156 Fun Facts About Downton Abbey

For which country-house film had Downton Abbey's creator already won a screenplay Oscar?

Gosford Park won him the Best Original Screenplay Oscar, the film's only Academy Award, and proved such a turning point that he was wary when a producer asked him to return to country-house territory for television.

In Downton Abbey's first series, which unfamiliar idea prompts the Dowager Countess to ask what it is?

A weekend: Matthew insists he can keep his job and learn the estate at the weekend, and Violet, for whom no day is a working day, asks what one is.

Which sport pits the Downton Abbey household against the village in an annual match shown in series three?

Cricket: the match is interrupted when detectives arrive over a footman's complaint against the under-butler, and Robert persuades them it was all a misunderstanding.

Before becoming the heir presumptive to Downton Abbey, what was Matthew Crawley's profession?

Solicitor: Matthew practised law in Manchester and means to go on working after he moves to Downton, assuring Robert that there are plenty of hours in the day to learn the estate as well.

Which Crawley daughter ends up a journalist?

Lady Edith begins with a published letter to a newspaper backing votes for women, is offered a weekly magazine column and later inherits the magazine's publishing company.

Downton Abbey's inheritance plot turns on which legal device tying the estate to the earl's title?

An entail ties Downton and Cora's fortune to the earldom, so Robert cannot leave the estate to his daughters and it passes instead to a distant cousin, Matthew Crawley.

Which real-world disaster sets the first season of Downton Abbey in motion?

The sinking of the RMS Titanic kills James Crawley, the heir presumptive, and his son Patrick, pushing the estate toward distant middle-class cousin Matthew.

Which actor plays the butler, Mr Carson?

Jim Carter plays the butler Carson, a former music-hall performer, a past the upright Carson is deeply embarrassed by when his old stage partner Grigg resurfaces.

Which actress portrays the sharp-witted Dowager Countess Violet Crawley?

Maggie Smith told 60 Minutes in 2013 that she had never watched the show, because she always sees things she would like to have done differently.

After actress Phyllis Logan's audition, the Downton housekeeper was rewritten as which nationality?

Scottish: Logan expected to play the housekeeper with a northern English accent until those casting her heard her own voice and suggested making the character a Scot.

Who is the creator and main writer of the Downton Abbey series?

Julian Fellowes created, wrote, and executive produced the acclaimed television series Downton Abbey.

Which Downton Abbey servant rises from footman to under-butler and finally succeeds Carson as butler?

Thomas Barrow ends up running the house he once schemed in: as a footman in series one he tried to get Bates sacked by planting a stolen snuffbox in his room.

After his cousin Peter dies in Tangiers, Bertie Pelham unexpectedly inherits which title?

Bertie Pelham becomes Marquess of Hexham when his cousin Peter dies in Tangiers; a marquess outranks an earl, so Edith will outrank her own parents.

Bates served alongside Lord Grantham as his batman in which conflict?

John Bates was Lord Grantham's batman in the Boer War, where a leg wound left him with the limp and cane he arrives at Downton with in series one.

Exterior shots of the village of Downton were filmed in which real English village?

Bampton in Oxfordshire plays a village the scripts place far to the north in Yorkshire, with its St Mary's Church standing in for Downton's St Michael and All Angels.

What is the name of the cook at Downton Abbey, known for her strong personality?

Mrs. Patmore hides her failing eyesight in series one until she salts a pudding instead of sugaring it, and Robert sends her to a London eye specialist for surgery.

How does Lady Mary's first husband die on the very day their son George is born?

Matthew Crawley dies in a car crash driving home from the hospital after meeting his newborn son George; the actor playing him had chosen to leave the series.

Which of the Crawley daughters marries the family chauffeur?

Lady Sybil first tries to elope to Gretna Green with Tom Branson, but her sisters catch them on the road and talk her into going home to win her parents' blessing.

Which lady's maid joins Cora in Downton Abbey's fourth series while hiding a conviction for theft?

Phyllis Baxter owes her post to the under-butler, who holds her past over her to make her spy; in series six it is she who raises the alarm in time when he tries to take his own life.

Which housemaid dreams of becoming a secretary and eventually leaves service to pursue it?

Gwen Dawson buys a typewriter and takes a secret correspondence course; with the youngest Crawley daughter's help she lands a secretary's job at a telephone firm, and in series six she returns to Downton as a guest.

Downton Abbey's first series ends with Lord Grantham halting a garden party to announce what news?

