'Downton Abbey' Season 4: Mary's New Suitors, Missing Matthew And When The Series Will End (whole bunch of spoilers)

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Laura Prudom Become a fan
laura.prudom@huffingtonpost.com

"Downton Abbey" returns to PBS for Season 4 on Sunday, Jan. 5, 2014, and the cast and executive producer Gareth Neame visited the Television Critics Association summer press tour to field questions on the hotly anticipated new season, which will see the Crawley family reeling in the aftermath of heir Matthew's (Dan Stevens) untimely death in the Season 3 finale.

"Downton Abbey" Season 4 will span from February 1922 to spring/summer 1923, and Neame pointed out that a time shift will help both the characters and the audience get a little distance from the loss of Matthew: "I think all of us in a way, as viewers of the show, feel we’ve gone through a bereavement with the loss of Matthew, and it’s really nice to feel that we’ve gone through several months of coming to terms with that, and we are going to reconnect with these characters who have also had several months to deal with the immediate shock of that, so that both the audience and the characters have experienced some passage of time."

Critics were shown footage from the new season, which included Mary (Michelle Dockery) still clearly wracked with grief over the loss of her husband, storming away from a typical "Downton" family dinner after lamenting that after surviving the war, it was particularly cruel for Matthew to have died in a simple car accident. In another scene, her father, Robert (Hugh Bonneville) told his mother, Violet (Maggie Smith), that Mary is "broken and bruised" and it's their job to protect her from the world, to which Violet wisely responded, "It's our job to bring her back to the world." Following that unmistakable Dowager Countess wisdom, another scene saw Violet telling Mary that she can't mourn forever and needs to choose between death or life -- something that Mary seemed to visibly struggle with.

Here's what else we learned about "Downton" Season 4 at TCA.

Mary's Back On The Market
Matthew's death may be fresh in our minds, but that apparently won't stop a crop of new potential suitors from seeking Mary out in Season 4. "She has more than one love interest," Dockery admitted with a laugh. "[Tom Cullen] is an old family friend who she’s known since the girls were children, and they haven’t seen him since she was tiny. And yeah, she’s kind of slowly, throughout the series, coming back to real life. And of course, it’s important for her to eventually move on. So he is a potential love interest."

"There are certainly some eligible bachelors. Old family friends find a reason to start rekindling their relationship with Downton," Neame agreed wryly.

READ MORE ON THE STORY LINES HERE: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/08/07/downton-abbey-season-4-mary-matthew-end_n_3717316.html

Downton Abbey: Scene from January 27, Episode 4

Watch Downton Abbey, Season 3: A Scene from Episode 4 on PBS. See more from Masterpiece.

 http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/watch-online/shorts/downton-abbey-season-3-scene-episode-4/?elq=d4deaf20bc37415d938e78968327b080&elqCampaignId=514

Richard Armitage, Martin Freeman - MAX 60 seconds

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=eLIK-DREmJA

Benedict Cumberbatch at the Anna Karenina premiere

http://deareje.tumblr.com/post/30909161122/anna-karenina-at-the-odeon-cinema-leicester-square

The older he gets, the better he looks.  Why can't I be like that?

Downton Abbey Series 3 – Stars Hugh Bonneville and Elizabeth McGovern WRITTEN BY JUDY SLOANE (Film Review Online)

The cultural phenomenon Downton Abbey Series 3, which depicts the lives of the noble Crawley family and the staff that serves them, doesn't return to PBS' Masterpiece Classic until January, 2013. But that didn't stop the cast from getting together at the TV Critics tour at the Beverly Hilton Hotel to talk about the new season.

The Great War is over and the long-awaited engagement between Lady Mary (Michelle Dockery) and Matthew Crawley (Dan Stevens) is on. Robert and Cora Crawley (Hugh Bonneville, Elizabeth McGovern), the Earl and Countess of Grantham, are facing financial ruin. Cora's mother, Martha Levinson (Shirley MacLaine), arrives on the scene, and Lord Crawley's valet, John Bates (Brendon Coyle) still sits in prison, convicted of murdering his wife. I know... it's hard to wait until next year to see what happens!

Hugh Bonneville and Elizabeth McGovern spoke of the upcoming season, and his Emmy nomination for Best Actor in a Drama.

