Downton Abbey fanvid - Remember Last Time

Featuring Mary & Matthew, Sybil & Branson, Anna & Bates

(Actors: Michelle Dockery, Dan Stevens, Jessica Brown Findlay,
Allen Leech, Joanne Froggat, Brendan Coyle)

Song: Remember Last Time by Avi Buffalo

Thanks to o0amish0o for creating the video!

Superheroes of Downton Abbey

You know that a series has become popular when spoofs of its characters begin to arise. Last week while watching the first episode of Downton Abbey, a reference was made to the fact that Bates was Lord Crawley's batman during the Boer War. "BATMAN", did you say?!

Well, someone at Quite So, Downton Abbey decided to create an image of Bates as Batman along with his trusty sidekick Robin (Lord Crawley).

The reference to Batman immediately made me think of how the plot hinges on the entail of Downton Abbey and I couldn't help but dub Matthew Crawley as the illustrious, caped crusader "ENTAILMAN".

It's a bird, it's a plane,... it's Entailman!!

Will he be able to save the day?
Will he be able to "smash" the entail?
(as alluded to by "Scene-Stealer")

SCENE-STEALER is the superhero moniker for the Dowager Duchess. Although, it sounds like the name of a villain, it simply refers to the ongoing antics (agreed by most viewers and cast members) of Dame Maggie Smith's witty one-liners and superbly-delivered lines that quite simply steal the scenes from her fellow Downton Abbey actors.


Now while Scene-Stealer is not the villain, what saga would be complete without someone to stir up trouble? Have no fear, we have a couple of those, most notably Thomas the first footman. But he's not just any footman, he's "FOOTMAN" the antagonist who stalks the hallways of both upstairs and downstairs, looking to step on anyone who dares to get in his way as he climbs the Downton ladder of success!

And FootMan does not operate alone. He can be found lurking in stairwells and plotting with his sidekick "TRIPPER". She's not averse to using whatever means necessary to maintain her pecking order within the house. Poor Bates the BATMAN, saw firsthand how devious she could be, when she exercised her tripping powers at the Duke's arrival. Batman might have lost that battle but we know the war's not over! And Tripper's also been known to use a bar of soap to ensure that her employer, Lady Cora, will not take her for granted.

Any more suggestions for other Downton superheroes? Perhaps Anna should be BATWOMAN to Bates' BATMAN? I think Lady Mary and Lady Edith deserve their own special names but not sure what they should be?

And yes, this is just a very silly post...

Lark Rise to Candleford

If there's one period drama that has been mentioned to me the most frequently (or scolded for not featuring on this blog), it's Lark Rise to Candleford! So let me hereby officially enter LRTC into the "Enchanted Serenity archives" as a period drama that comes highly recommended! (To clarify, I have seen a few episodes of the first season and have had the best of intentions to catch up to date, so hopefully with this new year I'll make that happen!)

From Wikipedia: Adapted by the BBC from Flora Thompson's trilogy of semi-autobiographical novels about the English countryside, published between 1939 and 1943. The series is set in the small Oxfordshire hamlet of Lark Rise and the wealthier neighbouring market town of Candleford towards the end of the 19th century. In Season Two, episode 17, the date carved on the new clock tower in Candleford is 1895. The series chronicles the daily lives of farm workers, craftsmen, and gentry, observing the characters in loving, boisterous, and competing communities of families, rivals, friends, and neighbours.

The narrative is seen through the eyes of a teenage girl, Laura Timmins (Olivia Hallinan), as she leaves Lark Rise to start a new life under the wing of her cousin, the independent and effervescent Dorcas Lane (Julia Sawalha), who is Post Mistress at the local Post Office in Candleford. Through these two characters, viewers experience the force of friendship as Laura and Dorcas see each other through the best and worst of times.

** Season 4: Begins January 9 on BBC **
Gabriel (Richard Harrington) joins the cast

BBC Official Site
Unofficial fansite
IMDB

Laura Timmins (Olivia Hallinan)

Emma & Robert Timmins (Claudie Blakley & Brendan Coyle)

Dorcas Lane (Julia Sawalha)

Pearl & Ruby Pratt ( Matilda Ziegler & Victoria Hamilton)

Sir Timothy Midwinter (Ben Miles)

Lady Adelaide Midwinter (Olivia Grant)

Zillah (Liz Smith)

Caroline Arless (Dawn French)

Robert (Brendan Coyle) will not be seen in Season 4,
we presume he was busy being Lord Crawley's butler at Downton Abbey...