War with Germany: Robert calls for silence on the lawn to break the news in August 1914, and the second series opens two years later with Matthew in the trenches.

Who becomes Lady Rose MacClare's husband?

Atticus Aldridge marries Rose in series five despite a plot by her own mother, who has him photographed with a hired woman in the hope that Rose will call the wedding off.

Which member of the downstairs staff marries Mr. Carson?

Mrs. Hughes accepts Carson's proposal, then refuses the reception he wants in Downton's great hall, unwilling to be a servant on her wedding day; they settle on the village schoolhouse.

Which actress plays Daisy, the kitchen maid, in Downton Abbey?

Sophie McShera plays Daisy; she later crossed to the other side of the servant story as one of the stepsisters who make a drudge of the heroine in Disney's 2015 Cinderella.

Which doctor attends the Crawley family and the village throughout all six series?

Dr Clarkson, played by David Robb, is the village doctor from series one onward; in series two he treats Matthew's spinal injury and judges, wrongly, that he will never walk again.

Which real London magazine gives the middle Crawley daughter a weekly column in Downton Abbey's third series?

The Sketch offers her the column after her letter to a newspaper on votes for women is printed; she falls for its married editor and, after his death, ends up owning the magazine.

In Downton Abbey, Cora miscarries after slipping on what item, left deliberately on the bathroom floor by her lady's maid?

A bar of soap, placed out of spite by a maid who wrongly believed she was about to be replaced; Bates later whispers 'her ladyship's soap' to keep her in line.

At the end of series three, Tom Branson takes which estate job at Violet's suggestion?

Land agent: when the long-serving agent Jarvis resigns after clashing with Matthew over the estate's mismanagement, Violet proposes Tom for the post.

Which Downton Abbey character is Matthew's widowed mother?

Isobel Crawley, who has medical training of her own, has not been at Downton long before she pushes the village doctor into a risky new treatment that saves a local man dying of dropsy.

On which day is the Bateses' son born in the Downton Abbey finale?

Anna Bates gives birth to a son on New Year's Eve in the series finale; her waters break in Lady Mary's bedroom after Edith's wedding, and Mary insists she have the baby there.

Highclere Castle, which stands in for the house on screen, is in which English county?

Hampshire is home to Highclere, about five miles south of Newbury, although the story it tells is set far to the north in Yorkshire; the castle supplies the exteriors and most of the grand upstairs rooms.

In which Swiss city is Marigold, the middle Crawley daughter's secret child, born?

Marigold is born in Geneva, where Edith and her aunt Rosamund stayed; she is adopted by a Swiss couple before Edith brings her back and places her with the Drewe family, tenants near Downton.

Who plays Lord Grantham (Robert Crawley)?

Hugh Bonneville plays Robert, who married the American heiress Cora when the Crawleys were in straitened circumstances and her fortune was needed to rescue the estate.

Violet Crawley lives in which smaller house on the Downton estate?

The Dower House is where an earl's widow makes way for the next generation; in the third film, after Violet's death, Robert and Cora retire there themselves and hand the abbey to Mary.

During the First World War, Downton Abbey's youngest Crawley daughter leaves the drawing room to train as what?

A nurse: shocked by the death toll at the front, she enrols for auxiliary training in York, and is soon tending the wounded in her own family's house.

Which actress plays Cora, Countess of Grantham?

Elizabeth McGovern plays Cora, who blames Robert when their youngest daughter dies after childbirth, because he trusted a fashionable London doctor over the village one.

What is the name of the Dowager Countess's butler, known for his dry wit?

Septimus Spratt spends much of his time squabbling with the lady's maid Denker, and secretly writes an agony-aunt column as 'Miss Cassandra Jones'.

Which Downton Abbey character takes over the tenancy of Yew Tree Farm in the final series?

Mr. Mason loses his own tenancy when the neighbouring estate he farms on is sold, and is given Yew Tree Farm in series six once the Drewes have moved away.

In series two, Downton Abbey is turned into a wartime convalescent home for which group?

Officers fill the house in series two: Violet objects to the scheme, while Isobel takes charge and soon clashes with Cora over who runs it.

What was Cora, Countess of Grantham's maiden name?

Her American fortune rescued the estate when she married Robert around 1890, making her one of the era's 'dollar princesses'.

Which condition kills the youngest Crawley daughter shortly after she gives birth?

Eclampsia kills her hours after the birth in series three; the village doctor saw the warning signs, but society obstetrician Sir Philip Tapsell overruled a move to hospital.

