Downton Abbey - Am I Missing Something?

[auntiehill]

I have no qualms with McGovern. I think Cora is written as a rather bland and weak character; I don't dislike Cora at all but I also don't think there's enough there to actually like, either.

 

[Timewalker]

Honestly, while I've been faithfully watching this show for the last few seasons, I kinda stopped caring once Matthew died. Although, I still like the downstairs people. I nearly cried in the finale when Mrs. Patmore started crying when Daisy said she was going to leave. And I'm glad that Mr. Barrow is now using his manipulative-bastard powers for good instead of evil...-ish.

It's too bad Kate couldn't make it a "royal command" that they find a way to revive Matthew and bring him back.

Wasn't it Queen Elizabeth I that insisted that Shakespeare resurrect John Falstaff for The Merry Wives of Windsor? And didn't Queen Victoria have something to do with pressuring Arthur Conan Doyle to resurrect Sherlock Holmes?

I'll take your word for it. I'm not familiar with either that particular play or with Sherlock Holmes (beyond the most superficial details).

It works in the fanfic stories, especially given Penelope Wilton's appearances in Doctor Who.

If Doctor Who & Downton Abbey really are in the same universe, do you suppose that whole thing with Richard E. Grant's character Mr. Bricker was just part of the Great Intelligence's plan? (I'm not entirely sure how wrecking Robert & Cora's marriage advances his plan to destroy the Doctor's timeline. But I suppose you never know what kind of butterfly effect various temporal meddlings will have.)

I have to admit that I don't remember who Mr. Bricker is. The last time I genuinely enjoyed watching Doctor Who (other than the 50th anniversary stuff on TV and online) was when Tennant was playing the Doctor. I loathe Matt Smith and the pretzel-mess of his stories, and I can't stand Clara so haven't been able to enjoy the Capaldi era.

I just think it's a cool idea to do a crossover, given Penelope Wilton's memorable performances as Harriet Jones and her sympathetic character in Downton Abbey. There are quite a few crossover stories on various fanfic sites that have the premise that Isobel Crawley is really Harriet Jones (or vice versa) and a variety of ways that have her time-traveling. The most obvious is that Harriet Jones ran afoul of a Weeping Angel, got sent waaay back in time, and had to make a new life for herself - thereby becoming Isobel, who married and bore a son named Matthew.

I also just finished reading a cool crossover story - Downton Abbey and Firefly (yes, the author made a credible effort to make that combination make sense).

Really? How?

Read and judge for yourself.

Unfortunately, the story is unfinished. But I read what there is, and wrote to the author. I got a return message thanking me and saying that knowing that people were reading the story made a difference, and provided incentive to finish.

I keep hoping they'll do some kind of crossover between Downton Abbey & Mr. Selfridge. I think it would make sense that Cora, Mary, & Edith would be shopping there while they're in London.

I'm unfamiliar with Mr. Selfridge.

I must admit to not being a Cora fan, I don't think Elizabeth Mcgovern is a good actress.
I wonder what cora would have been like if Gillian Anderson had said yes to the roll?

Gillian Anderson certainly would've been a very different Cora. I would agree that McGovern probably isn't a very good actress. However, she's sufficiently believable in the role that I've had to come up with an awful lot of head-canon to try to reconcile how she's written with how McGovern plays her.

The only other thing I've ever seen Elizabeth McGovern in is The Handmaid's Tale. She played Moira, Kate's friend who is lesbian, and makes repeated attempts to escape from the Red Center and get out of Gilead.

I find Cora to be bland, and rather vague most of the time. I don't like Mary, but at least Mary got herself dirty when helping to save the pigs. I can't see Cora doing that. Sometimes when she speaks, her voice gets this syrupy tone that makes me want to slap her. It would drive me nuts to have to be around someone like that in RL.

 

[Nerys Myk]

Can't stand Mary. I don't want a happy ending for her, but dollars to donuts she'll get one. She's a nasty bitch and being married/having a son hasn't mellowed her one bit.

I do want a happy ending for Edith. And of course for the downstairs folks.

And I am shipping Isobel and Lord Merton. Eff the doctor.

Having Robert dying would be the most logical ending.

I guess we'll see what happens.

The writer loves Mary so I think we will have to watch her get another happy ending.
I could never see why Matthew fell for her?
On flobert dying, I think it depends on how serious they are about a film.
I must admit to not being a Cora fan, I don't think Elizabeth Mcgovern is a good actress.
I wonder what cora would have been like if Gillian Anderson had said yes to the roll?

