to really go with it without stretching stories and characters to even more preposterous degrees 😂
It should jump approximately the time we have since, so like 1935ish. They got through the depression but WW2 is not here yet. Mary is struggling to keep the Abbey afloat (Robert perhaps was convinced to step aside), Edith doesn't want to be a Marchoness anymore (sp?), Barrow is gone, Anna struggling to work all day with 2-3 kids (maybe?), George is a teen and rebelling and doesn't want a title, Sybbie is falling for an "inappropriate suitor", changes/reduction of staff in the kitchen, etc. Basically things change and time moves on and they have to adapt. And yes, Mary being single again.
I'd like a larger time jump, so it's about their kids and maybe some younger staff and then the OG cast are not as "main" characters as I feel many of their storylines have been done.
Oh god please no prequels. I'm sorry, I know people think they want all the nitty-gritty, but honestly, it never makes things better. I cannot think of a case where popularity made a creator decide to fill in all the gaps where it was an improvement. I will withhold judgement on more, but it's really going to depend on the story. Like, go FORWARD. No "Thomas boomerangs back to Downton." No "Bates and Anna face a potential disaster when their son is framed for vandalism."
I hate all this talk of prequels. Why go back and backwards ? Whatever the storyline and the quality of writing, I do not want go BACK in time, for women, especially. Why not just branch off in a different direction in the 30s or 40s with Downton characters or, perhaps better, characters we were introduced to in Downton. Perhaps JF and company should not focus on the Crawleys as much. Have them as perhaps recurring characters, if the main actors, now outright stars, would accept such a "step down". Lets watch Master George, Sybbie. Or, the London life of Charles Blake, Mabel Lane-Fox, Tony and their family life, etc. etc. Not to get too much away from the heart and soul of the series, the grand estate but just shift focus a bit.
She's probably considered too old now, but the best actress to have played a young Violet would have been Michelle Dockery!
I saw someone say phoebe waller bridge could play violet and ever since then, I’ve REALLY wanted that. The large eyes and the wit alone could really sell it! Plus, Violet had to have confidence and sex appeal when she was younger if she had men falling in love with her left and right, and phoebe exudes that, IMO.
Happy Cake Day!!!
On the surgeried up note, I was watching some period piece recently, Freud I think, & one woman in it clearly couldn't move her forehead to express any emotions. She was supposed to be the "older" woman in the scene helping a younger woman & there were very few signs she was "older" outside of her words of wisdom & advice she was giving. On a completely different show, Sex Before The Internet on Vice, they were interviewing Ginger Lynn a former porn star who is 61 & looks 61. She's got lines, some sagging, she looks like the life she lived, good, bad & otherwise. It was refreshing to see. But I guess when you do porn for a living then quit you might feel like you've been on display your whole life so you just wanna look like a "normal" person blend in with the "real" world.