Which Downton Abbey servant ends the series working as a schoolteacher in the village?

Joseph Molesley leaves service to teach at the village school in series six; in the second film, A New Era, he goes further and turns screenwriter for the talkie shot at Downton.

Which much older suitor jilts the middle Crawley daughter at the altar in series three?

Sir Anthony Strallan, a baronet left with a useless arm by the war, loves Edith but halts the ceremony at the altar in series three, convinced that a man his age would be wasting her life.

Over which village institution do Violet and Matthew's mother repeatedly draw battle lines?

The Cottage Hospital sets them at odds from series one; in series six Violet fights its takeover by a larger York hospital and is replaced as president by Cora.

Which lady's maid to Lady Grantham abruptly leaves to serve Lady Flintshire?

Sarah O'Brien slips away in the night to follow Lady Flintshire to India, leaving Cora, whose miscarriage she had secretly caused years before, to find a new maid in a hurry.

What is the full first name of Mr. Carson?

Charles Carson is the butler's full name; the staff address him as Mr Carson and the family as plain Carson, and he began his working life on the music-hall stage.

Which married magazine editor is the father of Marigold, the middle Crawley daughter's secret child?

Michael Gregson edits a society magazine; hoping German citizenship will let him end his marriage to a wife long confined to an asylum, he travels to Munich and is killed during the Beer Hall Putsch.

Downton Abbey's fifth series opens in 1924 with Robert and Carson dismayed that which party has formed a government?

Labour had just taken office for the first time, and at the Granthams' anniversary dinner in the same episode a village schoolteacher riles Robert with her left-wing talk.

Who dies in Lady Mary's bed in Downton Abbey's first series, causing a scandal that haunts her?

Kemal Pamuk, a Turkish diplomat, dies in Mary's bed in series one; she, Cora and Anna carry the body back to his room, and Vera Bates later threatens to sell the story.

Highclere Castle, the real Downton Abbey, was remodelled by Charles Barry while he was building which London landmark?

The Houses of Parliament: Barry was partway through rebuilding Westminster when he recased Highclere's plain Georgian house in towers and Bath stone between 1842 and 1849.

On which UK network did Downton Abbey first air in September 2010?

STV in Scotland initially opted out, showing a new series of Taggart instead.

Which US broadcaster helped fund Downton Abbey and aired it as part of Masterpiece?

PBS helped pay for the series through Masterpiece, yet showed each run in January, months after British viewers had watched it the previous autumn.

How does the middle Crawley daughter first help the war effort in Downton Abbey's second series?

Driving a farm tractor: newly able to drive, she volunteers on a tenant's farm, until the farmer's wife sees the two of them share a kiss and quietly ends the job.

In Downton Abbey's fifth series, the villagers ask Carson rather than Lord Grantham to chair a committee for what?

A war memorial: the committee leaves out the cook's nephew, a soldier executed by his own side, so at the unveiling Robert adds a separate stone of his own in the young soldier's memory.

Cora's brother Harold is caught up in which real American affair in series four?

Teapot Dome, the oil-lease bribery scandal of the Harding administration, ensnares Cora's brother, and Robert sails to America in series four to speak up for him.

Which drama outscored Downton Abbey on Metacritic later in 2011 and went on to take its Guinness record for acclaim?

Breaking Bad's network doubted that Bryan Cranston, the goofy dad of Malcolm in the Middle, could carry so dark a role, until the show's creator had executives watch the actor's appearance in The X-Files.

Robert loses most of the family fortune investing in which Canadian line?

The Grand Trunk Railway's collapse wipes out most of Cora's fortune in series three; Matthew's inheritance from his late fiancee's father eventually bails the estate out.

In Downton Abbey series two, Matthew Crawley returns from the war engaged to whom?

Lavinia Swire dies of Spanish flu after overhearing Matthew and Mary confess their love.

Which overbearing newspaper mogul does Mary get engaged to in series two?

Sir Richard Carlisle buys the story of Mary's scandal only to bury it, then holds the secret over her; when she finally breaks it off, he comes to blows with Matthew and leaves Downton.

How does Vera Bates die, leading to her husband's murder conviction?

Suicide with an arsenic pie: Vera Bates poisons herself with arsenic baked into a pie to frame her husband; Bates is convicted of her murder and his death sentence commuted to life before Anna proves his innocence.

Which footman marries Daisy on his deathbed after being wounded at the front?

