Read Online A Year in the Life of Downton Abbey: Seasonal Celebrations, Traditions, and Recipes by Jessica Fellowes - Free Book Online
Authors: Jessica Fellowes
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to create the wet mud. We had to use clean soil as there was a lot of throwing it around near the actors’ mouths. We also had to be very careful around the pigs as they can be quite vicious!’
The great revelation about Charles is that he turns out to come from an aristocratic background, something that the actor wasn’t aware of when he accepted the part: ‘I knew that they wanted someone who was a match for Mary, but who embodied a slightly more liberal point of view that would clash with her and the family’s politics. [When I found out he was upper class] it was rather nice – I don’t think I would have played any scene any differently, in retrospect. He’s a free-thinker and modern for that time. He believes women have as much right to free thought as men. Perhaps he even feels burdened by being an aristocrat, in line for an inheritance and a big estate in Ireland, not needing any money. I think he wants to forge his own path rather than rely on his family – that’s his driving force.’
Of his character’s admiration for Mary, Julian Ovenden says: ‘They have similarities between them. They’re both quite dominant and speak their mind, but are actually quite practical when it comes down to it. I also think he finds her frustratingly mysterious. She wrong-foots him, she’s obviously intelligent and very capable, which he finds attractive.’
Andrew Scarborough plays the estate’s long-standing tenant farmer, Tim Drewe – his family have rented land from Downton Abbey since King George IV was on the throne, a hundred years before, as Robert likes to remind Mary. Andrew was also unsure as to how his character would play out in the show: ‘When I joined there was always the possibility that I’d come back, so for the first few days I felt as if I was auditioning! But I was delighted when I found out that something meaty was going to happen.’ Tim, of course, is more than just a farmer with some knowledge of pigs – he takes in Edith’s secret daughter, Marigold, to raise with his other children. This gives his storyline a complex layer – he is both an equal of Edith in this situation and her family’s tenant, which means a level of deference to them. It has meant that there are sometimes complications: ‘I was doing a scene with Lady Edith and didn’t want to take my cap off, because I felt it would be too distracting. And he’s caught in the middle, trying to advise her on something about the daughter. We came to the conclusion that he wouldn’t have his hat on at the start. Little things like that, you have to think through.’
Farming in the 1920s was a tough business to be in and it wasn’t going to get any easier – quite the opposite, in fact – for some years yet. But with Mary and Tom’s determination to make the land work for them, combined with Robert’s kind-hearted attitude towards the tenants, they should be able to ensure the house’s livelihood, so that it may continue to stand proud for generations to come. That is their purpose and their driving force. For the Crawleys, Downton Abbey is not just bricks and mortar, but is as much a part of them as their own flesh and blood. Perhaps that is hard for us to understand today, but life then was lived less for oneself than on behalf of unknown, as yet unborn, descendants. It might have made the aristocracy appear cold at times, as they had to make ruthless decisions to support the future rather than the present. But it makes for a rather compelling television show, as I’m sure you will agree.
IRISH STEW
A simple and hearty stew to remind Tom Branson of home, this is good country cooking. This variation uses lamb instead of the more traditional mutton.
SERVES 6
a few tablespoons vegetable oil or dripping
2 pounds stewing lamb, cut into large chunks
12 shallots, peeled and left whole
2 celery stalks, sliced
3 carrots, cut into chunks
½ cup pearl barley
1 bay leaf
small bunch of thyme, leaves picked
4 ¼ cups
The great revelation about Charles is that he turns out to come from an aristocratic background, something that the actor wasn’t aware of when he accepted the part: ‘I knew that they wanted someone who was a match for Mary, but who embodied a slightly more liberal point of view that would clash with her and the family’s politics. [When I found out he was upper class] it was rather nice – I don’t think I would have played any scene any differently, in retrospect. He’s a free-thinker and modern for that time. He believes women have as much right to free thought as men. Perhaps he even feels burdened by being an aristocrat, in line for an inheritance and a big estate in Ireland, not needing any money. I think he wants to forge his own path rather than rely on his family – that’s his driving force.’
Of his character’s admiration for Mary, Julian Ovenden says: ‘They have similarities between them. They’re both quite dominant and speak their mind, but are actually quite practical when it comes down to it. I also think he finds her frustratingly mysterious. She wrong-foots him, she’s obviously intelligent and very capable, which he finds attractive.’
Andrew Scarborough plays the estate’s long-standing tenant farmer, Tim Drewe – his family have rented land from Downton Abbey since King George IV was on the throne, a hundred years before, as Robert likes to remind Mary. Andrew was also unsure as to how his character would play out in the show: ‘When I joined there was always the possibility that I’d come back, so for the first few days I felt as if I was auditioning! But I was delighted when I found out that something meaty was going to happen.’ Tim, of course, is more than just a farmer with some knowledge of pigs – he takes in Edith’s secret daughter, Marigold, to raise with his other children. This gives his storyline a complex layer – he is both an equal of Edith in this situation and her family’s tenant, which means a level of deference to them. It has meant that there are sometimes complications: ‘I was doing a scene with Lady Edith and didn’t want to take my cap off, because I felt it would be too distracting. And he’s caught in the middle, trying to advise her on something about the daughter. We came to the conclusion that he wouldn’t have his hat on at the start. Little things like that, you have to think through.’
Farming in the 1920s was a tough business to be in and it wasn’t going to get any easier – quite the opposite, in fact – for some years yet. But with Mary and Tom’s determination to make the land work for them, combined with Robert’s kind-hearted attitude towards the tenants, they should be able to ensure the house’s livelihood, so that it may continue to stand proud for generations to come. That is their purpose and their driving force. For the Crawleys, Downton Abbey is not just bricks and mortar, but is as much a part of them as their own flesh and blood. Perhaps that is hard for us to understand today, but life then was lived less for oneself than on behalf of unknown, as yet unborn, descendants. It might have made the aristocracy appear cold at times, as they had to make ruthless decisions to support the future rather than the present. But it makes for a rather compelling television show, as I’m sure you will agree.
IRISH STEW
A simple and hearty stew to remind Tom Branson of home, this is good country cooking. This variation uses lamb instead of the more traditional mutton.
SERVES 6
a few tablespoons vegetable oil or dripping
2 pounds stewing lamb, cut into large chunks
12 shallots, peeled and left whole
2 celery stalks, sliced
3 carrots, cut into chunks
½ cup pearl barley
1 bay leaf
small bunch of thyme, leaves picked
4 ¼ cups
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