How does it feel to be nominated for an Emmy?


Hugh: We have a word in England which is gobsmacked. I don't know if it translates. [To say] I was overwhelmed would be an understatement. To hear my name in the same breath as Jon Hamm and Damian Lewis, it's a tremendous honor.

It really is. And to have had the show embraced so wholeheartedly by America is very special to us.

Elizabeth, can you talk about the progression of Lady Cora from the beginning to standing by Lord Crawley's side through an economic downturn?


Elizabeth: I didn't know who Cora was until I met Shirley! Suddenly it all came clear, and I realized that for two years I was in a bit of a fog.

I think that there is a light that mothers hand on to their daughters, which I think Shirley gave Cora in her aura simply by being on the set, which is one of great strength, humor, resilience and flexibility.

It became very clear to me the journey that Cora had undertaken to go, from Martha Levinson to the Countess of Downton Abbey.

She's a more old-fashioned idea of women's strength. She is somebody who is extremely flexible and resilient, and can roll with the punches. She is strong in a quieter, more self-effacing way.

It's nice to resurrect that idea of female strength, because I think that has churned the wheels of history for many centuries, that quiet, strong woman that just connects all the dots in the family. And that to me is Cora.

READ MORE:  http://filmreviewonline.com/2012/08/27/downton-abbey-series-3-hugh-bonneville-elizabeth-mcgovern/

Hugh Bonneville, Allen Leech interview

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CDea130UnuQ&feature=player_embedded

I like Allen's name for Maggie Smith - THE NOTORIOUS M.A.G.

Not long now! Downton Abbey fans get a glimpse of Shirley MacLaine in action as third series promo is released By LIZ THOMAS and KIMBERLEY DADDS PUBLISHED: 16:04 EST, 20 August 2012 | UPDATED: 06:57 EST, 21 August 2012 (DAILY MAIL)

The stars of the show have been giving tiny sneak peaks of what to expect in the next Downton Abbey series over the last few weeks as they work hard shooting new scenes. But now fans have been treated to an actual glimpse of the upcoming third series after producers released two 20-second promo clips today. In the first online video, the Grantham family is seen discussing the imminent arrival of Lady Cora's mother Martha Levinson, to be played by Shirley MacLaine, who is travelling over from America in the series.

 


Sparks are set to fly between Dame Maggie Smith’s Dowager Countess Violet Grantham and Shirley McLaine’s Martha – Lady Grantham’s mother.

Dame Maggie’s acerbic putdowns alone make Downton Abbey worth watching.

But for series three it seems she will be fighting Miss MacClaine’s Martha Levinson for the best waspish one-liners.

The frosty on-screen relationship is already being dubbed the “battle of the matriarchs” as the pair become embroiled in a bitter power struggle.


Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2191160/Downton-Abbey-fans-glimpse-Shirley-MacLaine-action-series-promo-released.html

Michelle Dockery: Downton Abbey’s Michelle Dockery On Why Show Is A Hit Stateside First Published: August 15, 2012 11:18 AM EDT (ACCESS HOLLYWOOD)

LONDON, UK -- Michelle Dockery had a feeling things were going to go well with “Downton Abbey” when she ran into the man who would eventually play Matthew to her Mary – Dan Stevens — in the audition room.

“Until then I’d played much more vulnerable parts, but I remember coming out of the audition, and Dan Stevens was in the waiting room. I said, ‘Who are you up for?’ and he said, ‘Matthew,’” the English rose recounted to Harper’s Bazaar magazine’s September issue. “I walked out and thought, Oh, that could work.”

The two previously appeared in 2009’s BBC television movie, “The Turn of the Screw” together.

READ MORE: http://www.accesshollywood.com/downton-abbeys-michelle-dockery-on-why-show-is-a-hit-stateside_article_68499

Uptown Downstairs Abbey Parts 1 & 2

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r5dMlXentLw

For those of you who haven't seen it yet - the Downton Abbey spoof from 2011 Red Nose Day



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p3YYo_5rxFE&feature=relmfu

Benedict Cumberbatch: MORE new pics from PARADE'S END (SCOOP IT! BENEDICT CUMBERBATCH)

We're getting spoiled

http://www.scoop.it/t/benedict-cumberbatch

Downton number four is on the way: Julian Fellowes reveals he is planning next series of hit costume drama By CHLOE THOMAS (DAILY MAIL)

He has created one of the most successful costume dramas in television history.

