As the sun sets on Downton Abbey, I am counting down the hours and minutes until the opening scenes of the final season of the much-loved dramatic series. I have been looking forward to this the way hockey fans anticipate the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Unlike hockey fans, who wear their team's jerseys, and paint their faces, I won't be wearing a gown on Sunday night, because in the words of Violet Crawley, the Dowager Countess of Grantham, "At my age, one must ration one's excitement."
The words may have been spoken by the Dowager Countess, played by the amazing Dame Maggie Smith, however, they were penned by the drama's brilliant and witty Creator, Executive Producer and Writer, Julian Fellowes.
There's an authenticity about Downton Abbey that begins with the writing. Fellowes knows the ways of the British aristocracy, because he is one of Them. Born in Cairo, Egypt the Summer of '49, Julian Alexander Kitchener-Fellowes is the son of a Canadian-born dilopmat, Peregrine Edward Launcelot Fellowes. Julian, is now known in the British House of Lords, as Lord Fellowes of Stratford (in Dorset).
His wife, Emma Joy Kitchener, a Story Editor on Downton Abbey, was Lady in Waiting to HRH Princess Michael of Kent. She is also the Great Grand Niece of Herbert, 1st Earl of Kitchener. The title became extinct, because there were no male heirs. Lord Fellowes publicly complained that when the rules of Royal succession were changed, the changes did not include hereditary peerages. In 2012, Queen Elizabeth issued a royal warrant of precedence. Lady Emma Fellowes now has the same rank as the daughter of an Earl.
The issue of male heirs may sound familiar to Downton Abbey viewers. Now in it's sixth, and final season, the drama begins in 1912, with the sinking of the Titanic. The presumptive heirs to Grantham die, leaving the current Lord with no male heirs. Robert Grantham has three daughters, Ladies Mary, Edith and Sybil. And so begins the tale of Downton Abbey; the revolutionary changes in British society; and Lady Mary's rise to become heir to her Father's estate.
The acting in Downton Abbey is superbe. Each character so richly developed, they've become almost real. We mourned along with newly wed, Lady Mary, when her husband was killed in an automobile accident mere hours after he held his newborn son in his arms.
Real life sadly, and ironically imitated art: Michelle Dockery who plays the young widow, suffered a devastating loss last month. Shortly before Christmas, her fiance, 34 year old Irish Public Relations Executive John Dineen, died of a rare form of cancer. At the funeral, she described him as so many of my widowed friends have described their loves, as being, "my friend, my king, my hero, my everything."
As for the Season Six question, will Lady Mary remarry - in an interview with Psychologist, Dr. Nancy Berk, Dockery says that, "Mary is trying to find peace with herself and to love herself in some ways, and she can't really find the next love of her life until she actually loves herself".
The "look" of the television show is enthralling. The Production Designer, and Costume Designers have helped make the award-winning Downton Abbey, one of the most popular television series ever.
Costume Designer Anna Robbins, and Susannah Buxton before her, create costumes which tell us so much about the characters wearing the clothing. When designing clothes for Maggie Smith's character, the Dowager Violet Crawley, Buxton says she, "thought of Queen Mary". The Costume Designer for Season Six, Anna Robbins says, "Maggie Smith can bring grey to life. She makes it look silver".
For Cora, Lord Grantham's American-born wife, and mother of the three daughters, designs were light, and elegant, with touches of the Orient and the exotic. Says Robbins, "the message is that she is not from England. She's an exotic being in a Yorkshire estate".
Robbins says that when designing for Lady Mary, she used bold, strong colours to, "reflect the colours of Downton, greens and reds". Robbins says Mary "is the embodiment of Downton, she's the next generation, and she's going to take it over, eventually. So I wanted to make sure she looks like she belongs in every room she's in at the time."
As for red-headed Lady Edith, Robbins says she chooses, "peach and orange and greens - autumnal colours that look just wonderful".
The costumes also reflect changing fashions through the years. The elaborate gowns of pre-World War I, give way to the simpler elegance of the war years, then the shorter hemlines of the Roaring Twenties. King Tut's tomb was discovered in the early 1920's, and costumes for Downton Abbey show the influence of Egyptology on fashions of that era.
Although some costumes are found in vintage collections, and some are rented from other film and television productions, many pieces of clothing - especially those for Lady Mary - are handmade, using vintage fabrics. Bead work can take thirty hours to complete.
He scouted 100 estates before choosing the very first one he visited - Highclere Castle, a one thousand acre estate near Newbury, in Hampshire. Although the seat of the Earl of Carnarvon since 1679, it was rebuilt by Sir Charles Barry, the architect of the Houses of Parliament.
One of the problems with Highclere, was the kitchen. It had been modernized. So, the "downstairs" of Downton Abbey was created in a London studio. With two separate locations, continuity on the set is especially important. An actor carrying a tray from the kitchen to the dining room upstairs, is actually making an appearance in the dining room two or three weeks, and many miles later.
Woods made the downstairs look "like a black and white film". He says, "we limited the colours downstairs and everyone wears black and grey, or cream and grey. And then once you go through those baize doors, you're into super technicolor." It is a banquet for the eyes!
The roses grew on our balcony the Summer before last. They were the last roses my late husband saw before he died. When I first printed the images, I called them Mid Summer's Eve Roses, because the photos were taken on a mid Summer's evening. The name was later changed to Downton Abbey Roses, because of their lush, rich colours, and ever changing floral story line (the blossoms begin their life in vibrant orange, and transform to peach, pink and apricot hues).
Rose photographs copyright: Ruth Adams, Widow's Endorphins Photographic Images Incorporated.
Downton Abbey photographs are public domain, taken by Stills Photographer, Nick Briggs. Briggs' iconic images of the cast of Downton Abbey can be seen on his website, or on the PBS Masterpiece Theatre site for Downton Abbey. Nick Briggs is also the Stills Photographer on the set of Game of Thrones, and past credits include Outlander, Elizabeth Virgin Queen, Tess of the d'Urbervilles, and Crimson Field.
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