Downton Abbey: Archived Chats with Hugh Bonneville and Dan Stevens

Masterpiece is giving you exclusive access to the stars of Downton Abbey! Read the complete transcripts of the January, 2011 chats with actors Hugh Bonneville and Dan Stevens at this link.

Hugh Bonneville
Downton Abbey's Lord Grantham, portrayed by Hugh Bonneville, interacted with Masterpiece fans about researching his role, the talented and young cast, which actors he'd like more scenes with and what may be ahead for his character. Chat with Hugh Bonneville on Twitter @hughbon.

Dan Stevens
Dan Stevens, the actor who portrays Matthew Crawley onDownton Abbey, chatted with Masterpiece fans about the hardest parts of period drama, working with Maggie Smith and the rest of the cast, his roles in Sense and Sensibility andDownton Abbey, and what's ahead for him and the next series of Downton Abbey .Follow Dan Stevens on Twitter at @thatdanstevens.

Downton Abbey: Lady Sybil and Her Harem Pants

The chauffeurm Branson (Allan Leech) admires Sybil's new frock

Jessica Brown-Findlay as Lady Sybil

Inquiring Readers:

During the Twitter party as the group watched Episode Three of Downton Abbey, Evangeline from Edwardian Promenade noted that the harem pants worn by Lady Sybil were made by Paul Poiret.

Who was he, I wondered? Reader, Patty, from Brandy Parfums, answered my question and alerted me to this wiki:

The harem pants in Downton Abbey in Episode Three were a copy of Paul Poiret.

As Wiki says -

"In 1909, he was so famous that H. H. Asquith invited him to show his designs at 10 Downing Street.[1] The cheapest garment at the exhibition was 30 guineas, double the annual salary of a scullery maid"

Poiret worked for Worth who made more conservative dresses so he left to be more "Oriental" among other trends. Not in most write ups about him is he revolutionized women's undergarments. He got rid of corsets that are so bitterly complained about in Downton Abbey. That was also part of his shocking style.

Lady Sybil has fun with fashion

Peggy Guggenheim championed him and that led to many customers who then shunned Worth. It was fine to be a tall elegant THIN women for Poiret but it didn't work if you were heavy - then the Worth style was better. So the reason today we go for thin in fashion may be traced back to Poiret and Guggenheim."

The harem pants shocked the family, but this did not detract from Sybil's joy.

Be that as it may, Jessica Brown-Findlay has become my favorite sister. She rocked that outfit. Wouldn't you agree?

The family's reaction to Sybil's pants was priceless. Hugh Bonneville, Maggie Smith, Elizabeth McGovern, and Dan Stevens.

Watch Downton Abbey online through February 22, 2011.

Downton Abbey Creates a Stir & Hissy Fit

Read about Dowton Abbey, a marvelous new series, on Jane Austen's World. This Edwardian special is coming to PBS Masterpiece Classic on January 9th. The four part series (for the U.S.) was a surprise blockbuster in Great Britain, and a second season has been ordered.



Jean March, co-creator of Upstairs Downstairs has discharged a salvo, denigrating the originality of Downton Abbey:

Hackles were raised when Marsh suggested that Downton Abbey, one of the unexpected hits of the year, was a thinly-disguised facsimile of the original Upstairs, Downstairs, which ran from 1971 to 1975 and has been watched by an estimated 1 billion people worldwide.

Jean Marsh as Rose in Upstairs Downstairs

 "I think we were all surprised," Marsh told BBC1's The One Show. "The new Upstairs, Downstairs had been in the works for about three years. We were trying to sort out … 40 years of rights and then it also started – Downton Abbey – in the Edwardian era, which Upstairs, Downstairs did. So it might be a coincidence and I might be the queen of Belgium."

Bonneville, who plays the Earl of Grantham in the ITV drama, replied on Twitter: "I thought Jean Marsh was bigger than that – running down Downton while bigging up Upstairs? Downton never downed Up when upping Down. -  - War declared as Upstairs, Downstairs creator fires volley at Downton Abbey, Guardian UK

Upstairs, Elizabeth McGovern as Countess Grantham and Hugh Bonneville as the earl.

Ooh! Cat fight! As if there is not enough entertainment room for two costume dramas about the upper crust and their servants in turn of the 20th century England.  Julian Fellowes, who wrote the script for Dowton Abbey, has impeccable credentials as the screen writer of Gosford Park. (His wife, BTW, is lady-in-waiting to Princess Michael of Kent.) One suspects that Julian knows whereof he writes. Here is his response to Ms Marsh's comments:

"There are a limited number of ways you can bring people of different backgrounds and ages under one roof. We have all had masses of lawyers' offices, police stations and hospitals, which are obvious, and the staffed house is rather less obvious. I think there is certainly room for more than one. Good luck to them, say I." - The real Upstairs Downstairs, The Independent

Downstairs: Lesley Nicol (front) as Mrs Patmore and Sophie McShera as Daisy

Featuring a sterling cast (Hugh Bonneville, Elizabeth McGovern, Dame Maggie Smith, Dan Stevens, Penelope Wilton, Jim Carter, and Brendan Coyle), Dowton Abbey offers 6 hours of entertaining drama. The schedule in January is as follows: Episode One, January 9; Episode Two, January 16; Episode Three, January 23; and Episode Four, January 30 (my birthday -oh, what a treat!)

