05x00 - The Manners of Downton Abbey

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A Masterpiece Theatre Special Documentary, as aired in the US on Sunday, January 4th, 2015.

Host: Alastair Bruce, historian, expert on royal ceremony and custom, and the historical advisor to the hit drama series.

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And turnover!

I'm Alastair Bruce, on the set of Downton Abbey!

As the show's historical advisor, I help cast and crew create a world that is true to Britain's past.

Michelle Dockery: I said to Alistair, "Can I lean back just a little bit?"

And he says, "Absolutely not, not in front of your grandmother."

Join me for "The Manners of Downton Abbey," a Masterpiece special.

♫♫

♫♫

Alastair Bruce: The lives of the people in Downton Abbey are a glory of ritual and grandeur.

Robert: Welcome to Downton.

Bruce: A ballet of strange manners and stiff formality.

Robert: I nearly came down in a dinner jacket tonight.

Oh, really?

Well, why not a dressing gown, or better still, pajamas?

Bruce: The aristocrats of Edwardian England and their servants lived by a very odd set of rules, a world away from the way we behave today.

But to them, these manners were the way they lived their life, and what a life!

Manners came into everything-- how you dressed, how you ate, how you stood, how you spoke.

Every detail mattered.

It said who you were and where you belonged.

Were you from above stairs or below?

You are a footman, and a footman wears gloves.

So if we could begin.

These were the rules for life at the time of Downton Abbey.

They were a secret code that tells you everything about Edwardian Britain.

And I'm going to let you in on that secret.

I'm Alastair Bruce, historian, expert on British royal ceremony, and historical advisor to cast and crew on set at Downton Abbey.

Just in the background.

Alastair's referred to as the Oracle.

Brendan Coyle: Couldn't work without Alastair.

He just knows everything.

You give an indication to them to come through.

He taught me how to sit and stand and walk and talk.

That's just perfect.

Michelle Dockery: I've sometimes said to Alastair, "Can I lean back just a little bit?"

And he says, "Absolutely not, not in front of your grandmother."

Crew: Here we go for rehearsal, please, nice and quiet.

You know you've got a m*llitary cross?

I didn't.

Which means he was pretty brave in the trenches.

It's a constant struggle, which I adore, but it's so difficult to get people back in time, to when rules were so different.

Lily James: The body language was very restrained.

It's not polite to sort of slouch or, you know, put your hands all over, you know, move like we do in a modern way.

Kevin Doyle: I hadn't realized that there was also a hierarchy downstairs.

Ed Speleers: It was a very dog-eat-dog world amongst the staff.

And this coat's all right?

This coat's perfect as long as you have that popper undone.

(laughing)

Bruce: I want to give you my insider's guide to the rules of living at Downton Abbey.

Crew: And turnover.

Turning, ready.

Action!

♫♫

Oh, there's poor Lady Raven.

I really ought to go and talk to her.

Of course, Your Grace.

Don't call her "Your Grace."

Tom: I thought it was correct.

Call her "Duchess."

But why?

I don't call you "Countess."

Certainly not!

But there's no logic in it.

Oh no, if I were to search for logic, I should not look for it among the English upper class.

Welcome to the library of Downton Abbey, which is not quite as you normally see it.

The manners of Downton are not just about how to address a duchess or which Kn*fe and fork to pick up.

They're much more important than that.

It's key to how these people lived and exactly what they believed in.

As it is, my lord, we may have to have a maid in the dining room.

Cheer up, Carson.

There are worse things happening in the world.

Not worse than a maid serving a duke.

Bruce: Edwardian England was a time of great change.

Both the Industrial Revolution and the Great w*r had altered everything.

Is this an instrument of communication or t*rture?

It seemed that centuries of tradition were all passing away.

And for the aristocracy, they felt that they would lose all of it.

Now we're to be turned out of Downton!

Whether it was who to marry, how to eat or what to wear, their manners held the old order in place when everything else seemed to be falling apart.

But why do the rituals, the clothes and the customs matter so much?

Because without them, we would be like the wild men of Borneo.

Bruce: And the best place to start understanding Edwardian manners is in the dining room.

Dinner is served, Your Ladyship.

The Edwardians liked to eat sumptuously.

Showing off was a part of it.

But it was not all about the glorious food.

The ritual of the dining room was at the center of their lives.

Well, I think there are far more important things to worry about than whether or not Carson minds serving cocktails.

Bruce: My job is to ensure that that ritual is historically correct.

I'm sorry, would you excuse me, Mama?

I've got rather a headache.

Crew: Cut there, very good.

Laura, can I talk to you?

Where are your gloves?

They're on my lap, I'm taking them with me.

Perfect, thanks very much indeed.

Perfect, thanks.

Laura Carmichael: You're sitting up straight, your evening gloves are on your lap, hidden underneath your napkin.

Um, you don't rest your hands on the table, you have to remember which course you're on for which wine.

Jim Carter: Red, water, white, is that right?

