George Armstrong Custer Posted 8 November , 2011 Share Posted 8 November , 2011 This is what happened to George Harrison with 'My Sweet Lord'! Actually I'm flattered to have been thinking along similar lines to the talented Mr Hill. Perhaps a career as a TV comedy writer beckons - after all, my stuff on Haig has always elicited a disbelieving guffaw in response from the dull and ignorant.... George Cryer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steven Broomfield Posted 8 November , 2011 Share Posted 8 November , 2011 Are you referring to that nice Mr Haig, the Downton Estate butcher? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George Armstrong Custer Posted 8 November , 2011 Share Posted 8 November , 2011 The very same - the man at the centre of the donkey meat rumours. George Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Le_Treport Posted 15 December , 2011 Share Posted 15 December , 2011 It ISN'T just us! This from today's Tottygraph... Dressing to kill SIR – Why is driven game shooting in television dramas always full of errors? The Downton Abbey Christmas special apparently includes a pheasant shoot, and publicity shots have depicted the guns, presumably on their way to a drive. The episode is set in 1919-20, but the guns are dressed in the garb of the 1890s. No driven game shot in the Twenties would have been seen wearing leather gaiters. All would have worn plus fours, stockings, leather boots and, possibly, light-coloured spats. This was even the dress in the early 1900s. Only loaders wore gaiters. Matthew Crawley (photo, December 14) offers the appearance of a groom rather than a shooting man on a formal shoot. Tony Jackson Former editor, Shooting Times Tatworth, Somerset Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moonraker Posted 18 December , 2011 Share Posted 18 December , 2011 Well, I'm not going to be bothered by any of that and it's not going to affect my enjoyment or whatever of the Christmas special or the next series. And I don't suppose non-WWI enthusiasts were that bothered by some of the infelicities that we spotted. There seems to be a general feeling at large that the second series was poorly composed. I'm still wondering about the disfigured Canadian officer, who came, made his case to be the rightful heir and then conveniently disappeared. (Thought: perhaps the family conspired to dispose of him? Will all be revealed in the next series? Did they get Bates to do it, as he's already in the frame for knocking off his missus? Or was it the butler?) Somewhere in the articles on TV viewing over the next fortnight there's a reference to a documentary about the making of "Downton Abbey", with a somewhat dismissive reference to the trenches that were used for the combat scenes. Moonraker Afterthought: the dismissive reference was not actually to the trenches but to the scenes portrayed there. I think that several of us agreed that the patrol scene (away from the trenches) was a bit naff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anneca Posted 19 December , 2011 Share Posted 19 December , 2011 There seems to be a general feeling at large that the second series was poorly composed. I'm still wondering about the disfigured Canadian officer, who came, made his case to be the rightful heir and then conveniently disappeared. (Thought: perhaps the family conspired to dispose of him? Will all be revealed in the next series? Did they get Bates to do it, as he's already in the frame for knocking off his missus? Or was it the butler?) Moonraker Yes, I too wondered about the Canadian Officer, there one minute and gone the next, just as I was waiting for him to be 'crowned' the rightful heir! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moonraker Posted 20 December , 2011 Share Posted 20 December , 2011 ... Somewhere in the articles on TV viewing over the next fortnight there's a reference to a documentary about the making of "Downton Abbey"... Moonraker The documentary is on ITV1 at 1930, tomorrow, Wednesday the 21st. Moonraker Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moonraker Posted 22 December , 2011 Share Posted 22 December , 2011 It was not so much "behind the scenes" as billed, but a "collection of scenes" from the previous series. It was quite interesting to see some of the actors as they really are, notably the cook. Moonraker Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martin Bennitt Posted 18 January , 2012 Share Posted 18 January , 2012 Big wig wading in http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-16609589 cheers Martin B Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BottsGreys Posted 14 February , 2012 Share Posted 14 February , 2012 I'm no authority by any stretch, but I thought the influenza storyline in this week's episode very weak historically. It is 1919, and a number of people in the household are stricken with the flu. Now, by this point, the influenza pandemic had been raging, with ebbs and flows, for many months if not a full year. While medical authorities did not necessarily totally understand the illness or how to effectively treat it, it had been long recognized that it was a contagion spread through contact between people. However, when it strikes Downton, they don't quarantine the house--workmen and other outsiders come and go as they decorate for a wedding, no one puts on a mask which, although ineffective against a virus, were still all the rage at the time, members of the household who have undoubtedly been exposed to the virus make their usual trips into the local village--all this and the physician on hand is the former head of the local army hospital who presumably would by this point have had experience or training with methods of combating an outbreak and preventing its spread. Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sue Light Posted 17 February , 2012 Share Posted 17 February , 2012 Deleted Downton - in which Edith finds true love Sue Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy Wade Posted 26 February , 2012 Share Posted 26 February , 2012 Deleted Downton - in which Edith finds true love Sue You naughty person Sue... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moonraker Posted 22 September , 2014 Share Posted 22 September , 2014 It's back - "Downton Abbey", that is. And some time after we all thought we had more than adequately discussed its Great War content , I'm just going to comment mildly that it's taken the the good villagers of Downton a long time to consider having a war memorial - six years to be exact, as the new series is set in 1924. My own impression is that most communities started thinking about memorials fairly soon after the cessation of hostilities, and the postcards I've seen of memorials being unveiled in Wiltshire suggests that a fair number were built by 1921. (For those who have not indulged in the latest series, a small delegation of villagers visited Downton Abbey to ask Lord Grantham for some land on which to erect a memorial. His Lordship is a bit miffed when they ask not him, but his butler, Carson, to chair the committee overseeing the project.) Moonraker Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy Wade Posted 23 September , 2014 Share Posted 23 September , 2014 Downton Abbey is supposed to be a Yorkshire Country house. Just saying, like... We have a Great War memorial which was unveiled in 1937! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew Upton Posted 23 September , 2014 Share Posted 23 September , 2014 Downton Abbey is supposed to be a Yorkshire Country house. Just saying, like... We have a Great War memorial which was unveiled in 1937! The Cenotaph in Bristol City Centre wasn't unveiled until 1932, after a series of long arguments as to its siting, form, funding, etc etc had eventually been overcome. If the Downton memorial is completed within a year or two of 1924 then that is positively lightning fast in comparison... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terry_Reeves Posted 23 September , 2014 Share Posted 23 September , 2014 The City of Coventry war memorial wasn't unveiled until 1927 - by FM Haig. The design of the memorial, like so many civic memorials around the country, was subject to open competition. The original selected designer died before the project was finished and was eventually completed by the runner up. On top of this, the war memorial committee members changed several times which added to the delays. TR Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tootrock Posted 24 September , 2014 Share Posted 24 September , 2014 As a counter to this I offer the following. My local Methodist chapel has a small framed painted memorial plaque to the men of the village who were killed. It was unveiled in February 1920, unfortunately the last casualty from the village did not die until April 1920. His name had to be added by painting it onto the frame at the bottom. Martin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reveilles Posted 25 November , 2014 Share Posted 25 November , 2014 I'm writing a Downton Abbey story, Trust and Providence, where Mary and Matthew are married throughout WWI. I'm trying to make it as historically accurate as possible, so I'm inviting critiques and suggestions for improvement. For more information, check out this forum post. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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