William Mason, fatally wounded by the shell blast that also felled Matthew, marries Daisy at Downton from his sickbed and dies the same day, leaving her a reluctant war widow.

Which Downton Abbey housemaid is dismissed in series two after being caught in bed with a patient?

Ethel Parks is dismissed on the spot by the housekeeper, bears the man's son, and in series three gives the boy up to his wealthy grandparents so that he can have a better life.

What health scare does the housekeeper quietly endure in series three?

Breast cancer is what the housekeeper fears after finding a lump in series three; she tells almost no one, and the tumour turns out to be benign.

Which new maid is fired after entering Tom's room and kissing him?

Edna Braithwaite is dismissed in the 2012 Christmas special, yet Cora rehires her as lady's maid a series later; she then gets Tom drunk and tries to trap him into marriage.

Which real Scottish stronghold doubled as Duneagle in the 2012 Christmas special?

Inveraray Castle on Loch Fyne in Argyll played Duneagle, home of Rose's parents; during the Crawleys' visit it is settled that Rose will live at Downton while they go out to India.

Which racing driver does Lady Mary marry in Downton Abbey's final series?

Henry Talbot marries Mary in series six, even after his friend is killed racing at Brooklands; by the finale he has left the track to sell used cars with Tom.

Which footman leaves service to train as a chef at the Ritz?

Alfred Nugent leaves Downton in series four to train as a chef at the Ritz; he later proposes to Ivy, is refused, and only then sees how loyal Daisy has been to him.

Why is the footman Jimmy sacked in series five?

He was found in bed with a guest: Lord Grantham discovers Jimmy with his former employer Lady Anstruther during the fire in the series five opener, and he is let go.

A card sharp steals a compromising letter written by which royal in the 2013 Christmas special?

The Prince of Wales wrote the letter to his mistress Freda Dudley Ward; Bates lifts it from the card sharp's overcoat pocket, and the prince later opens Rose's ball by dancing with her.

Which exiled Russian tries to rekindle an old romance with Violet in series five?

Prince Kuragin and Violet once tried to run away together, until his wife stopped them; when he asks to try again, Violet instead has his long-lost wife found and reunites the pair.

Lord Merton is wrongly told he has a terminal form of which illness?

Pernicious anaemia was then incurable, and Lord Merton's daughter-in-law Amelia bars Isobel from seeing him; with Violet's help Isobel gets past her and proposes, and he turns out to have a non-fatal anaemia.

Lord Sinderby objects to his son marrying Rose because she is outside which faith?

Lord Sinderby is Jewish and wants his son to marry within the faith; he warms to Rose only after she covers for him when his former mistress and their child turn up at his shooting party.

Which Northumberland fortress stood in for Brancaster in the later Christmas specials?

Alnwick Castle, the Duke of Northumberland's seat, played Brancaster, which Lord Sinderby rents for a grouse shoot in the 2014 special; filming used its state rooms and the ruined Hulne Priory in its park.

The Crawleys sell a painting by which Renaissance artist to raise money?

The della Francesca, the picture an art historian comes to Downton to admire in series five, sells so well by that year's Christmas special that Carson is allowed to hire a second footman.

Tom announces he is moving to which American city at the end of series five?

Boston is where Tom goes to work with his cousin, taking Sybbie with him; early in series six the pair walk in unannounced on a wedding breakfast at the village school, home for good.

What medical emergency nearly kills Robert in series six?

A burst ulcer nearly kills Robert at a dinner party in series six: he vomits blood across the table, is rushed to hospital for surgery, and Mary and Tom take over the estate.

What business does Mrs Patmore start with her inheritance in Downton Abbey's final series?

A bed and breakfast: Mrs Patmore opens it in a cottage bought with a legacy; her first guests turn out to be an adulterous couple and bookings dry up, until Robert, Cora and Rosamund take tea there in public.

What condition forces Carson to retire as butler?

Palsy sets Carson's hands shaking as he serves at dinner; seeing that he can no longer do the job properly, he offers his resignation and is kept on to oversee the household from the sidelines.

Which actress plays Lady Rose MacClare?

Lily James joined as Rose in series three and was Disney's Cinderella by 2015; Rose herself moves to New York with her husband after series five and comes back only for the finale.

Which Hollywood star plays Cora's mother, Martha?

Shirley MacLaine plays Martha, Cora's brash American mother; Mary and Violet show Downton off at its grandest in the hope she will pay to rescue the estate, and she turns them down.