Bruce: Red, water... absolutely, yes.

Yeah, yeah, that's the white one.

James: We always have three glasses, and there's the larger one for the red, slightly smaller for water, and then even smaller for the white wine.

The main thing I had to learn I think was posture, was this idea of sitting up straight.

Like this?

That's perfect, absolutely bolt upright.

Thanks very much.

The back of the chair was never for anyone to lean back on, as they do now.

That's purely decorative, and it's purely so that the footman has something to hold.

Nannies used to put knives here, to make children sit up straight.

Understanding your cutlery was essential.

Failure to know your knives might lead to an embarrassing moment.

James: I've learnt from Alastair/Pretty Woman, you start from the outside and work your way in.

Or it could be you start from the inside and work your way out.

Either way, it's one of the two!

Go on, then.

Teaspoon, egg spoon, melon spoon, grapefruit spoon, jam spoon...

Shall I tell you?

All right.

A bouillon spoon.

But I thought soup spoons were the same as tablespoons.

Ah, so they are, but not for bouillon, which is drunk from a smaller dish.

Rosamund: Oh, she's just very tired.

She'll be fit as a flea tomorrow.

Crew: Cut, very good, thank you.

Okay, cut.

The reason we take such trouble with the dining room scenes is that they say grace at the beginning, and that makes it the Lord's table.

And all the detail and sumptuous display and the manners reflect the struggle that they all have to achieve a similarly perfect moral approach to life.

The immaculate presentation was a statement of moral correctness to all.

This is Basildon Park in Berkshire.

It doubles as the Crawleys' London residence.

Tomorrow, we're sh**ting a dinner scene, and the art department spare no effort to lay the table exactly as it would have been 90 years ago.

The Edwardians prized complexity.

Perfection takes many hours, as it did for the Edwardian servants.

Small fork, big fork, small fork.

And then in a perfect world, on the other side, we'd have that size Kn*fe, that size Kn*fe, a not that size Kn*fe, and a spoon.

Woman: Okay, let's do that then.

When the table is being set out, things have to be measured, so Carson has a rod with measurements on it, and that determines the place settings between each place and the next, between the chair and the plate, between the plate and the glasses.

So everything is measured out precisely.

Each butler would have a measuring stick to mark exactly where the table settings were in relation to each other.

So you'd start off by just taking the first mark and moving in the edge of the first Kn*fe.

And then you'd be able to bring all the others in and then just bring it straight up to that line.

They didn't use their fingers without gloves on because otherwise it would have left a mark on the silver.

And on the measuring points, they should be absolutely equidistant.

Once you follow the line up through the spoon, through the first, and then that's just slightly off to the left, that's slightly off to the right, and that sits in there and it's also in direct line with that, you've got a place setting.

And when it's all perfect, the last thing they did was take a certain length-- I don't know, it would be marked, but this has just been made up.

Yeah, yeah.

And then they would come right down.

You set that against that and bring the chair out.

And then at the end of it, you just kneel down like that and you see a straight line.

What do you think, it's not bad?

No, that's good.

Perfect.

What do you think?

Nothing succeeds like excess.

Bruce: For the Edwardians, the point of a sumptuous table was to impress their guests.

Downstairs, who served what was also a reflection of where power lay.

You can take in the fish and meat tonight.

James can follow with the sauce.

But I should be the first footman.

Of course you should.

First footmen always take the meat.

Look at him, he can't even balance it.

Speleers: And the second footman will bring out the second, the sort of the side dish or the veg.

It's a flipping insult-- just because he's ten foot tall!

Speleers: And some footmen got paid more for being taller.

So can you imagine Alfred and I, for example, I mean, he's six foot four, Matt Milne, and I'm five foot nine.

So I mean, he'd have got paid loads of money and I'd have been broke, basically.

There's a lot of choreography that goes into operating as a footman.

Do you want me to show you?

The thing is, I need about four people to help me out, that's the problem.

Just imagine if this was a long table.

So we'd have Carson standing directly here.

The other side, there's a working, like I say, there's a fireplace working very well.

You'd have me, so his first footman, like, ready to go, basically.

I'm waiting for Carson's nod to go and serve food.

So the first person I'd serve would be the Dowager.

Don't put them like that.

They've got to be able to get hold of them.

Speleers: This is Maggie Smith, this is an Oscar-winner here, okay.

I'm very nervous every time I have to sort of come around the back of her to serve.

It's quite a nerve-wracking experience.

Oh, lovely, what a treat.

(clanging)

Oh!

But sometimes, I'm having to climb over dollies like this with a tray of, like, meat and come out and serve round like that, and still look poised and come in, and I lean in like that, as such.

Mama, talk to her.

Talk to all of them.

Say something sensible.

Speleers: And you've got to wait, and you cannot move.

You go back, you wait, you move off.

Now as I come in to my third person, Mr. Molesley, or the second footman, whoever that may be or is at the time, will come in and start on his main, the second dish.