Read The Daily Mail's take on this brouhaha as the new Upstairs Downstairs makes its debut this holiday season.

Jane Austen Movie Throwdown

Today is Father's Day and so I should like to honor one of our favorite Jane Austen characters: Mr. Bennet. Which actor depicted him best in recent P&P adaptations? Donald Sutherland, Benjamin Whitlow, or Hugh Bonneville? You decide and let us know who is your

Favorite Mr. Bennet

Benjamin Whitrow, 1995 Pride and Prejudice

Ironic, gentle, but deadly, Mr. Whitrow spoke practically every line that Mr. Bennet uttered in Pride and Prejudice, and stole nearly every scene in which he appeared in this classic 6-hour production. A handsome older gent with a mild, self-depecrating demeanor, I never tire of watching him.

Some of Mr. Whitrow's memorable lines include: I am heartily ashamed of myself, Lizzy. But don't despair; it'll pass, and no doubt more quickly than it should," and "Til you or your sister Jane return, I shall not hear two words of sense spoken together."

Donald Sutherland, 2005 Pride and Prejudice

With his performance as an earthier Mr. Bennet who, while he might aim verbal barbs at his silly wife, still lusts after her body, Donald Sutherland finally erased my image of him as MASH's Hawkeye Pierce. A Canadian who felt quite at ease playing an English gentleman, Donald's been one busy actor since the mid-1960s.

Some of Donald's memorable lines include: "Well, if Jane does die, it will be a comfort to know she was in pursuit of Mr. Bingley," and "Your mother will never see you again if you do not marry Mr. Collins... And I will never see you again if you do."

Hugh Bonneville, Lost in Austen, 2007

Three Mr. Bennets, you say? Well, yes, for Hugh Bonneville's Mr. Bennet remained true to Jane Austen's character. This spoof on time travel and Pride and Prejudice provided a satiric romp through Regency England, and Hugh's performance as a more befuddled Mr. Bennet contributed hugely to the fun. I might also add that of the three Mr. Bennets, Hugh was probably closer in age to the character than Mr. Sutherland, who was in his 70's and old enough to be the girls' grandfather, or Mr. Whitlow, who, on reflection, also seemed a tad long in the tooth when he portrayed Mr. Bennet.

Some of Hugh's more memorable and completely made up quotes include: "Happy? That my kindest, prettiest daughter has embarked upon an adulthood of suffication to such a preening Caliban? Happy, Madam - that she should live in subjugation to such an enormity? I would rather sleep in a drain than consent to be happy!," and " [after Lady Catherine and Mr. Collins leave] Tonight Mrs. Bennet, with your permission, I think I shall sleep in our bedroom."

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Favorite Mr. Bennet

Benjamin Whitlow Donald Sutherland Hugh Bonneville

Masterpiece Contemporary Presents ‘Filth’ This Sunday!

Julie Walters (Becoming Jane, Harry Potter) stars as Mary Whitehouse in Filth, a new biopic airing on Masterpiece Contemporary this Sunday on PBS. Mary is a suburban housewife who only has one thing on her mind – filth – and the fact that there is far too much of it on television to suit her standards. In this new movie based on actual events circa England’s sexually progressive 1960’s, Mary is shocked by a BBC program about premarital sex broadcast at teatime and proceeds to do something about it in a big way by doing battle with the progressive and free thinking head of the BBC, Sir Hugh Greene, played by Hugh Bonneville (Miss Austen Regrets, Mansfield Park). Here is the program description from PBS.

It's the Swinging Sixties, and suburban British housewife and art teacher Mary Whitehouse (Julie Walters Mamma Mia!) is an unlikely activist. But when she witnesses lewd content on television during teatime, it is Whitehouse's indignation that boils over. A single letter to the BBC soon turns into a burgeoning grassroots campaign, largely directed at BBC Director-General Hugh Carleton Greene (Hugh Bonneville, Miss Austen Regrets), the man Mary believes is largely responsible for indecency on television. A war of words and ideals ensues — one that still reverberates today. Based on a true story, Filth is a timely, sympathetic, provocative and entertaining look at the intersection of artistic expression and decency.

I had the opportunity to view this film and enjoyed it. Even though they tried to lighten it up with a bouncy and comedic music score, it is a subject that touches upon the uncomfortable topics of our personal freedoms of speech, artistic expression and choice of decency and who should decide what is appropriate for public television. We see both sides of the debate from conservative Mary Whitehouse and liberal Sir Hugh Greene which makes for an interesting story.

Julie Walters and Hugh Bonneville are superb as adversaries determined to apply their viewpoint on the British nation. Observant viewers might also catch another actor in the cast with Austen connections who previously portrayed one of Jane Austen’s most ‘oathful’ characters in the movie adaptation of Northanger Abbey which aired on Masterpiece Classic last January. Interestingly, Mary Whitehouse would have objected to him also even though Jane Austen’s work is considered the height of decorum by many!

Filth airs on Masterpiece Contemporary on Sunday, November 16 at 9pm on PBS. It is a thought provoking and controversial movie, amazingly peppered with more than a few laughs.

Read a plot synopsis of Filth

Cast and Credits

Find out more about Mary Whitehouse, her war with the BBC and her legacy.

Visit Filth on the Masterpiece Contemporary website