Who plays Robert's widowed sister Lady Rosamund Painswick?

Samantha Bond, Miss Moneypenny in the Brosnan Bond films, plays Rosamund Painswick, who takes Edith abroad to give birth secretly and guards the secret of Marigold.

Who plays Matthew Crawley?

Dan Stevens plays Matthew Crawley; his decision to leave after three series forced the character's death in the 2012 Christmas special.

Which Irish actor plays the chauffeur Tom Branson?

Allen Leech, born in Killiney, County Dublin, plays Tom Branson in all six series and the films; the character leaves for America at the end of series five, only to walk back in early in series six.

Who plays the valet Mr Bates?

Brendan Coyle plays John Bates, whose limp gets him dismissed in the very first episode, until Lord Grantham changes his mind as the car waits to take him to the station; Coyle earned a 2012 Emmy nomination.

Who plays Lady Mary?

Michelle Dockery, who grew up in Romford on the eastern edge of London, plays the earl's haughty eldest daughter; the role brought her three straight Emmy nominations, from 2012 to 2014.

Who plays Edith, the middle Crawley daughter?

Laura Carmichael was not long out of drama school and working as a receptionist between fringe-theatre auditions when she was cast as Edith, the part that made her name.

Where were the kitchen and servants' quarters built and filmed?

Ealing Studios in west London housed the purpose-built kitchen and servants' quarters, because Highclere's own below-stairs rooms were unsuitable for filming.

Downton station was played by Horsted Keynes on which heritage line?

The Bluebell Railway in Sussex keeps Horsted Keynes station looking as it did between the wars, which is why period dramas queue up to film there; it played Downton's station throughout the series.

Where were Bates's prison scenes filmed?

Lincoln Castle's old prison played the jail where Bates spends much of series three, until fresh evidence clears him of his wife's murder; the castle also displays one of four surviving 1215 copies of Magna Carta.

Who composed Downton Abbey's music, including the opening theme?

John Lunn wrote the score and won Emmys for it in 2012 and 2013; his title theme, 'Did I Make the Most of Loving You?', was later recorded as a song with the singer Mary-Jess.

How does Barrow's night out in York end in the 2019 Downton Abbey film?

Arrested in a police raid on a secret nightclub for gay men, Barrow is freed the same night when a royal servant, Richard Ellis, uses his place in the King's household to talk the police round.

Alastair Bruce held which job on Downton Abbey?

Historical adviser Alastair Bruce, a royal herald and equerry known on set as 'the Oracle', drilled the cast on posture and stepped in front of the camera himself in small parts.

Which historian accused the show of 'pandering to clichés'?

Simon Schama attacked the show in a 2012 Newsweek essay as snobbish nostalgia; the producers replied that it was a drama, not a history programme.

In 2011 Downton Abbey's first series became which retailer's best-selling DVD box set of all time?

Amazon announced in September 2011 that the seven-episode first series had outsold box sets of The Sopranos, Friends and The Wire, a short British costume drama beating America's long-running hits.

Which relative of the creator wrote the companion book The World of Downton Abbey?

His niece Jessica Fellowes wrote The World of Downton Abbey in 2011 and followed it with The Chronicles of Downton Abbey in 2012.

Which US congressman redecorated his office in Downton style and later resigned?

Aaron Schock, an Illinois Republican, had his Washington office redone to resemble a Downton dining room; a 2015 newspaper story about it set off scrutiny of his spending, and he resigned that March.

Which sitcom parodied Downton Abbey as 'Woodworthy Manor'?

How I Met Your Mother's 2013 episode 'The Fortress' has Marshall promise not to watch Woodworthy Manor, a British costume drama, without his wife, until Ted talks him into breaking his word.

A Downton Abbey episode plays on a hospital television in which Marvel film?

Iron Man 3 (2013) makes Tony Stark's friend Happy Hogan a Downton devotee: Stark asks for the show to be kept on at his bedside, and Happy wakes from his coma to an episode.

Which HBO costume drama, launched in 2022, comes from Downton Abbey's creator?

The Gilded Age, about old-money and new-money families in 1880s New York, was ordered by NBC in 2018 for a 2019 launch; it moved to HBO instead and did not reach the screen until January 2022.

Which royal couple visits Downton in the 2019 film?

King George V and Queen Mary stay at Downton in the 2019 film, set in 1927; their servants sweep in to run the house for the visit, and the Downton staff scheme to win their own dinner back.