So peripherally, I can see him and we lean in together.

Doyle: They kind of have to be invisible.

Nothing interferes with the sociability of the table.

Elizabeth McGovern: No one ever takes a bite before Cora does, the hostess.

She will decide which direction the conversation is going.

Are we ever going to be allowed to turn?

Hugh Bonneville: Turning in dinner, meaning that the conversation will start in a particular direction as set by the hostess, Cora.

And so everyone will speak that way.

And then after, you know, when she turns...

It's time to turn.

Bonneville: Everyone turns and speaks to the person on that side, so everyone's getting their fair share of chat.

Bruce: The apparently effortless ritual of the dining room disguised its true purpose.

It was a place to influence, a place to exercise power, a place to find a husband.

Mary: How many times am I to be ordered to marry the man sitting next to me at dinner?

As many times as it takes.

Marriage among the ruling classes of Great Britain was seldom about love, but it was always about power and land.

Land must, above all, be kept in one piece in order to give a man the income to live by and the right by which he could rule the country.

I believe there is an answer which would secure your future and give you a position.

You can't be serious.

Just think about it.

I don't have to think about it.

Marry a man who can barely hold his Kn*fe like a gentleman?

Oh, you exaggerate.

Bruce: Women had absolutely no position or power until they were married, so they had to find a man who did.

Sir Anthony Strallan.

Sir Anthony!

Don't worry, Lady Grantham, I haven't got the date wrong.

Laura Carmichael: Women had a difficult time.

They didn't stand to gain what sons would have done.

They had to find their fortune in a good match, in a good marriage.

The thing is, I've got two tickets for a concert in York next Friday.

How nice.

Although I can't...

No, I was hoping that Lady Edith might like to accompany me.

But I'd love to.

Excellent.

Laura Carmichael: It was very important.

It was what women were focused on because it was the way to leave home and leave your parents behind at last and set up your own home.

Bruce: A young lady could not marry until she had been presented at court.

It was the start of a busy year known as her "coming out."

James: I suppose "coming out" was the most extreme example of these rules and etiquette.

You had a train over your hair, and the length of the train was absolutely, to a centimeter, controlled.

Bruce: From shoulder to floor, trains measured no less than three yards.

James: You just dressed up in white with your feathers, and it's all really specific, how many feathers you have in your hair.

Bruce: White dresses signified purity.

The number of feathers said who was who.

Unmarried young ladies wore two, married chaperones wore three.

Man: The Countess of Grantham, presenting the Lady Rose MacClare.

Bruce: A young lady's presentation to the king and queen was her entry into society.

It signaled she had the monarch's blessing as a suitable wife.

Crew: Sound, speed.

And action.

That frock really is yummy.

Thank you.

Bruce: Once she'd been presented at court, a young woman could attend what was known as "the season," a round of parties where she would meet eligible men.

How come I'm not in my lieutenant's gear?

Because they're not...

There is no evening dress for members of the lieutenancy at this period.

Alastair is very useful in providing context and providing detail, particularly around the interaction between people.

I hope you got everything done.

We wanted to clink our glasses and say "cheers."

Well, women wouldn't have clinked their glasses.

Cut and reset, please.

And they also wouldn't have said "cheers."

So he sort of swooped in.

Can we talk about that glass?

About saying "cheers"?

Yes, exactly right.

I'll just go, "Your good health."

You want to say, "Your good health."

Crew: Quiet, please.

And turnover.

Turning, turning, action!

Cullen: I love Alastair.

I mean, he literally taught me everything-- how to tie my shoelaces, how to gesture, how to stand, ride a horse.

Um, he taught me about the history of my family.

He's got this thing he calls the posh bible, which is this enormous book, which I was... I couldn't believe existed.

So he's in it.

Alastair can trace his line all the way back to Robert the Bruce, you know, and further, and they're all in this book.

Bruce: That thunderous book is Burke's Peerage, a list of every titled aristocrat in the United Kingdom.

A combination of background check and bloodline, an essential tool for making a match.

Cullen: It's got nothing...

It's got absolutely nothing to do with money.

This is what the posh bible is about.

It's to show that it's got nothing to do with money; it's about your lineage and your line and about where you come from.

Bruce: Parents always used Burke's Peerage to check the family title and status of potential suitors.

Their aim: a marriage that enhanced the family.

Cullen: Lord Gillingham is able to trace his lineage back hundreds of years.

And so he has to marry into certain families, and there are certain names and titles that you have to match up to.

And it's like a game of chess, politics.

I don't need to explain to you how the system we're trapped in works.

Please don't rush into anything.

I won't make a fool of Mabel.

It wouldn't be fair.

Cullen: The system that they're trapped in, it's a set of rules, you know.

I mean, this is the thing that shocked me most about playing Lord Gillingham was how repressed and how stifled everything is.

Like how little emotion you're allowed to show.

You're not allowed to laugh, you're not allowed to love, you're not allowed to...

