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| Lord Grantham and his Rolls Royce |
How sad that this lovely series is over for the year. My goodness this was an event packed episode. I loved it but will try not to spoil it for those who have yet to see the entire series. We have been assured that Season 2 is in the works, but a year is a long time to wait. Apparently, according to Dan Stevens (Matthew Crawley), Season 2 picks up two years after the start of WWI in 1916, so we can expect a lot to have happened in those two years, and a bit of a rollercoaster ride to catch us up.
Shall we guess what happens to everyone?
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| Destiny awaits these two...eventually! |
Someone will have to die in the war and many will have signed up by the time we rejoin them. I can only wish that it is Thomas who is killed, but more likely it is poor William. I hope Daisy weeps for him! My husband (The Squire) suggested that Matthew might get killed in the war and my immediate reaction was "They won't need lawyers in the war!". I know, what a ludicrous thing to say. Instead, I should have referred him to rule #1 of Period Drama romances above. He will probably volunteer (I guess he would be an officer) and Mary may think he has been killed in the war, as one of those numerous obstacles, but he has to fulfill his destiny as the next Earl and Mary's devoted husband.
At least we know Bates won't pass the physical and so will have to stay at home. Anna and Bates' stories will definitely heat up. His wife will probably have to come out from hiding to make this storyline sing.
I think Lady Sybil will probably end up as a Nurse at the front, much to her father's chagrin. She'll probably end up having to deal with Thomas (Mr. Medic) and his nastiness at some point. And what about our cute little Irish socialist Branson. Will the puppy dog follow Lady Sybil to the trenches?
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| The cat fighting will continue... |
I don't give a flying leap what happens to Lady Edith! So there!
I am happy that O'Brien's character has been rehabilitated and is now human. I hope she doesn't go back to her old conniving ways. I know, there is no chance she'll stay good for long!
I do wonder what Matthew's mother Isobel will do with her endless energy and extensive medical knowledge during the war. Train nurses? Rehab soldiers at home?
Lord Grantham will obviously stay at home, but will he feel guilty about not contributing? Will Cora fund raise and roll bandages in the village to be sent to the front?
The Dowager Countess will keep meddling and whipping off wonderful lines.
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| We adore you Dame Maggie! |
Line of the evening from the Dowager Countess (aka Dame Maggie Smith);
"We can't have him assassinated...I suppose..."
Well, I look forward to watching the continuation of this Edwardian soap opera. I feel like I did when I used to watch "The Young and the Restless" when on maternity leave. Guilty but addicted. Oh, well...
N.B. As a note for anyone interested in Mrs. Patmore's cataract surgery. Although it is true that large centres like London were doing this surgery, she would not have returned to the kitchen without glasses. In those days, they didn't do intraocular lens implants like they do today. She would have had strong glasses to compensate for the focusing power of the cloudy lens removed from the eye. Think Bubbles from Trailer Park Boys. If they need an optical historian for future episodes, I would love to volunteer!
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| Spectacles after cataract surgery would have likely been even more magnifying than these! |
is a very modern, edgy and absolutely gripping television show. It doesn't seem at first to have anything to do with Period Drama. However, these spies who run around with guns fighting terrorism and keeping Britain safe from high level criminal activity all have a secret. They have all (or almost all) been previously seen in some of my favorite Period Dramas. I hear you scoffing in disbelief at this absurd assertion. Spies in crinolines and top hats? Pshaw!
. It doesn't seem to matter whether this man is in a T-shirt and jeans, or a Victorian black suit, he can rock it. He also played Guy of Gisborne in the 
.
. He also played Arthur Clenham in Dickens' 
and Sir Felix Carbury in 
(I loved him in this one!). Actually, he was also in 
, 
, 
, and will soon be seen in 
and The Three Musketeers. This man is king of the Period Drama!
the Edwardian miniseries about three nannys, their employers and their little charges. Norris plays the scariest of these employers who eventually shows her softer side, but just barely. (Thanks for the photo of Norris in Berkeley Square to 
he puts his seriously cute face to work as one of Jane Austen's best beloved male leads. He has done a few other Period Dramas (
, 
and 
) but after perusing his IMDb page, I want to seek out a bit part he had in 
as "Boy at Party" The End, 1995. Anyone seen him with Edina and Patsy?
, one of my favorites. She was also in 
, 
, 
and is now starring as Lady Agnes Holland in the new BBC Upstairs Downstairs which will be airing this spring on PBS/Masterpiece.
He will also appear in "South Riding", an adaptation by Andrew Davies of Winifred Holtby's novel on PBS/Masterpiece later this year.
is already on order so I can replay this in February at my house! Now, I think I may have to order all four seasons of 
to get me through the rest of this deep freeze of a winter!
" I laughed out loud. Obviously, they couldn't put this scene into the film, as Colin Firth was playing Mark Darcy and so couldn't appear as himself, but in the DVD extras I think that Renee and Colin did full justice to the written word. 
