Downton Abbey

by Julian Fellowes

  LAVINIA (CONT’D): My God.

  He is as stunned as she is. He is standing.*

  * This sequence was quite cleverly done with a stunt woman. If you look at it carefully, you can see there’s a double for Lavinia doing the actual stumbling and the fall. It is a side of filming I always enjoy. When my son Peregrine was a little boy he used to say, ‘Slow it down, slow it down, Daddy, I want to see where James Bond turns into the double.’ So I would rewind and play it more slowly and he’d say, ‘It’s James Bond, it’s James Bond, it’s the double!’ The danger of this is that children of the industry have a completely different relationship with film narrative, and inevitably he’d bring his friends home from school and enthusiastically show them some special effect that was completely unsuitable, and they’d all be terrified out of their wits.

  23 INT. HALL/STAIRCASE/LIBRARY. DOWNTON. NIGHT.

  As Mary appears, Robert is running downstairs with Lavinia. The others come out of their bedrooms and follow him.

  ROBERT: Mary! Girls! Cora! Come at once!

  As he gets to the hall, the others appear.

  CORA: Robert? Wait!

  But he does not wait.

  ROBERT: Everyone, come at once!

  MARY: What is it? What’s happened?

  ROBERT: Come and see this!

  As Sybil and Edith also hurry down, he has run into the library, and now they follow him, to find Matthew in his chair, which is a slight let-down.

  ROBERT: Is it true? Is it true what Lavinia says?

  Matthew nods. Very carefully, he hoists himself up and is once more standing. Mary starts to cry.

  MARY: I can’t believe it!

  CORA: It’s so wonderful.

  SYBIL: It is, but don’t tire yourself out. Sit down now and we’ll send for Doctor Clarkson.

  ROBERT: She’s right. Edith, go with Branson. Get Clarkson, but fetch Mama and Cousin Isobel as well. I don’t care what they’re doing. Tell them to come now!

  He is also nearly weeping as he wrings Matthew’s hand.

  ROBERT (CONT’D): Oh, my dear chap. I cannot begin to tell you what this means to me —

  MATTHEW: It’s pretty good news for me, too.

  Which makes them laugh and cry at the same time. But by now Carlisle has joined them. He stands back, as ever opaque.

  24 INT. LIBRARY. DOWNTON. NIGHT.

  They are all gathered as Clarkson speaks.

  CLARKSON: There is only one possible explanation. It starts with my own mistake. Every indication told me that the spine was transected, which would have been incurable.

  ROBERT: But when Sir John Coates came to see Matthew, he agreed with you.

  But this is an awkward point. Clarkson takes a deep breath.

  CLARKSON: Well, he didn’t. Not entirely. He thought that it could conceivably be a case of spinal shock… That is, intense bruising. Which was sufficiently severe to impede the leg mechanism…

  MARY: But which would heal?

  LAVINIA: Why didn’t you tell us?

  CLARKSON: Because I didn’t agree with him, and I didn’t want to raise Captain Crawley’s hopes to no purpose.

  MATTHEW: I understand and I don’t blame you.

  CLARKSON: You must take it slowly. Rome wasn’t built in a day.

  MATTHEW: I know.

  CLARKSON: And I’m afraid you will carry a bruise on your spine for the rest of your life —

  MATTHEW: But I will have a life.

  CLARKSON: Yes. I think we can say that. You will have a normal life. And it won’t be long in coming.

  He is greeted by joy and relief. Isobel kneels by the chair.

  ISOBEL: My darling boy. My darling boy.*

  She is weeping along with most of the others. Carson arrives at the door. He catches Robert’s eye.

  CARSON: Excuse me, m’lord. But Mrs Hughes is wondering what she should do about dinner.

  Robert claps his hands to quiet them.

  ROBERT: You’ll all stay for dinner, won’t you?

  CLARKSON: Well, I’m afraid I’m not dressed.

  ROBERT: Oh, never mind that. Who cares about that? What about you, Mama?

  VIOLET: Oh, certainly. All this unbridled joy has given me quite an appetite.