You're certainly not allowed to cry.

Um, and you have to marry the people that your family ask you to marry.

And so when, you know, Gillingham says to Mary, "We both understand the system that we're trapped in,"

I think, for the first time in his life, he's telling somebody that he loves them.

Crew: Quiet, please!

Locking up outside.

How and who to marry was fraught with complications upstairs.

Downstairs, it was simple: you just didn't.

Violet: I was right about my maid.

She's leaving to get married.

How could she be so selfish?

Courtship is not permitted amongst servants, amongst the staff.

I don't know what...

Shh!

Coyle: It was frowned upon, so it's a very gentle, drawn-out process.

Which I loved.

I love that process, we both did, so it was a very tender, very delicate, incremental path towards togetherness.

That's enough of that, Mr. Bates.

We've work to do.

It did happen that servants got married, but actually in reality, the woman would have left service.

Bruce: Marriage challenged your loyalty to the family.

Service had to be your life.

And there was a practical reason too: men and women had separate sleeping quarters in the house.

There was nowhere for married couples to live.

So they're in quite a privileged position really, Anna and Bates.

Sophie McShera: Courting doesn't seem to be really done downstairs for Daisy especially, because if she met him, she'd have to go off with him, so it would be rubbish for me, I'd have to leave.

And there's also no time to do much courting.

Bring the sauce boats for Alfred, I'm doing the soufflés.

As soon as I've...

Will you just do it!

McShera: You couldn't, you know, court, go on a date, and snog someone or something like that.

I think that's why Daisy's having such bad luck with men, because she's basically got the people around her and that's it, she never gets out.

Taxi!

Bruce: Aristocratic daughters could go out.

But to meet a man alone without a chaperone was to risk their good name forever.

(lively jazz playing)

James: I love that she's a party girl at a time when you had no independence.

Actually, she's being incredibly brave and she's actually making a stand in that sense.

Jack Ross at your service.

I'm Rose MacClare, how do you do?

Rose, I've been sent to fetch you.

Bruce: Despite their privilege, ladies' behavior was tightly restricted.

Carmichael: When Edith goes to have dinner at Gregson's flat, she's not wearing gloves, which was very shocking.

Did you miss me?

Of course.

Is it really only a week until you leave?

Mmm.

You know, she was practically naked.

Oh, my darling.

That is the evening when she becomes pregnant, so yes, she should have worn gloves.

It really was the most devastating thing, to have a baby out of wedlock.

Alastair sort of said to me, he said, "All of this," pointing to the castle, "Is based on the idea that you will behave properly "and you will be sort of someone for people to look up to.

"That's what is expected.

"And if you don't and, you know, you are shamed, "then that really will destroy your reputation in the county.

You know, it'll go around London."

So in this series, there really is a danger for Edith.

Isn't it time one of you told me the truth?

If I told you the truth, Granny, you'd never speak to me again.

Then you have told me the truth.

You'll share the ownership.

It will be your house, your estate as much as mine.

We will be joint masters.

But...

Bruce: I love the glorious formality of Edwardian life.

The rules they had to behave by were a mixture of straightforward practicality and fear.

Bonneville: We sh*t a version where our instincts were entirely to hug, as you would these days.

And of course Alastair, you know, threw his toys out of the pram and said, "Don't be ridiculous.

You might just shake his hand-- just-- to express an emotion."

(laughing)

You are my darling daughter and I love you, hard as it is for an Englishman to say the words.

Bruce: The British hadn't always maintained a stiff upper lip.

Only a century earlier, the passions of the French Revolution so terrified the British aristocracy that a cool reserve became the definition of good character.

There was a very real fear that without formality, the authority of the aristocracy would slip and society would fall apart.

So the aristocracy cultivated manners that protected their position.

You don't understand.

I shall be Countess of Grantham one day, and in my book, the Countess of Grantham lives at Downton Abbey.

Being who they are and the position that they're in, they are very outspoken people.

You know, Mary is someone that if she has an opinion, she'll say it, and she says it with conviction and she doesn't apologize for it.

The tax people have had a cancellation, so they can see us on Wednesday at noon.

But I think we should go up tomorrow.

I wouldn't like to risk being late.

It's confidence, actually.

It's having the confidence to follow through everything you say and every thought you have with conviction.

The world moves on and we must move with it.

So you keep telling me.

They spoke very loudly because, you know, they had a right to be heard and they weren't afraid of their opinion, and everyone listened when they spoke because they're the aristocracy, and that's that!

And also, these vast, big rooms they spoke in.

When's Cousin Robert coming back?

I don't know, I wish I did.

We've had no word from him in days.

Cullen: The oddest thing is that you have to be incredibly rude to be an Edwardian.

And posh, you have to be very rude to be posh.

We don't say thank you for things.

When you're given a cup of tea, you wouldn't acknowledge the person who's giving it to you.

So you pretend that they're not there.

