Downton Abbey is written and created by Oscar-winning writer Julian Fellowes, and stars Oscar winning actress Maggie Smith, Hugh Bonneville and Emmy-nominated actress Elizabeth McGovern.
The Downton Abbey estate stands a splendid example of confidence and mettle, its family enduring for generations and its staff a well-oiled machine of propriety. Set in an Edwardian country house in 1912, Downton Abbey portrays the lives of the Crawley family. But change is afoot at Downton — change far surpassing the new electric lights and telephone.
A crisis of inheritance threatens to displace the resident Crawley family, in spite of the best efforts of the noble and compassionate Earl, Robert Crawley (Hugh Bonneville, Miss Austen Regrets); his American heiress wife, Cora (played by Elizabeth McGovern); his comically implacable mother, Violet (Maggie Smith, David Copperfield); and his eldest daughter, Mary, intent on charting her own course.
Meet the royal cast of Downtown Abbey:
1. Robert, Earl Of Grantham played by Hugh Bonneville
Robert Grantham has lived an uncomplicated life until now. He married his wife, Cora, an American heiress, in 1889, largely for her money and although there is no denying her cash put the estate back on its feet, over time they have grown to love one another deeply.
2. Cora, Countess Of Grantham played by Elizabeth McGovern
Cora is the beautiful daughter of Isidore Levinson, a dry goods multi millionaire from Cincinnati. She arrived in England with her mother in 1888 at the age of 20, and was engaged to Robert by the end of her first season.
3. Violet, Dowager Countess Of Grantham played by Maggie Smith
The mother of Robert, Earl of Grantham, Violet is proud, loyal to her son and immensely insufferable to her American daughter-in-law Cora, whom she regards as an interloper, a living compromise the family has had to make.
4. Lady Mary Crawley played by Michelle Dockery
Clever, good looking, hard. Mary had (just about) accepted that she was not to be, as she had imagined, an heiress, like her mother, while her cousins lived. On the arrival of the news of their deaths, she assumes she will now inherit.
5. Lady Edith Crawley played by Laura Carmichael
Edith resents Mary. She is less good looking and less sought after, but no less ambitious. She doesnʼt care that the settlement will not be overturned, since she would not have inherited either way.
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What can you expect in the coming season of DownTown Abbey?
In the brand new third season that audiences can watch only on DIVA Universal – war takes over the estate when it is turned into a hospital for wounded soldiers, adding extra tension to an already charged household. Lady Sybil is determined to make a difference as a nurse, but when her husband’s political view lands him in trouble, she is forced to choose sides.
Downton Abbey Season 3 from 7 January, Every Monday from 8pm only on DIVA Universal (Astro Channel 702).