  * When Matthew stood, I was attacked in the newspapers. They clearly wanted to believe we had dramatised a physical impossibility, because it meant they could legitimately criticise the show, which during the second series was quite a strong item on their agenda. If Matthew had broken his back and severed his spinal cord, they shrilled, he could not possibly recover. Naturally, the answer to this is: of course not. But, if they had bothered actually to watch the show, instead of looking for darts to throw, they would have seen that their analysis was not at all what we were saying. We make it clear that the issue, from the start, is whether Matthew’s spine is bruised or severed, and the London specialist, Sir John Coates, had actually diagnosed it as a possible case of spinal shock, but Doctor Clarkson did not wish to raise Matthew’s hopes. The glee with which the papers greet a genuine mistake is sad enough, but when, as here, they deliberately pretend that the show is wrong when it is not, it can be really depressing.

  In fact, the problem here is not that Matthew’s story was impossible, which it was not, but that David Robb, who plays Clarkson, has to persuade us that he is a competent doctor when the plot requires him to misdiagnose more or less everything. So we were quite careful in the third series, when we got to Sybil’s death, to make sure that he was the one who got it right, when the other doctor got it wrong.

  Anyway, now we realise that Matthew is going to recover. Dramatically, I cannot lie, it was important that Matthew would once again be able to function as a fully active character, because it would have been too limiting in narrative terms to keep him in a wheelchair forever, and a big problem if he was permanently unable to father a child. This last detail would not necessarily be true in 2013 – there are many treatments now that can be tried – but in the 1920s it certainly was true. And so we would have had no baby, which would have brought everything to a bit of a full stop. Also, in terms of the story, Mary, who is intensely practical, was in the process of negotiating a deal with herself, in order to marry Carlisle and have a normal life. Which the audience would not have wanted. My own belief is that, if Matthew had remained in a wheelchair, she would have married Carlisle. Whether that is shocking for the fans, I don’t know, but she just doesn’t strike me as an Iphigenia figure, tethering herself to a rock and staying there forever, uncomplaining. Lavinia, on the other hand, is prepared to sacrifice her life to Matthew and ignore the sexual side of things. But I don’t think Mary would have done that. Either way, once Matthew was well again, then it was gloves off, and the business facing Mary was to get him back.

  25 INT. KITCHEN PASSAGE. DOWNTON. NIGHT.

  There is a lot of chatter and laughter from the servants’ hall. Anna comes out and almost runs into Bates.

  ANNA: There you are. I wondered what had happened to you. It’s wonderful news, isn’t it?

  BATES: Wonderful… Are you busy?

  ANNA: I’m just going up to help in the dining room. Why?

  BATES: It’ll keep.

  ANNA: No. Tell me. I’ve got time.

  BATES: It’s just something his lordship said recently, I can’t get it out of my mind. How Vera must have bought the poison, and taken it home.

  This comes from left field. She tries to respond adequately.

  ANNA: Yes. I suppose she must. And it’s — it’s a terrible thing to think of —

  BATES: But she didn’t. I did.

  ANNA: What?

  BATES: Months ago, before I left. Vera said we needed rat poison and I bought it. It was arsenic, and I’ve been thinking: that’s what she must have taken. We used a bit of it, but the rest was in the cellar.

  ANNA: Have you told the police?

  BATES: No. The shop was quite a distance. How would they make the connection?

  ANNA: Tell them. If you don�
��t and they find out, it’ll look bad.

  BATES: But wouldn’t I be asking for trouble?

  ANNA: You’re asking for trouble if you stay silent.

  CARSON (V.O.): Anna, we’re starting.

  ANNA: Sorry, Mr Carson.

  She hurries up the stairs.*

  * Anna’s instinct is, for me, significant, and her belief that by not telling the police about the poison Bates will make everything worse turns out to be true. I have a theory that, in life, the easy way out so often turns out to be the difficult way, in the long term. It’s rather like when people try to appease someone who’s impossible and, by appeasing them, they only make matters worse. You see people living with a partner, or working with someone, and constantly appeasing them, but in the end they create a situation that is untenable. Whereas if they had just said at the very beginning, ‘Look, you’ve got the wrong guy, I’m not going to put up with this,’ then maybe things would have improved. And if they didn’t improve, if the impossible partner walked out and brought it to an end, they would still be better off.

  26 INT. DINING ROOM. DOWNTON. NIGHT.

  They are all at dinner, waited on by Carson and Anna.