All my instincts inside scream that this is so rude, this is so rude to be ignoring the person who's helping you out, doing something.

But it's just the way it was.

Bruce: The way it was was simply practical to the Edwardians.

I don't want you to stand in line.

I want you to rush to that door.

To be served 30 times a day and to say thank you every time would have been maddening.

So the rule was silent appreciation.

Carmichael: The servants that pride themselves on being the best servants are practically, you know, invisible in those moments.

My husband is dead.

Can't you understand what that means?

After all he suffered in the w*r, he's k*lled in a stupid car crash.

Speleers: We see everything, we hear everything, but we've got to behave like we don't, so almost like a blank face.

But there's a lot of information that can be taken in obviously because it's impossible not to take it in.

Well, they do, they just talk in front of the servants because they assume that it will go over their heads.

Well, of course it doesn't.

Tom: He's asked me to go in with him.

A brother who's coming to stay?

Yes-- Kieran.

Also, that's the entertainment for the people downstairs.

You know, for everyone downstairs, for the staff, that's their soap opera.

Bruce: However dramatic the entertainment, the servants were trusted to be utterly discreet.

Is there some crisis of which I am unaware?

No, Mr. Carson.

The first rule of being a servant upstairs is discretion.

We do not discuss the business of this house with strangers.

They may gossip between themselves downstairs, but it certainly wouldn't be something they'd want to leave the house because they wouldn't want to be working for the house that was center of the gossip.

You know, they want to be seen as working for one of the best houses in the country, you know, because that's their status symbol.

Bruce: The Edwardians were terrified of scandal because the newspapers had just discovered how marketable gossip could be.

For the first time, tittle-tattle wasn't just local; the whole country could suddenly know your shame.

Cora: What happened?

I don't know!

Yes, somebody d*ed in Lady Mary's bed, goodness gracious.

He was alive and suddenly he cried out and then he was dead.

(whispering): But why was he here at all?

Froggatt: And you know, if anyone found out about this incident, Lady Mary would really be a pariah, you know, from society.

It would be a terrible thing.

I'll be ruined, Mama.

Ruined and notorious.

A laughing stock, a social pariah.

Is that what you want for your eldest daughter?

Is it what you want for the family?

So for the good of the house and for the good of Lady Mary's reputation, you know, it's Anna's job to go above and beyond the call of duty and help move a dead body from time to time.

(groans)

Mama! Sorry!

McGovern: Cora has no other choice in the Pamuk situation.

I mean, she's very well aware that it does mean absolute social death for Mary on all levels at a very young age.

And, um, she's very much aware of what a terrible blow that would be for her.

Anna.

I will not insult you by asking that you also conceal Lady Mary's shame.

Let us go.

If the first rule of being a good servant is discretion, then the second is never to burden your master with your own problems.

I'm John Bates, the new valet.

The new valet?

That's right.

Coyle: He arrives at the house and he's not welcome at all, and he's not up to the task.

So Lord Grantham says basically, "This isn't working, I'm gonna have to let you go."

The thing is, Bates, I said I'd give you a trial and I have.

Coyle: Losing the job would mean, for a man of his age and this disability, it would be straight to the workhouse.

It would be over.

You do see that Carson can't be expected to compromise the efficiency of his staff.

I do, m'lord, of course I do.

Bates wants to implore, as anybody would.

He'd want to implore this man, "Please, I'll do anything.

"What can I do?

"I'll try this.

Well, how can we work this out?"

But he can't and he wouldn't.

So he says...

Might I make a suggestion that when an extra footman is required, the costs could come out of my wages.

Absolutely not, I couldn't possibly allow that.

Because I am very eager to stay, m'lord.

Very eager indeed.

It's very delicately put, but it's loaded with a pleading which the man doesn't express, nor would he.

And once Lord Grantham says...

I mean to help until you find something.

There's a finality to that that both men know.

Very good, m'lord.

I'll go at once.

There's no need to rush out into the night.

Take the London train tomorrow.

It leaves at 9:00.

Coyle: And ostensibly, it's over for Bates.

All in that tiny scene, so much that is unsaid is said.

It's a bloody business, Bates, but I can't see any way around it.

I quite understand, m'lord.

Coyle: It would be unseemly, it would be crude to be emotional, and to impose that on somebody would put them in an awkward position.

There are many records of servants giving emotional support to their masters and mistresses.

But if the servants face troubles, they'd probably face them alone.

What I want is to go back upstairs.

You're not telling me that sad old cr*pple keeps you happy.

If you must know, yes, he keeps me very happy.

Now let me by, please.

Perhaps you've forgotten what you're missing.

Froggatt: When I found out about Anna's r*pe storyline, I was, you know, trying to get my head around what that meant for a woman of her class in her time.

Because, you know, when I read the scripts, I, like a lot of other people, really wanted Anna to tell someone, for this man to be brought to justice, you know?

But Alastair said to me, "You know, you have to remember for a working-class woman, all she had was her reputation."

