Gary Carr in "Death in Paradise"
Gary Carr will portray the first black character on Downton Abbey during its upcoming fourth season, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Season MVPs: The year's best
Carr, who will play a "charming and charismatic young jazz singer," joins returning regulars Hugh Bonneville, Michelle Dockery, Maggie Smith, Jim Carter and Shirley MacLaine. Some of the other new faces for Season 4 include Tom Cullen, a new love interest for Mary (Dockery), Dame Harriet Walter as Lady Shackleton, an old friend of the Dowager Countess, Nigel Harman as a visiting valet Green, Julian Ovenden as aristocrat Charles Blake, and Joanna David as the Duchess of Yeovil.
read more
Michelle Dockery and Dan Stevens
[Spoiler alert! The following contains important details from Downton Abbey's Season 3 finale. Read at your own risk.]
Mary: "We must never take...
read more
Maggie Smith
We thank Downton Abbey for many things, but most of all for the Dowager Countess.
Lady Violet Crawley (Maggie Smith) doesn't let a little thing like being elderly get in the way of being awesome. We all hope to live to a ripe old age, but only if we can bypass the tiresome stereotype of being feeble and — let's face it — boring. Here's a primer on how to grow up funny, feisty and full of win, Dowager Countess-style!
read more
Rob James-Collier
[Spoiler alert! The following contains details from Sunday's episode of Downton Abbey. Read if you dare risk the wrath of the Dowager Countess.]
Downton Abbey's Thomas finally got his comeuppance, but was it enough? Or was it unfair treatment?
On Sunday's episode, the sneering servant was finally outmaneuvered by his fellow downstairs nemesis O'Brien (Siobhan Finneran) who convinced him that footman Jimmy (Ed Speleers) reciprocated his romantic feelings. Thomas (Rob James-Collier) made his move by kissing the unsuspecting sleeping Jimmy, who was shocked and disgusted by the unwanted advances.
read more
Sophie McShera
"You know the trouble with you lot? You're all in love with the wrong people." -- the wisdom of Mrs. Patmore
Not every servant on Downton Abbey can have the fairy tale romance of Bates and Anna (false murder rap and imprisonment aside), and a servant in the 1920s is further constrained by his/her status. For every Gwen (Rose Leslie) who opened up her romantic prospects by becoming a secretary, sadly there's a fallen Ethel (Amy Nuttall) who's forced into prostitution after having an affair with a military man. What's one of the serving class to do but flirt awkwardly with one of their own in hopes of safely pairing off?
read more
Dan Stevens, Michelle Dockery
When Downton Abbey's third season premiered earlier this month, it netted 7.9 million viewers, up 96 percent from the Season 2 premiere and earning larger audiences that week than home-country hits such as The Bachelor, The Biggest Loser and New Girl. So what exactly is it about a British period drama that has Americans in a tizzy? TVGuide.com breaks down the six biggest reasons why...
read more
Downton Abbey
Third time's really a charm!
The Season 3 premiere of Downton Abbey, which aired Sunday night in the United States, drew 7.9 million viewers, up a whopping 96 percent over its Season 2 premiere. The two-hour episode quadrupled PBS' average prime-time numbers.
read more
Benedict Cumerbatch and Martin Freeman
Good things come to those who wait?
BBC has pushed back the production of Sherlock three months, which means fans of the series on this side of the pond may have to wait until 2014 for the third season, Entertainment Weekly reports.
Production was moved from January to March to accommodate the busy schedules of...
read more
Downton Abbey
The Olympics may be over but it will be a true battle of England vs. America when Shirley MacLaine makes her debut on the upcoming season of Downton Abbey.
In two new previews for the Emmy-nominated series, MacLaine's outspoken character, Martha, mother to Lady Cora (Elizabeth McGovern), advises the Dowager Countess (Maggie Smith) not to...
read more