McGovern, Dockery and Findlay actually look like they could be related. Poor Edith must take after the Crawleys. OTOH, Carmichael and Anderson could almost pass as relatives. So in that alternate reality its Mary and Sybil who look like Crawleys.

 

[Captain Shaw]

I must admit to not being a Cora fan, I don't think Elizabeth Mcgovern is a good actress.
I wonder what cora would have been like if Gillian Anderson had said yes to the roll?

Gillian Anderson certainly would've been a very different Cora. I would agree that McGovern probably isn't a very good actress. However, she's sufficiently believable in the role that I've had to come up with an awful lot of head-canon to try to reconcile how she's written with how McGovern plays her.

The only other thing I've ever seen Elizabeth McGovern in is The Handmaid's Tale. She played Moira, Kate's friend who is lesbian, and makes repeated attempts to escape from the Red Center and get out of Gilead.

I find Cora to be bland, and rather vague most of the time. I don't like Mary, but at least Mary got herself dirty when helping to save the pigs. I can't see Cora doing that. Sometimes when she speaks, her voice gets this syrupy tone that makes me want to slap her. It would drive me nuts to have to be around someone like that in RL.

I know the tone of voice you mean it makes me want to slap her.

Can't stand Mary. I don't want a happy ending for her, but dollars to donuts she'll get one. She's a nasty bitch and being married/having a son hasn't mellowed her one bit.

I do want a happy ending for Edith. And of course for the downstairs folks.

And I am shipping Isobel and Lord Merton. Eff the doctor.

Having Robert dying would be the most logical ending.

I guess we'll see what happens.

The writer loves Mary so I think we will have to watch her get another happy ending.
I could never see why Matthew fell for her?
On flobert dying, I think it depends on how serious they are about a film.
I must admit to not being a Cora fan, I don't think Elizabeth Mcgovern is a good actress.
I wonder what cora would have been like if Gillian Anderson had said yes to the role?

McGovern, Dockery and Findlay actually look like they could be related. Poor Edith must take after the Crawleys. OTOH, Carmichael and Anderson could almost pass as relatives. So in that alternate reality its Mary and Sybil who look like Crawleys.

I think Edith has bit of Violet and Rosamond in her, we had a thing on tumblr wondering if Rosamond was really Edith's mother.
Damn, just notice I put roll instead of role and it will not let me edit.

 

[auntiehill]

The writer loves Mary so I think we will have to watch her get another happy ending.
I could never see why Matthew fell for her?
On flobert dying, I think it depends on how serious they are about a film.
I must admit to not being a Cora fan, I don't think Elizabeth Mcgovern is a good actress.
I wonder what Cora would have been like if Gillian Anderson had said yes to the role?

McGovern, Dockery and Findlay actually look like they could be related. Poor Edith must take after the Crawleys. OTOH, Carmichael and Anderson could almost pass as relatives. So in that alternate reality it's Mary and Sybil who look like Crawleys.

I think Edith has bit of Violet and Rosamond in her, we had a thing on tumblr wondering if Rosamond was really Edith's mother.
Damn, just noticed I put roll instead of role and it will not let me edit.

Fixed it.

The Daily Mail has some cute pictures of the cast doing a read-through.

 

[auntiehill]

The actor who plays Thomas has made a funny little video, with the help of his castmates, in order to help raise money for a charity.
[yt]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=56Zc8dKeDFk[/yt]
Downton Abbey with Lightsabers!

 

[Timewalker]

Aw, I was expecting Bates' cane to be a secret lightsaber!

 

[The Borgified Corpse]

I have to admit that I don't remember who Mr. Bricker is. The last time I genuinely enjoyed watching Doctor Who (other than the 50th anniversary stuff on TV and online) was when Tennant was playing the Doctor. I loathe Matt Smith and the pretzel-mess of his stories, and I can't stand Clara so haven't been able to enjoy the Capaldi era.

Mr. Bricker was that art expert that was putting the moves on Cora during this past season. He was played by Richard E. Grant, who also played the Great Intelligence during the 7th season of Doctor Who. (He also played the Doctor himself in the animated special "Scream of the Shalka" and in the Comic Relief special "The Curse of the Fatal Death.") He also appeared in the Julian Fellowes movie Gosford Park, playing a snide, bitter footman who was clearly a prelude to Thomas Barrow.