Julian Fellowes script for Season Three of Downton Abbey was published in 2014. The ITV series was broadcast in 2012. There are eight episodes plus the controversial Christmas Special. Dotted lines alongside the script text indicate sections of text that were cut or partially cut from the original script to make the final edited version; however, in some cases it appears that some ‘cut’ scenes did make it into the DVD version.
The format follows that of the first two season books, with many pages containing illuminating and interesting footnotes on the scene, the characters or the reasoning behind the text; sometimes with humorous asides and personal anecdotes. There are eight pages of black-and-white photos from this season, and lists of cast and crew.
Episode one begins with Robert losing a lot of money on an investment in the Grand Canadian Trunk Line railway, a real event. Sadly, the genius behind the line died on the Titanic – a disaster which neatly creates fresh repercussions for Lord Grantham, echoing episode one of the first season.
Alfred, a new Downton footman, was 6ft6ins tall. Apparently, before the period of the drama, footmen were paid by height; the tall six-footers commanding a higher salary; essentially status symbols (p21).
Besides a great deal of social commentary and history (including ‘the Troubles’ in Ireland), there are insights on constructing the drama – which apply to fiction-writing in general. Mr Fellowes makes a comment about avoiding repeating information the viewer (or reader) already knows. ‘You structure a scene so that it finishes just as they’re about to get the information you already know, or you start the scene when they’ve just got it. Sometimes you can’t avoid a slight repeat, but you do work against it’ (p56).
There’s an interesting and even topical aside when Bates is in prison, accused of murder. ‘If you want a country to accept the end of the death penalty (which I am sure is right), then people need to feel confident that a murderer in cold blood is going to have a very tough time of it. The more who come out after six years and then immediately murder someone else, the more damage is done. One of the main arguments against the death penalty used to be that there was a risk of wrongful conviction, but the trouble is, far more innocent people have died at the hands of released murderers than were ever hanged wrongly, so it doesn’t really hold water. The point being that too many today do not have faith in the legal system’ (p209/210).
I wasn’t aware of the fact that unlike in America (and elsewhere) an English agent will not allow a client to sign for more than three years for anything (p254). This explains why at least three main characters had to be written out at some stage. Sometimes, it may be some way through the season before an actor or actress announces they don’t wish to go on further. This creates problems for the script writer: for instance the first five episodes of this season had been written and cast before Dan Stevens made his intentions known.
Throughout the series there are cases of ‘moments of bonding: Carson and Robert, Carson and Mary, Mary and Anna, and so on. (Showing) a chance of birth that has made Anna work for Mary and not the other way round, and these scenes underline that’ (p311).
The travails of Thomas are thoughtfully presented. ‘I’m always against judging anyone according to a type. It doesn’t matter if it is something positive. All type judgements are worthless, because they generalise the individual. Here, what happens to Carson is that eventually, although he doesn’t approve, he comes to see that it is not Thomas’s fault’ (p405). Mr Fellowes also mentions a relative Constance Lloyd who actually married Oscar Wilde. When the scandal broke and Wilde was imprisoned for ‘the love that dare not speak its name’ apparently Constance was ostracised by all who knew her. She changed her name and wandered through Europe until her early death aged 40.
There
are many reasons why some scenes/text had to be shortened or removed. One
amusing excision is this:
ROBERT:
Someone should invent a new kind of telegram, so you could send a whole
document at once. Just like that.
ISOBEL:
And if a document, why not a person? Like H.G. Wells’s Time Machine. You’d just
get in, press the button, and step out in Deauville.
VIOLET: Would we be allowed to take a maid? (p423).
Certainly,
Maggie Smith (Violet) tends to get most of the best lines:
EDITH:
How tiny the glens make one feel.
VIOLET: That is the thing about nature. There’s so much of it. (p516).
What is impressive that the ensemble cast – about eighteen – all have a part to play and a story to tell. The casting is perfect, even when newcomers appear for one or two episodes. On reading the scripts I can hear the actors’ voices. There’s emotion, laughter, tragedy, plotting, villainy; in fact all human nature is here – what we’ve come to expect.
To date, this appears to be the last book of scripts. Certainly Mr Fellowes has been busy since, apart from three Downton films after the end of the series. He’s a workaholic, despite his uncontrollable neurological condition, essential tremor.
Minor
pedantic gripe about the TV credits: it states Written and created by Julian Fellowes. However, surely it was created and then written?