Downton Abbey - Brendan Coyle

Brendan Coyle is already familiar to fans of
North and South and Lark Rise to Candleford!

Brendan Coyle plays John Bates, the new valet to Lord Grantham. His character had been injured in the Boer War whilst serving as a batman to Lord Grantham so Brendan used a walking stick and acted with a limp to complete his character traits.

“A batman is a fighting man, who serves as a butler and tends to the needs of his commanding officer – so they would have fought alongside each other and Bates would have been Lord Grantham’s right hand man, looking out for him and protecting him,” explains Brendan. Being a batman would have meant Bates and his master would have lived in close proximity to one and another and Bates would probably have been one of the closest men to his commanding officer.

“Bates would have been commonly referred to as a cripple in those times and there wasn’t much sympathy for people who suffered with any kind of disability no matter how it was sustained,’ he says. “So, when he is appointed by Lord Grantham as his valet without Carson’s knowledge it comes as a surprise to all the staff that this man, in such a superior position, is ‘afflicted’.”

Bates experiences a lot of bitterness and resentment from the other staff because he can’t carry out his duties properly and they find themselves carrying some of his workload. “He is given a lot of room to be able to perform what duties he can but there are others who have to compensate for his inability to perform the duties that a valet normally would. He has to deal with a young footman’s ambitions to be valet and Lady Grantham’s maid who, for some reason resents him, so he has to deal with a great deal of prejudice.”

Not only does Bates fail to complete most of his duties, those he does manage to complete, tend to becarried out pretty poorly. There’s a number of incidences where Bates drops things, he falls, or rather, is tripped up at the very grand arrival of a Duke, which is embarrassing for everybody in the line-up but mostly for Bates. “I was trying to make that scene as realistic as possible so I did let myself fall as naturally as I could,’ explains Brendan. “If you become a dead weight and are padded well enough, then you can take the impact. I’ve done a lot of stage fighting, so I wasn’t afraid of that. It did take about 20 takes and I was sore for a few days afterwards. It’s worth it just to get that one shot. I was very keen for that to look as painful and as humiliating as possible for Bates and in turn for Lord Grantham.”

Despite his many secrets Bates is essentially an honourable man who believes in loyalty and honesty which in later episodes works against him. “He doesn’t know specifically what he has done to upset his colleagues but he is older and wiser and there is a sense that he is carrying a heavy burden around with him that he won’t divulge,” says Brendan. He quickly discovers an ally below stairs in the form of housemaid Anna played by Joanne Froggatt but before this has a chance to grow into something more, the devious O’Brien lays the groundwork with an unsuspecting Lady Grantham to have Bates fired.

“When it becomes apparent that his trial period is over Lord Grantham finds himself under a lot of pressure to do the right thing by his staff and let Bates go,’ says Brendan. “There’s a powerful scene where Lord Grantham has to dismiss Bates and it’s an extremely difficult thing for him to do, because Grantham knows the extent of Bates’ loyalty to him, his injury is testament to that.”Just when it looks like Bates is all washed up with no hope of another job, Lord Grantham has a last minute change of heart and tells him to go back inside the house. “Lord Grantham is a man of honour and he decides that he can’t do it because, as he says it’s ‘simply just not right’.”

As the tension builds between Bates and first footman, Thomas, the stakes between the two servants get higher as Bates’ honesty comes into question. “The resentment from Thomas and O’Brien never goes away and it bruises and bruises until violence erupts between the two men but it only cements Bates’ resolve to stay put and fight his corner…literally.”

Like the rest of the cast, Brendan benefited from the experience and knowledge of the show’s Historical Advisor, Alastair Bruce. “He has been absolutely invaluable and his presence was appreciated by everybody,” says Brendan. “He gave a very clear insight to the running of the house, the status, positions and functions of all the different staff, which was fantastic. We even had etiquette lessons,” he laughs.

For Brendan, Julian Fellowes is one of the country’s most gifted writers and there was no hesitation when he was offered the part. “Julian understands drama and crucially, he understands actors and acting, so there’s never a dull moment. The script was a real page-turner and you have this whole range of lives, classes, status and storylines - he’s a clever boy!”

Pack produced by Una Maguire and Victoria Brooks, Milk Publicity!
Photo credits: Nick Briggs, Victoria Brooks

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