Who directed the 2019 Downton Abbey film?

Michael Engler, a veteran director of the series' later episodes, took over the 2019 film after original choice Brian Percival withdrew before filming.

Which actress plays the Queen in the 2019 Downton Abbey film?

Geraldine James plays the Queen, who settles one subplot herself: at Cora's request she gets the King to excuse Bertie from a long overseas tour so that he can be at home when Edith's baby is born.

In the 2019 Downton Abbey film, what is the mysterious Major Chetwode secretly planning?

To assassinate the King: Chetwode takes Tom for an ally because of his Irish republican past, but Tom tackles him as he draws a pistol at the parade and Lady Mary kicks the gun away.

In the 2019 Downton Abbey film, the closing royal ball is held at which real stately home?

Harewood House near Leeds, seat of the Lascelles family, hosts the closing ball; the film's royal visit was modelled on a real royal stay at another great house, Wentworth Woodhouse, where some scenes were also shot.

In the 2019 Downton Abbey film, which royal does Tom console on the lawn, unknowingly saving her marriage?

Princess Mary, the King's only daughter, is in tears over her marriage to Viscount Lascelles when Tom, with no idea who she is, talks her round; at the ball she tells her parents, and the King thanks him.

A New Era sends the Crawleys to a newly inherited villa in which country?

France: the Riviera villa is left to Violet by the Marquis de Montmirail, with whom she spent a week there some sixty years earlier, and she in turn leaves it to her great-granddaughter Sybbie.

What is the title of the silent film shot at Downton in A New Era?

The Gambler, the silent picture shot at Downton in A New Era, is hastily converted to a talkie when silents stop selling, forcing the crew to record new dialogue in the house.

In A New Era, what does Lady Mary supply for the silent-film star Myrna Dalgleish?

Her speaking voice: once the picture becomes a talkie, Myrna's cockney accent will not do for an upper-class heroine, so Mary records the lines in her place.

Which actor plays film star Guy Dexter, who takes Barrow to Hollywood?

Dominic West plays Guy Dexter, the matinee idol who takes a quiet shine to Barrow during the shoot and offers him a post as his dresser; by The Grand Finale the two are living as a couple.

Who directed both A New Era and The Grand Finale?

Simon Curtis replaced the first film's director for A New Era and stayed on for The Grand Finale; he was hardly a stranger to the set, being married to the actress who plays Lady Grantham.

Which playwright appears as a character in The Grand Finale?

Noël Coward, played by Arty Froushan, is the star guest at a Downton dinner in The Grand Finale and performs for the company; word of his visit wins back neighbours who had been shunning the Crawleys.

Which scandal gets Mary shunned by society in The Grand Finale?

Her divorce becomes public during a London ball, and the hostess, Lady Petersfield, asks Mary to leave before the royal guests arrive; back at Downton the neighbours turn down a dinner invitation.

Who plays Cora's American brother Harold in The Grand Finale?

Paul Giamatti first played Harold in the 2013 Christmas special; twelve years on he returns with the family fortune gone and a smooth financial adviser in tow, who turns out to be a swindler.

In The Grand Finale, who takes over from the retiring Carson as Downton's butler?

Andy Parker first came to the family as a temporary footman, hired for the week of a London wedding; by The Grand Finale, set in 1930, he has risen to butler in Carson's place.

In A New Era, how does the whole household come to overhear Molesley proposing to Baxter?

A live microphone, left on in the room for the talkie being shot at Downton, carries Molesley's proposal to the family and servants listening upstairs, who greet the answer with applause.

Which landscape gardener designed Highclere Castle's park?

Capability Brown laid out Highclere's park in the 1770s, and his lake and sweeping lawns survive around the castle seen in every exterior shot.

Highclere Castle is the seat of which earldom?

Carnarvon: the earls' seat was found to need about £12 million of repairs in 2009; the crowds of visitors that Downton went on to bring to Highclere have been helping to pay for them.

Highclere's 5th Earl funded the search for whose tomb, later the subject of a cellar exhibition?

Tutankhamun: the 5th Earl paid for Howard Carter's search, which found the tomb in 1922; the family's Egyptian collection now fills Highclere's cellars, one reason Downton's kitchens had to be built elsewhere.

Before Downton, Highclere appeared in which 1990s comedy series?

Jeeves and Wooster, with Stephen Fry and Hugh Laurie, filmed at Highclere in the early 1990s; far darker, Stanley Kubrick later used its rooms for masked-ball scenes in his final film, Eyes Wide Shut.

