Спойлеры к финальному эпизоду и немного к рождественской серии
читать дальшеThe inhabitants of Downton Abbey may have survived the horrors of the Great War, but now they find themselves at the centre of a new life and death struggle.
In the drama's emotionally-charged finale, to be screened next Sunday, the Spanish flu pandemic that killed more than 50 million people between 1918 and 1920 causes heartbreak for the aristocratic Crawley family and their servants.
The drama's ten million fans will be on tenterhooks as several characters, including Cora, Countess of Grantham, played by Elizabeth McGovern; Matthew Crawley's fiancée Lavinia Swire, played by Zoe Boyle; and Carson the butler, played by Jim Carter, all fall victim to the potentially fatal condition.
The Mail on Sunday has seen the last episode of the hit ITV drama but has decided to keep the precise details of the plot under wraps.
But the storyline, which draws upon the real-life history of Highclere Castle, where the show is filmed, means life at Downton Abbey will be transformed forever.
The illness first makes its presence felt as both the upstairs and downstairs inhabitants of the household are preparing for a dinner party.
Robert Crawley, the Earl of Grantham, played by Hugh Bonneville, bemoans the fact that 'everyone is falling like ninepins'.
And Downton's housekeeper Mrs Hughes, played by Phyllis Logan, remarks that 'we are quite the hospital again', in reference to the fact that Downton Abbey looked after injured officers during the war.
But some of the most poignant scenes involve Sarah O'Brien, Cora's devoted lady's maid, played by Siobhan Finneran, who stages a bedside vigil for her sick mistress.
Cora's exposure to the illness is similar to that of Highclere's onetime chatelaine Almina, the fifth Countess of Carnarvon, who was struck down in 1918.
Almina contracted the condition while nursing wounded officers in a London hospital that she ran. Although she subsequently recovered, some of her patients and high society associates were not so lucky.
The current Countess of Carnarvon has revealed Almina's infection in her book Lady Almina And The Real Downton Abbey: The Lost Legacy Of Highclere Castle.
She told The Mail on Sunday: 'Almina did contract Spanish flu while she was in close contact with some of her wounded patients in London.
'Many of those men in her care were infected with the condition and she did not appreciate that her close proximity to them was also placing her in danger. People did not know so much about those things then.'
She added: 'Almina was particularly vulnerable because she was left so weak and exhausted by her work looking after the wounded. She was tireless on their behalf.'
It is not clear how the illness arrives at Downton Abbey, but Cora came into contact with wounded officers when Downton was a wartime convalescent home.
The Spanish flu was an influenza pandemic that broke out in June 1918 and claimed anywhere between 50 million and 100 million lives around the world.
More than 500 million people were infected in total and the pandemic left its mark on such far-flung destinations as the Arctic and the remote Pacific Islands.
The disease, which earned its name after first making its mark on Southern
Europe, was not caused by the First World War, but did spread rapidly because so many men had spent so much time in close proximity with each other.
The powerful storyline in the series finale may appease those fans who feel the show has turned into a high class soap opera.
Some viewers feel that ITV made a mistake in commissioning a second season so quickly after the success of the first last year. They say the rapid turnaround means that some of the plot lines are bordering on the ridiculous.
One viewer wrote: ‘It has become Dynasty with hats, hasn’t it?’
But viewers can expect even more heartbreak with the screening of a Christmas special which includes a funeral and a wedding.
The funeral scene has already been shot at St Mary’s Church in the Oxfordshire village of Bampton, which provides Downton’s locations outside the Abbey.
Read more: www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2055226/W...
читать дальшеThe inhabitants of Downton Abbey may have survived the horrors of the Great War, but now they find themselves at the centre of a new life and death struggle.
In the drama's emotionally-charged finale, to be screened next Sunday, the Spanish flu pandemic that killed more than 50 million people between 1918 and 1920 causes heartbreak for the aristocratic Crawley family and their servants.
The drama's ten million fans will be on tenterhooks as several characters, including Cora, Countess of Grantham, played by Elizabeth McGovern; Matthew Crawley's fiancée Lavinia Swire, played by Zoe Boyle; and Carson the butler, played by Jim Carter, all fall victim to the potentially fatal condition.
The Mail on Sunday has seen the last episode of the hit ITV drama but has decided to keep the precise details of the plot under wraps.
But the storyline, which draws upon the real-life history of Highclere Castle, where the show is filmed, means life at Downton Abbey will be transformed forever.
The illness first makes its presence felt as both the upstairs and downstairs inhabitants of the household are preparing for a dinner party.
Robert Crawley, the Earl of Grantham, played by Hugh Bonneville, bemoans the fact that 'everyone is falling like ninepins'.
And Downton's housekeeper Mrs Hughes, played by Phyllis Logan, remarks that 'we are quite the hospital again', in reference to the fact that Downton Abbey looked after injured officers during the war.
But some of the most poignant scenes involve Sarah O'Brien, Cora's devoted lady's maid, played by Siobhan Finneran, who stages a bedside vigil for her sick mistress.
Cora's exposure to the illness is similar to that of Highclere's onetime chatelaine Almina, the fifth Countess of Carnarvon, who was struck down in 1918.
Almina contracted the condition while nursing wounded officers in a London hospital that she ran. Although she subsequently recovered, some of her patients and high society associates were not so lucky.
The current Countess of Carnarvon has revealed Almina's infection in her book Lady Almina And The Real Downton Abbey: The Lost Legacy Of Highclere Castle.
She told The Mail on Sunday: 'Almina did contract Spanish flu while she was in close contact with some of her wounded patients in London.
'Many of those men in her care were infected with the condition and she did not appreciate that her close proximity to them was also placing her in danger. People did not know so much about those things then.'
She added: 'Almina was particularly vulnerable because she was left so weak and exhausted by her work looking after the wounded. She was tireless on their behalf.'
It is not clear how the illness arrives at Downton Abbey, but Cora came into contact with wounded officers when Downton was a wartime convalescent home.
The Spanish flu was an influenza pandemic that broke out in June 1918 and claimed anywhere between 50 million and 100 million lives around the world.
More than 500 million people were infected in total and the pandemic left its mark on such far-flung destinations as the Arctic and the remote Pacific Islands.
The disease, which earned its name after first making its mark on Southern
Europe, was not caused by the First World War, but did spread rapidly because so many men had spent so much time in close proximity with each other.
The powerful storyline in the series finale may appease those fans who feel the show has turned into a high class soap opera.
Some viewers feel that ITV made a mistake in commissioning a second season so quickly after the success of the first last year. They say the rapid turnaround means that some of the plot lines are bordering on the ridiculous.
One viewer wrote: ‘It has become Dynasty with hats, hasn’t it?’
But viewers can expect even more heartbreak with the screening of a Christmas special which includes a funeral and a wedding.
The funeral scene has already been shot at St Mary’s Church in the Oxfordshire village of Bampton, which provides Downton’s locations outside the Abbey.
Read more: www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2055226/W...