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.