Which Carnival Films executive dreamed up an Edwardian country-house drama and pitched it to its future writer?

Gareth Neame, managing director of Carnival Films, found the writer wary of returning to country-house territory; within a few weeks the same writer came back with the first series all but mapped out.

Which Edith Wharton novel did Downton Abbey's creator call 'my book', saying it spoke to him directly?

The Custom of the Country follows Undine Spragg, a ruthless American social climber; Downton's creator said that, largely because of Wharton's work, he decided it was time he wrote something himself.

Which broadcaster at first chose not to show Downton Abbey to its own part of the United Kingdom?

STV, which had been dropping much network drama for over a year, left Downton out; Scots with satellite dishes watched the London feed instead, and STV finally scheduled the first two series in autumn 2011.

Which Masterpiece host introduced each Downton Abbey episode to American viewers?

Laura Linney, host of Masterpiece Classic from 2009, opened each episode by explaining unfamiliar British terms for American viewers, who also saw the first series re-cut into four longer episodes.

What Metacritic score did the first series earn, giving it a Guinness record for critical acclaim?

Breaking Bad later broke the record for highest critical review ratings for a TV show in the same year, 2011.

Whom does Tom Branson marry at the start of A New Era?

Lucy Smith arrives in the first film as a lady's maid and turns out to be her employer's secret daughter and heir, so the former chauffeur ends up marrying into a great estate for the second time.

What is the first name of Downton's housekeeper, Mrs Hughes?

Elsie Hughes turns down a second proposal from an old suitor, the farmer Joe Burns, in series one, choosing her life in service at Downton over a home of her own.

Which puzzled question does Downton Abbey's Dowager Countess ask when Matthew Crawley says he can fit in estate work?

The line 'What is a weekend?' greets the new heir's assurance that there are plenty of hours in the day and that Saturdays and Sundays are free, an idea foreign to a countess who has never had a job.

Which Hollywood star made a cameo in Downton Abbey's 2014 sketch for the Text Santa charity appeal?

George Clooney turned up among the regular cast for the Christmas telethon, in a sketch that also found room for Jeremy Piven and Joanna Lumley.

What is the name of Lord Grantham's beloved dog, once hidden by a scheming Downton Abbey footman to curry favour?

Isis was meant to be 'found' by the footman who hid her, but a village child found her first and claimed the reward. After she dies, years later, the Dowager Countess gives her son a new dog.

Which illness sweeps through Downton Abbey at the end of series two, striking down Cora, Carson and Matthew's fiancée?

Spanish flu leaves Cora close to death, but the life it takes is that of the heir's fiancée, shortly before their planned wedding.

Which daring outfit does the youngest Crawley daughter spring on her relatives in Downton Abbey's first series?

Harem pants are her choice after a trip to the dressmaker, an early flash of the feminism that later sees her hurt in a brawl at a by-election count.

Which condition makes Downton Abbey's cook put salt on a pudding instead of sugar before Lord Grantham steps in?

Cataracts were dimming her sight, so he sent her to Moorfields in London for an operation that was then new and daunting, and it restored her vision fully.

In Downton Abbey: A New Era, a film crew's fee is meant to pay for replacing which part of the house?

The roof is leaking, so although Lord Grantham turns the film company down, his eldest daughter, who manages the estate, takes the money.

Which machine does an ambitious Downton Abbey housemaid save up to buy so she can train for a life outside service?

A typewriter lets her take a correspondence course in typing and shorthand, until a lady's maid discovers it and tells the whole staff.

Which device does a reluctant Lord Grantham rent in Downton Abbey's fifth series so everyone can hear the King speak?

A wireless is hired so the house can hear the King speak from the British Empire Exhibition at Wembley, whose 1924 opening was the first radio broadcast by a British monarch.

From which English city does Matthew Crawley move with his mother when he becomes heir to Downton Abbey?

Manchester gave Matthew a middle-class upbringing that he found hard to reconcile with Downton's aristocratic ways, yet Lord Grantham came to treat him as a surrogate son.

In which trade did Downton Abbey's butler Mr Carson work before service, as a blackmailing old partner reveals?

Music hall was his secret: he was half of a double act, and his old partner, on the run from the police, blackmailed him into providing food and a hiding place in an empty cottage.

Which real Australian soprano, played by Kiri Te Kanawa, performs for the guests at Downton Abbey in series four?