We must tell somebody.

No, no, no, no.

But you have to tell Mr. Bates.

Him least of all!

If he knew, he'd m*rder the man who's done it and then he'd be hanged.

Froggatt: In reality, if anybody would have found out what happened to her, then she would have, you know, brought disrepute on the house, she would have brought disrepute on herself, she probably would have lost her job.

Nobody else must ever know.

You promise me?

Froggatt: To us, that sounds totally barbaric, thank goodness.

You know, it's remembering we're only 100 years on from that.

And that was a real eye-opener for me.

It's a strange relationship between servants and masters-- very close, but bound by rules.

(bell rings)

There are certain rules within the house.

There is the etiquette, there is the decorum, there is the upkeep, there are the rules.

You would never ask a personal question.

Good day, m'lord?

Good until tonight.

I took a walloping from Mr. Sampson.

You would never prompt a conversation.

I was a fool to play with someone who so obviously knew what he was doing.

Coyle: You certainly wouldn't say anything judgmental about his lordship's actions or thoughts, no matter what I was thinking.

Perhaps keep it to yourself, Bates.

Of course, m'lord.

Good man.

It's almost like confession.

It's almost like a Catholic thing where, you know, it's a sanctuary.

The trouble is being dressed and undressed is an intimate business.

We've forgiven Thomas his early sins, I know, but I cannot imagine I would ever quite feel the trust.

Say no more, m'lord.

I'm sure Mr. Bates will be home soon, which will settle the matter.

Coyle: It's an extraordinary thing.

On the one hand, there's a decorum there.

There are boundaries in terms of what can be said and what can't be said, while at the same time, you're putting a man's trousers on.

Bonneville: Bates knows everything about my personal life, as indeed Anna knows everything about Mary.

So it's a very one-sided relationship.

How was dinner?

Uphill.

I'm so bored of Mr. Blake's cold shoulder.

He hasn't warmed up, then?

Lady Mary and Anna do have a very close relationship, and I would say they were friends as well.

But they are still, you know, a servant and master.

According to Mr. Napier, he finds me aloof.

I'm not aloof, am I?

Do you want me to answer truthfully or like a lady's maid?

Let's move on.

Dockery: Anna is always aware of her position, whereas Mary sometimes forgets.

She forgets herself and she forgets Anna's position, so she'll tell her much more than she needs to.

Bruce: The intimacy of these relationships was inevitable.

They spent so much time together endlessly dressing and undressing.

Clothes mattered to the Edwardians because every detail meant something.

The aristocracy wore impractical, high-maintenance clothing that proclaimed privilege.

It sort of said, "I don't have to do any work and I have help putting this on."

A great deal of effort went into making sure that ladies and gentlemen appeared effortless.

And why?

Because it said, "We're in charge."

Edith, what are you thinking?

You know, I don't dislike him as much as you do.

Perhaps you don't dislike him at all.

Perhaps I don't.

Bruce: Ladies' dress was extravagantly elaborate and guided by myriad rules.

Carmichael: I'm not allowed to wear a tiara because...

You only wear a tiara if you're married.

(laughing): Not sure about the rules on pearls.

Only that I don't get to wear any.

You look beautiful.

Thank you, Sybil darling.

James: Then there's the whole thing of gloves-- when you have your gloves on, when you have them off.

Even in the drawing room.

How long are they going to stay?

You have to leave your gloves on like pre- and post-dinner.

We sort of have them all the time, you know?

We have traveling gloves and dinner gloves and riding gloves.

Is there anything more thrilling than a new frock?

Bruce: Such dress codes began centuries earlier in the sumptuary laws.

These originally forbade anyone but the nobility from wearing things like fur or silk.

On a usual day, you know, they'll dress for breakfast and then they'll maybe change if they go for a walk in the morning or go riding, then they'll change for lunch.

Then they may change for the afternoon to sit and read or go and visit someone, and then they'll change again for dinner.

Basically, these ladies just spend most of their time changing.

McGovern: You couldn't really do much in any of those clothes because we were corseted, and you're cinched in and your ribs are pulled together, you're not getting the same amount of oxygen to your brain that you would normally.

So it creates a very passive personality.

Golly, my corset's tight.

Anna, when you've done that, would you be an angel and loosen it a bit?

The start of the slippery slope.

Crew: Sound, speed.

McGovern: It isn't so applicable now because we're now in 1924 and the clothes were giving us much more license to freely move, think, talk, eat, do everything.

And I don't think it's a coincidence that women were suddenly demanding to have their opinions heard and demanding to find a use for themselves as people because they could actually breathe!

Bruce: Clothes for gentlemen remained resolutely stiff, a statement of control in a shifting world.

Right, I'm off to collect Matthew.

You look very smart.

I hope so, because I'm extremely uncomfortable.

I've got a multitude of suits, and the dinner suit is maybe the worst thing I've ever worn in my life.

