Can 120 million people be wrong? Not when it comes to Downton Abbey, which will surely draw even more period-drama devotees into its global viewership when the fifth season debuts tomorrow.
It’s time to grin, gasp, giggle and dab teary eyes once more as dark secrets, scandal, class politics, budding romances and very possibly hiked skirts and unhitched trousers take centre stage as the estate doors swing open into The Roaring Twenties, with a Labour government leading a fast-changing Britain.
“The 20s is a very interesting period to me,” says the series creator Julian Fellowes. “It was this strange era of transition. At the beginning of the 20s, people weren’t really sure that that much had changed. By the end, the Wall Street crash would change the West forever.
“In those few years in between, there was this dawning realisation that the world had become a different place. And that seems to me a very rewarding setting for a drama, really. They all have to come to terms with the new world.”
There is no shortage of nagging dramatic agonies awaiting the characters this go-round.
How will the servants Anna Bates (Joanne Froggatt) and her husband John (Brendan Coyle) cope in the aftermath of her rape? “[They’re] trying to move forward and heal themselves from what’s happened,” says Froggatt, “but as you would expect there’s this huge cloud hanging over them – and it’s not something they’re going to process easily or, if ever, fully.”
As Anna burrows into her grief, will Lady Mary Crawley (Michelle Dockery) finally emerge from her sorrow over her late husband Matthew? “I’d like her to meet someone and find the right man,” says Dockery. “Not just for her sake, but for George’s sake. She needs to find a father for her son.”
Does the tormented Lady Edith Crawley (Laura Carmichael) stand any chance of keeping the secret that she has an illegitimate baby, Marigold, living next door? “[The family] has no idea about the pregnancy and the child. So, yes, she’s living with a lot of secrets and a lot of pain,” says Carmichael, of the impossible dilemma.
One of Downton Abbey's greatest strengths is its knack for reeling in big-name talent, such as Shirley MacLaine and Paul Giamatti, to ignite fresh chemistry each season. (Wannabes hoping for a shot include Liam Neeson, who hankers to play a rugged stableman, while Kim Kardashian is said to be praying for even a cameo.)
“We’ve got some very interesting actors coming aboard,” says Fellowes. “You know, it’s very lucky that our casting director … is able to attract top talent to come on a running show.
“Once you get that reputation, once more and more excellent players come on board, then the others want to ... I think we’ve been very lucky in that.”
Chief among the new, but very familiar, faces this year is the oddball thespian Richard E Grant (Withnail and I, Bram Stoker's Dracula) as Simon Bricker, a guest of the Granthams.
“I’m an art historian who’s an ‘upstairs’ character – and that’s as much as I’m allowed to tell you,” says Grant, whose presence could prove a tempting distraction for the happily married Cora, the Countess of Grantham, played by Elizabeth McGovern.
“This has been a dream job,” adds Grant. “I’ve never stopped being star-struck by people who are really talented.
“As a fan of watching the show, you know all the characters and you know all the sets. And then when you actually go into the thing, you feel like you’ve gone through the fourth wall. You suddenly think: ‘Well, I know all these people,’ and then you’re supposed to be playing a character … It’s just an odd experience.”
Other new faces include Anna Chancellor (The Hour) as Lady Anstruther, and the Serbian actor Rade Sherbedgia as Kruagain, a Russian refugee who has fled the Revolution. Reprising their roles are Dame Harriet Walter as Lady Shackleton and Peter Egan as Lord Flintshire.
• Season five of Downton Abbey begins at 9pm tomorrow on OSN First HD. Check listings for more viewing times
artslife@thenational.ae