And as the nation prepares for the third series of Downton Abbey, Julian Fellowes, the show’s award-winning creator, reveals he is now planning a fourth series of the ITV hit.

Lord Fellowes, 63, spoke out as he scoffed at reports that Dame Maggie Smith would be leaving the show.
The new series of Downton Abbey will premiere in September.

And speaking at the Royal Academy of Arts on Monday night, the writer told the Mail: ‘’I am sure there will be a forth series, yes although it hasn’t yet been confirmed officially.

‘But it’s a definite yes in my heart and I would be writing it and I have a pretty good idea of what I would do with it too.’

The blockbuster costume drama, which is set in the fictional stately home of Downton Abbey, features some of the cream of British acting talent including a star turn by actress Dame Maggie Smith as the Dowager Countess of Grantham.


He said: ‘Dame Maggie will be in this show for as long as she wants to be and I can tell you that even if she doesn’t want to be, she won’t die, she’ll go to the seaside just in case she wants to come back.

The third series will also feature the acting talents of veteran Hollywood actress Shirley Maclaine who will star as Lady Grantham’s American mother Martha Levinson.

Her character will appear in two episodes where she will clash with the Dowager Countess of Grantham played by Maggie Smith.

And adding weight to the notion of a fourth series, Lord Fellowes who won an Oscar for writing the screenplay for Gosford Park in 2002, said that Miss Maclaine’s character is likely to return, adding: ‘I think she’ll be back actually because she really enjoyed it.


Read more:  http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2181868/Julian-Fellowes-reveals-planning-series-Downton-Abbey.html

Downton Abbey: “Downton Abbey” Left The Manor For The Olympics Julie Gerstein17 HOURS AGO (THE FRISKY)

he cast of “Downton Abbey” — both upstairs and downstairs — attended the Olympic Opening Ceremony last Friday. They posed for a group shot in front of the stadium, with Mr. Bates in something of a compromised position. But! Where’s the Dowager Countess?

READ THE REST: http://www.thefrisky.com/2012-07-31/downton-abbey-left-the-manor-for-the-olympics/

Joanne Froggett and Brendan Coyle Talk Season 3 of DOWNTON ABBEY, Emmy Nominations, War Wounds and American Television by Christina Radish Posted: July 31st, 2012 at 1:36 pm (COLLIDER)

Returning for Season 3 in September in the UK and January 2013 on PBS, the hit drama series Downton Abbey will see wrenching social changes, romantic intrigues, and personal crises that grip the majestic English country estate, now that the Great War is over and a long-awaited engagement is on.  Written and created by Julian Fellowes, the show has become a worldwide cultural phenomenon, breaking records with all of its nominations for the Primetime Emmy Awards.

While at the PBS portion of the TCA Summer Press Tour, co-stars Joanne Froggatt (who plays head housemaid Anna Smith) and Brendan Coyle (who plays currently incarcerated head valet John Bates) talked about how all of the Emmy nominations feel, what it’s been like to have the show become such a cultural phenomenon, how surprised they were when they learned the fate of Mr. Bates, and the possibility of working in the U.S., once the show is finished.  Check out what they had to say after the jump.


Question: How do the Emmy nominations feel?  Are you surprised that it happened? 

JOANNE FROGGATT:  Yes!  Brendan and I had shot half of a scene, and then it was our lunch break, which was when the Emmys were announced.  So, I was in the post office on my lunch break, and then I ran back to my dressing room to get changed back into my costume.  I looked at my phone and had a text from Michelle [Dockery] saying, “Congratulations!”  And my manager called three times.  I was like, “What’s going on?”  So, I called Michelle and was like, “Did we do really well in the nominations?,” and she was like, “You’re nominated and we’re all nominated.  We got 16.”  I was screaming on the phone, and jumping up and down with Michelle.  Brendan and I didn’t see each other until we went back to finish the scene.  So, the first half of the scene, he’s quite normal and calm.

BRENDAN COYLE:  That was pre-nominated.   The second half of the scene was post-nominated.  I want to see the rushes to see if there’s any kind of glow.