  VIOLET: Tell me, how are things progressing at Haxby?

  CARLISLE: Quite well. I’ve put in a condition so the builders are fined for every day they go over.

  VIOLET: Does that make for a happy atmosphere?

  CARLISLE: I want it done. They can be happy in their own time.

  VIOLET: Why the rush?

  CARLISLE: I like everything I own to be finished and ready to sell.

  VIOLET: But you’re not thinking of selling Haxby, surely?

  CARLISLE: Depends. We’ll have to see if it suits us to be so close to Downton.

  Violet follows his gaze to where Matthew is chatting to Lavinia. Mary, on Matthew’s other side, is watching him.

  MATTHEW: I’m getting tired, so I’m going to sneak off to bed in a minute —

  ISOBEL: You must.

  MATTHEW: But before I do, I want to tell you all something. As you know, during this — well, I think I can say horrible — time, Lavinia has proved to be the most marvellous person…

  He turns to her amid murmurs of ‘hear, hear’.

  MATTHEW (CONT’D): I never thought we would marry, for all sorts of reasons, but she wouldn’t accept that, and so now I am very pleased to say that she’s been proved right.

  Mary has stopped everything and is just staring at him.

  MATTHEW (CONT’D): Lavinia and I will get married —

  ROBERT: Oh my dear fellow.

  ISOBEL: Isn’t it wonderful?

  MATTHEW: Just as soon as I’m well enough to walk down the aisle. Doctor Clarkson can help us with when.

  CLARKSON: Not long now.

  MATTHEW: And she feels we ought to marry here, at Downton. To bury forever the memories of what I hope has been the darkest period of my life.

  ROBERT: Of course!

  LAVINIA: Are you sure? I know it should be at my home in London, but we’ve been through so much here —

  ROBERT: We’d be delighted.

  There are smiles and chatter, but Violet is looking at Mary.

  VIOLET: Bravo! Excellent news. Mary! Isn’t that excellent news?

  Her sharp tone forces Mary to pull herself together.

  MARY: Just excellent.*

  * Obviously, some viewers complained that it would have been wrong for them to marry at Downton, but I don’t agree. When the bride lives in an ordinary, although affluent, street in Belgravia, and the groom is the heir to an estate, to place the wedding at the man’s great house is not terribly unusual. Indeed, some friends of ours did it quite recently, so there was nothing untruthful about it. Mary, of course, is absolutely livid, because from the moment that Matthew stood up she has decided she’s going to get him in the end. So this jolly plan is a real blow.

  27 INT. GARAGE. STABLEYARD. DOWNTON. NIGHT.

  Branson is reading a pamphlet by oil light. Sybil appears, her shimmering evening dress in contrast to his shirtsleeves.

  BRANSON: You’re very late. Won’t they worry?

  SYBIL: They’re all so excited, they won’t care where I am.

  BRANSON: I’m pleased. I like Mr Matthew.

  SYBIL: He announced at dinner that he wants to get married at Downton… Somehow, it made me feel more than ever that the war is really over and it’s time to move forward.

  Her tone thrills and frightens him. He stands.

  BRANSON: Do you mean you’ve made your decision?

  SYBIL: Yes. And my answer is… that I’m ready to travel and you are my ticket. To get away from this house, away from this life!

  BRANSON: Me?

  SYBIL: No. Uncle Tom Cobley.

  BRANSON: I’m sorry. But I’ve waited so long for those words, I can’t believe I’m hearing them… You won’t mind burning your bridges?

  SYBIL: Mind? Fetch me the matches!

  She laughs, as he takes her in his arms.

  SYBIL (CONT’D): Yes, you can kiss me, but that is all until everything is settled.

  BRANSON: For now, God knows it’s enough that I can kiss you.

  Which he does. Passionately.*

  * I felt it was important to make the audience understand that Sybil and Branson may be progressive, but they are still children of their own time. It always slightly annoys me when characters in period drama, in order to make them sympathetic, are given modern attitudes and modern choices. The fact is, Sybil’s sexual morality would be as shared by her left-wing sisterhood as by her right-wing cousinage, because, in those pre-pill days, this was a woman’s greatest citadel and greatest loss when it was stormed. Given all this, it would be completely unbelievable for her suddenly to say, ‘Good on you. Chocks away.’