You have to literally screw yourself into this starch-ironed, cardboard kind of shirt.

They're so horrible because what it means is that you can't bend or anything.

So you just have to stand there with your hands by your side, pretend to be a penguin, basically.

The clothes you wear alter the way you move and the way you feel.

I mean, I was noticing yesterday, even between scenes, there's no slouching because you just simply can't.

You know, dressing for dinner or dressing several times a day, certainly for the girls, you couldn't do this on your own.

You'd need help.

It's like getting into a suit of armor.

Well, I'm glad that's settled.

Cullen: Don't talk to me about hats.

So many hats for so many different occasions.

Why does somebody need so many hats?

Crew: And action!

Bruce: Hats were terribly important.

In an instant, your hat said who you were.

Well, all around you, you can see lots of different kinds of hats.

Very difficult to set a rule, but on the whole, if you were somewhere at the top of society-- you were an aristocrat with a huge house-- you were allowed to wear a top hat for smart occasions.

And you'd wear whatever was comfortable because you had the money and the capability to go through all the different fashionable hats that were available, right down to the cloth cap, which if you were a working class man is where you'd stay.

And so where you see cloth caps here, they're probably working-class people and they can't afford a bowler hat, very expensive.

Lord Grantham will today be wearing a trilby because it's just quite debonair, quite smart, and he's going out into his own village.

I mean, he owns everything here, so he feels he doesn't need to show off to anybody.

But Carson with him, Carson's always on duty and he'll be wearing his bowler hat because that's his smartest and he's with his boss.

(laughing)

Crew: Here we go, rehearsal.

Bruce: People wore hats in this time, and it was just part of their "going out of doors" routine.

But you used it as a means of being polite, and normally just doffed your hat at somebody out of courtesy, or a woman.

But what also happened is that if you were actually having a conversation with someone of your own degree, you'd take your hat off and you'd talk to them.

Crew: Check, please.

Do we take the hat off?

What I was keen for you to do is to take your hat off, so you're being very generous doing that, whereas I think Carson's just gonna doff and then realize you've done that, so he'll take his off too.

But no hand shaking.

No.

Mark.

Good day, m'lord, Mr. Carson.

Mrs. Elcot, what are you up to?

Oh, I'm just waiting for our Robbie.

He likes to say hello to his father sometimes when he comes out of school.

Bruce: I was worried that they'd try and shake hands with gloves on.

Disaster.

People just didn't shake hands then because they were terrified of picking up diseases.

Hello, I'm Alastair Bruce, the historical advisor.

Hello, I'm Naomi, nice to meet you.

Naomi, may I ask you...

Not to do that?

Well, could you bring it up a bit?

Yes, just a little bit more.

That's perfect.

743, take one.

I'm just waiting for our Robbie.

He comes with me if I go to the shop or the post office.

Takes chance to visit the grave then.

Cut!

Bruce: I think what all of this is about is trying to remember status.

Robert understands, as an aristocrat, that he's in charge of everything.

But Carson understands status and feels it more than anybody else because below stairs, it really counts where you are in the pecking order.

Lord Grantham is in charge by virtue of his position.

The aristocracy was expected to live off its land.

There was no question of actually having to find work.

I've got a job in Ripon.

I said I'll start tomorrow.

A job?

Making money and working nine to five fills the minds of most of us, while yearning for the weekend.

But for the early 20th century aristocrat, this couldn't have been further from his thinking.

And what is a weekend?

Bruce: Getting a job and making money simply wasn't necessary.

You inherited your house and the land, or you married one.

And then the land made you money and life was good.

You do not love the place yet?

Well, obviously, it's...

No, you don't love it.

You see a million bricks that may crumble, a thousand gutters and pipes that may block and leak, and stone that will cr*ck in the frost.

But you don't?

I see my life's work.

Bruce: But their undisputed status as lords of the manor was threatened by men with new money-- men like Sir Richard Carlisle-- ambitious men with pretentions to grandeur.

Hello.

We're so pleased to have you here, Sir Richard.

Lady Grantham.

Welcome. Thank you.

I hope the train wasn't too tiring.

Not a bit, no, I got a lot done.

New money was loud, strident and successful.

The aristocracy had to counter this by labeling any mention of money as common.

The English upper classes never talk about money?

We don't like to.

But you don't mind thinking about it.

That's like the rich who say that money doesn't matter.

It matters enough when you haven't got it.

I know you don't care about our silly rules.

You're always very clear on that score.

You make me sound rude.

But I'm not ashamed of being what they call a self-made man.

Bonneville: I think there's a very interesting difference between someone like Carlisle in series two and Robert.

Carlisle comes from a meritocracy based on, you know, the work you've done and the finance you've earned.

His social status comes from the business he's set up.

Whereas, you know, Robert has been born into this society, into this structure.

His sole purpose in life is to maintain the estate and to hand it on in as good a nick as he possibly can to the next generation.