FROGGATT:  I have very red ears in the post-nominated half because I was so flushed and emotional.  It will be interesting to see if people spot that.

When you started working on this show, did you have any idea that it was going to become such a pop culture phenomenon, and what do you make of it?

FROGGATT:  Well, I’m getting married, later this year, and the vicar that’s marrying me and my partner sent me an email about details for our wedding.  At the bottom of the email, he said, “If Jo could fix it for me and my wife to go to the Downton set, she’ll go straight to heaven.”  I was like, “Great!”  That’s the easiest deal that I’ve ever done!

READ THE ENTIRE DELIGHTFUL INTERVIEW HERE: http://collider.com/downton-abbey-season-3-joanne-froggett-brendan-coyle-interview/184094/

Kenneth Branagh Remembers Dad With Badly-Made Garden Bench (FEMALE FIRST)

My Week With Marilyn star Kenneth Branagh has a permanent reminder of his late father in his back garden - a badly made bench.

The Thor director's dad was a master craftsman, who found his son's woodwork efforts hilarious.

Branagh explains, "My father built everything we ever lived in. In another life, I would have gone into business with my dad and would have been proud to; he was a master. I'm a liability when it comes to DIY (do-it-yourself handiwork). "I rather proudly made a bench, a garden bench that sits in my garden to this day."

READ MORE: http://www.femalefirst.co.uk/entertainment/Kenneth+Branagh-250483.html

WATCH THE BENDEDICT CUMBERBATCH OLYMPICS VIDEO THAT DIDN’T AIR ON NBC! by: Jacob Hall Yesterday (CRUSH)

While NBC’s coverage of the spectacular 2012 Olympics opening ceremony did a terrific job of conveying just how epic the whole thing was, it was lacking in one distinct thing: Benedict Cumberbatch. However, British viewers tuning in on BBC got just the right amount of the Emmy-nominated ‘Sherlock‘ star with an introduction video that was not broadcast to international audiences.





READ MORE: http://screencrush.com/bendedict-cumberbatch-olympics-video/

BENEDICT CUMBERBATCH VIDEO - OPENING THE BBC COVERAGE OF THE OLYMPICS

The internet called.

You broke it, Mr Cumberbatch.

[It has exploded with screen captures from the Olympic launch video!]

Well done Mr Boyle, Mr Cumberbatch and the BBC; the launch of the Olympics was an absolute triumph and, judging by the reaction from the internet during the show, this is going to be an incredibly well-received event.

I wish they had shown this in the states.  It's better than Bob Kostas.  Much better.

Martin Clunes attracts the crowds for North Aston fete (BANBURY CAKE)

TELEVISION star Martin Clunes opened the North Aston fete on Saturday.

The Doc Martin star had been invited by a friend who lives in the village. He said: “It is a gorgeous village and this fete is lovely. I will have to have a go at Aunt Sally while I’m here.”

READ MORE: http://www.banburycake.co.uk/news/9834792.Martin_Clunes_attracts_the_crowds_for_North_Aston_fete/ 

Dan Stevens: 'I read 146 books for Man Booker Prize' (BBC)

Dan Stevens, who is on the judging panel for this year's Man Booker Prize, says he has had a "tricky" year.

The actor - who will make his Broadway debut later in the year and is starring in the third season of Downton Abbey - has had to make time to read 146 books.

He told BBC News that he never skim reads, but gives each book a "thorough reading".

See the Dan Stevens video here

Which Downton Abbey girl are you? By Charlotte Duck (GLAMOUR)

Find out which of the Downton women you're like and - most importantly - are you Upstairs or Downstairs?

TAKE THE GLAMOUR MAGAZINE

LADIES OF DOWNTON ABBEY 

TEST

CLICK HERE

Mr Cumberbatch on his Olympic Viewing Choices: Radio Times (SCOOP IT)

"I’ll be watching quite a few things. The sort of short distance track events are always exciting and I’d quite like to watch the horse competitions, because I learnt how to ride for the film War Horse and now I’m a little bit obsessed with all things horsey. Oh and crazy stuff like pole vaulting." Mr Cumberbatch said in the Radio Times Olympic Supplement.

http://www.scoop.it/t/benedict-cumberbatch