  28 INT. CORA’S BEDROOM. DOWNTON. NIGHT.

  Robert is getting into bed with Cora.

  ROBERT: What a day. I can’t stop smiling.

  CORA: No. But another time, please ask me before you agree to host a wedding.

  ROBERT: What?

  CORA: I’m fond of Matthew, of course, but you do realise this means Mary’s marriage will be delayed?

  ROBERT: I can’t help that.

  CORA: Mary is our first priority, Robert. And just because Matthew’s been lame —

  ROBERT: Matthew’s been lame! Can you hear the words coming out of your mouth? Can you hear how stupid and selfish they are? Because I can.

  She’s shocked, but before she can react he turns out the lamp.

  END OF ACT THREE

  ACT FOUR

  29 EXT. KITCHEN COURTYARD. DOWNTON. DAY.

  Mrs Hughes is putting a folded blanket, some sandwiches wrapped in greasepaper and a thermos into the game larder. She turns and walks towards the house when Carson comes out.

  CARSON: What are you up to?

  MRS HUGHES: I was going to inspect the laundry, but I thought I’d leave it for now.*

  She wants to take the conversation in a new direction.

  MRS HUGHES (CONT’D): Did you mean it when you said you’d changed your mind about going?

  CARSON: After what Anna said? Could you work for a man like that?

  MRS HUGHES: Everyone will be so pleased.

  CARSON: Not everyone…

  * One thing that has always made me nervous is the Downton laundry. There are no laundry maids, there is no head laundress, in short there’s no laundry, all of which there obviously would have been. But we decided at the start we simply could not service another whole mini-staff dramatically. Where it’s not untruthful is that the laundry maids were considered pretty rough. They were the female equivalent of agricultural workers at a great house and they were usually village women who did not have to refine their ways, since they absolutely never came into contact with their employers, and they both lived and worked quite separately. In many houses, the laundry was in a separate building, but even if it was connected it would be at the end of some wing in one of the courtyards and the
staff would come and go independently. Quite often, they didn’t live in, they simply lived locally, but still it does worry me, and so, every now and then, I make a character say that they’re just going over to the laundry, or that so-and-so is in the sewing room, next to the laundry, and, almost without exception, it’s cut.

  30 INT. KITCHEN. DOWNTON. DAY.

  Thomas and O’Brien are with Mrs Patmore and Daisy.

  MRS PATMORE: Don’t bother me with it now. I’ve enough on, trying to make a luncheon that looks worth eating.

  THOMAS: But that’s what I’m saying. Everything’s in short supply now.

  MRS PATMORE: Short supply? No supply, more like! Oh, talk about making a silk purse out of a sow’s ear. I wish we had a sow’s ear. It’d be better than this brisket.

  O’BRIEN: That’s just it. Thomas has come by some groceries and such, and he’s prepared to let them go for the right price.

  MRS PATMORE: Oh, he’s prepared to let them go, is he? And how did he come by them? That’s what I’d like to know.

  THOMAS: Well, they’re not stolen, in case you’re worried.

  MRS PATMORE: Oh, I’m not worried. You’re the one who should be worried.

  But she thinks for a moment.

  MRS PATMORE (CONT’D): Tell you what. I’m making a wedding cake now, for Mr Crawley. I’ll finish it early and feed it with brandy. So if I give you a list of ingredients, can you get them?

  THOMAS: I can.

  MRS PATMORE: And then we’ll see. Now, will you leave me and let me get on with this travesty.*

  * I feel that only the pressure to produce a decent wedding cake for Matthew would induce someone like Mrs Patmore, who is generally honest, to break her own rules and get the material from Thomas. Given the situation and the war shortages, I did think this was believable.

  31 EXT/INT. DOWNTON. DAY.

  The Bryants have arrived. Their gleaming car, with a chauffeur at attention, tells us they’re prosperous, moneyed Midlands people. But they are not quite top drawer. Carson is there. He’s puzzled to find Mrs Hughes by the entrance.

  CARSON: Why are you here?

  She ignores him, looking over at Mrs Bryant, who is with Cora.

  ROBERT: Mr Bryant, Mrs Bryant, welcome.

  MRS BRYANT: We’re so pleased to be here. This is so kind of you, Lady Grantham.