Nellie Melba would have been treated as a member of staff had Cora not stepped in to ensure the visiting star was received as a guest of the family.

Which future prime minister, then Minister of Health, is blackmailed into dining at Downton Abbey in series six?

Neville Chamberlain admits he came only because the Dowager Countess knew of his part in an old prank: digging a trench across Piccadilly disguised as a workman.

In the 2019 Downton Abbey film, who turns out to be behind the small items that keep vanishing from the house?

The Queen's dresser, Miss Lawton, is found out by a sharp-eyed lady's maid, who uses the secret to make her alter a gown for one of the family.

In Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale, at which race meeting does Tom Branson learn a house guest is a fraudster?

Royal Ascot is where an acquaintance warns him that the financial adviser travelling with Cora's brother has swindled other people's fortunes and only just avoided prison.

Which real Surrey racing circuit stages the fatal accident that the Crawleys witness in Downton Abbey's sixth series?

Brooklands, opened in 1907, was the world's first purpose-built banked motor racing circuit. The death there of a driver's friend briefly ends his romance with the eldest Crawley daughter.

Which crime does Cora's lady's maid admit to in Downton Abbey's fifth series rather than give in to blackmail?

Stealing jewellery from a previous employer had earned her a conviction, and she tells Cora herself so that the under-butler loses his hold over her.

A night spent tending which estate animals warms the eldest Crawley daughter to a visiting official in Downton Abbey?

Pigs bring the pair together: she and the anti-elitist official, sent to survey the great estates, despise each other until their night in the barn, after which he joins the rivals for her hand.

In Downton Abbey's fourth series, Lady Rose has a brief romance with Jack Ross, who earns his living as what?

A jazz singer with a club band, he is thought to be partly modelled on the real 1920s performer known as 'Hutch', who had affairs with a number of women in high society.

During which battle is Matthew Crawley gravely wounded in Downton Abbey as a footman shields him from a shell?

Amiens leaves both men seriously wounded: the footman had thrown himself in front of the heir as the shell exploded, and he does not survive his injuries.

Who won a Golden Globe for playing the Downton Abbey lady's maid who marries Lord Grantham's valet, Mr Bates?

Joanne Froggatt collected the award for best supporting actress on television in January 2015, on top of three Emmy nominations for the same part.

Which actress plays Matthew Crawley's mother, who becomes Lady Merton by the end of Downton Abbey?

Penelope Wilton appeared in all six series, having made her name decades earlier opposite Richard Briers in the BBC sitcom Ever Decreasing Circles.

Which former Coronation Street actor plays the scheming Downton Abbey footman who rises to become butler?

Rob James-Collier joined the Street in 2006 as Liam Connor, joint owner of the Underworld factory, and won a Best Newcomer award for the part.

Which actress plays Downton Abbey's plain-speaking cook, who distrusts electric mixers and the ringing telephone?

Lesley Nicol shares three Screen Actors Guild ensemble awards for the part of a cook who likens the telephone's ring to the cry of a banshee.

Which future Divergent star played the Turkish diplomat who dies in a Crawley daughter's bed in Downton Abbey?

Theo James made the one-episode appearance in his first year on television, four years before the film series that cast him as Tobias Eaton.

Which actress played a housemaid in Downton Abbey's first series before joining Game of Thrones as a wildling?

Rose Leslie had her breakthrough below stairs, then spent three seasons of the fantasy epic as Ygritte before joining the legal drama The Good Fight.

Which Harry Potter actress joined the 2019 Downton Abbey film as the Queen's lady-in-waiting, Lady Bagshaw?

Imelda Staunton, the wizarding films' Dolores Umbridge, has been married since 1983 to the actor who plays Carson the butler.

Which Imitation Game actor plays the racing driver who marries the eldest Crawley daughter in Downton Abbey?

Matthew Goode first appears in the 2014 Christmas special, the same year he played the chess champion and codebreaker Hugh Alexander on the big screen.

Which skill does Downton Abbey footman Andy Parker hide that he lacks until the under-butler offers lessons?

Reading passed him by because he fooled around at school, learning to write only his own name; by The Grand Finale he has risen to be the house's butler.

Which aristocrat, played by Tom Cullen, courts the widowed eldest Crawley daughter in Downton Abbey's fourth series?

Lord Gillingham, known as Tony, is one of three suitors pursuing her that year, and it is his valet whose death in Piccadilly later brings the police to the house.