Bruce: But the certainty of landed wealth, which the aristocracy had enjoyed for centuries, was starting to fail.

Grain supplies from North America drove down the value of crops, and tax reforms threatened inherited wealth.

Robert: My fortune is the work of others.

I am a custodian, my dear, not an owner.

I must strive to be worthy of the task I've been set.

Bonneville: Robert's not a businessman.

He has a shrewd idea about how to treat people, he has a great respect for other people, but in terms of running a small economy, no, he's not your man.

So that's been, you know, a lot of fun playing with some of the problems that the modern day presents to someone like Robert.

Why not tackle it gradually?

Perhaps buy some time by investing your capital.

I hear of schemes every day that'll double whatever's put into them or triple it or more.

Many schemes offer high rewards, very few deliver them.

Well, there's a chap in America, what's his name--

Charles Ponzi-- who offers a huge return after 90 days.

Robert of course is the guy who, you know, thinks Ponzi's a great guy, or, you know, there's, "Everybody's piling into the Canadian Railways, let's do that."

Harry Stoke has gone in with a bundle.

Then Harry Stoke, whoever he is, is a fool.

But it I could find out...

Robert, the last time you took an interest in investment, you ruined the family!

Robert, who appears at times to be a dinosaur, and sometimes is, but he's actually trying to conserve the best of the old and the new, and to make sure that the estate continues to function to the best of its ability.

Bruce: The best of the old meant a job and a home for life to servants like Molesley.

Only misbehavior or misfortune would cost you your position.

Doyle: Molesley finds himself surplus to needs.

And you realize very quickly, as people nowadays realize, actually, that you're only a couple of paychecks away from, you know, desperation.

Hello, Mr. Molesley.

How are things?

Well, as you can see, not very good.

I don't agree.

It's skilled work.

No, it isn't, not what I'm doing.

I'm sure if you just wait, something better will turn up.

I have waited and nothing's turned up.

I haven't earned a penny since Mr. Crawley d*ed.

Now I owe money all over the village.

Yes, but surely with your skill...

Don't you understand I'm at my wits' end?

Froggatt: Money wasn't a subject that was spoken about in polite conversation, nor were intense emotions either.

So it's quite shocking for Anna.

I apologize, I should not have said that.

It was vulgar and self-important.

Please forgive me.

Bonneville: There is no social welfare system, there is no healthcare system, and the people who work on your estate live or die by your hand, really, by the way you treat them.

Bruce: On set, our work is just as elaborate as the servants' work was for a great Edwardian family.

Where's the other rake?

I think you've probably got quite a lot in there.

It's just, I love gravel.

To me, gravel makes all the difference.

Do you notice how with the raking, it looks completely different, and with all these old houses, the gravel would have been raked first thing in the morning every single day, and if necessary, later on too.

Bonneville: It goes back to this thing, this analogy I've used in the past of the estate really being a whole load of cogs that service the one machine.

And if you take out a cog because you think it's either, you know, not gonna work properly or simply because you can't be bothered to oil it or something, then the whole machine starts to break down.

Bruce: Can you make a tighter line?

There.

There, hands by your side.

Knowing your place was the first rule and the last.

It's the point from which all manners sprang.

But it wasn't just the lower orders who had to know where they belonged; the aristocrats had to get it right too.

I've been meaning to speak to you about Molesley.

Oh?

Would you find me very ungrateful if I dispensed with his services?

Why? Has he displeased you in some way?

Not at all.

It's simply that he's superfluous to our style of living.

Is that quite fair, to deprive a man of his livelihood when he's done nothing wrong?

Well, I wouldn't quite put it...

Your mother derives satisfaction from her work at the hospital, I think, some sense of self-worth.

Well, certainly.

Would you really deny the same to poor old Molesley?

And when you are master here, is the butler to be dismissed, or the footman?

How many maids or kitchen staff will be allowed to stay, or must every one be driven out?

We all have different parts to play, Matthew, and we must all be allowed to play them.

Bruce: The key to the aristocrat's view of the world was not privilege; it was duty.

The point of an aristocrat was to be of use to the land he owned and its people.

Robert owns everything he can see-- all this.

It's a kingdom of 6,000 acres, a miniature economy that depends on his lordship's successful reign.

Matthew: I don't know about the rest of you, but I sometimes think it's time we lived in a simpler way.

Violet: Oh, don't say that.

It's our job to provide employment.

An aristocrat with no servants is as much use to the county as a glass hammer.

(laughs)

It's not just a rich man in his big castle served by the lower orders.

Grantham serves them by keeping all this going and by giving each a respectable place in the mighty machine that was Great Britain.

It was the perfect balance between privilege and responsibility.

Crew: Action!

Hold it there, thank you.

The thing that strikes me, as I struggle to make sure everyone stands up straight and avoids hugging, is that what we regard as strange and formal to them was as natural as the air they breathed.

The real secret behind the manners of Downton Abbey and the thing we all work so hard to get right is that for them, this was effortless.