SPOILERS ALERT!!!
Hello everyone! 🙂
Welcome to ‘Bradley’s Basement’ blog and I’m Tim Bradley!
I’ve seen Series 3 of ‘Downton Abbey’ on Blu-ray! I’m enjoying these ‘Downton Abbey’ seasons in the run-up to the upcoming film ‘Downton Abbey: A New Era’, which is set for release in March 2022. I’m enjoying the progression of the characters in the TV series, both upstairs and downstairs. 🙂
Series 3 of ‘Downton Abbey’ takes place in 1920. England is recovering from the Great War and the lives and loves of the Crawley family and the servants that work for them are laid bare. Romance, ambition, desire and heartbreak reign in the great house. Not everyone will receive a happy ending.
It’s nice to see the ‘Downton Abbey’ cast again in the eight episodes of Series 3. There’s Hugh Bonneville as Robert Crawley, the Earl of Grantham and Maggie Smith as Violet Crawley, the Dowager Countess of Grantham. There are also other members of the upstairs family at Downton. 🙂
There’s Elizabeth McGovern as Cora Crawley, Robert’s wife and there’s Michelle Dockery as Lady Mary Crawley who marries Dan Stevens as Matthew Crawley in Series 3. It’s nice Lady Mary and Matthew end up married in Series 3 and how they seem to get on with each other despite hiccups. 🙂
There’s Laura Carmichael as Lady Edith Crawley. I felt sorry for Lady Edith when she was jilted by Robert Bathurst as Sir Anthony Strallan in the third episode of Series 3. There’s also Jessica Brown Findlay as Lady Sybil who married Allen Leech as Tom Branson. This does cause some eyes to frown.
It was intriguing how Tom Branson struggled to fit in with the Downton Abbey family and how he befriended Matthew. It was very upsetting when Lady Sybil dies in the series following childbirth. Tom and Sybil weren’t together long enough to enjoy a fruitful marriage. It’s pretty heartbreaking. 😦
There’s also Penelope Wilton as Isobel Crawley, Matthew’s mother in the series. It was intriguing to see how Isobel helps Amy Nuttall as Ethel Parks who has fallen from grace since Series 2. Kevin McNally as Horace Bryant and Christine Mackie as Daphne Bryant also make their return in Series 3.
Downstairs in Downton Abbey are Jim Carter as Mr. Carson and Phyllis Logan as Mrs. Hughes. I was pleased when Brendan Coyle as John Bates managed to get free from prison by the time the seventh episode came around and he was able to be reunited with Joanne Froggatt as his loving wife Anna. 🙂
Rob James-Collier as Thomas Barrow gets into trouble in Series 3 and Siobhan Finnerman as Miss O’Brien ends up backstabbing him in the series. 😦 There’s also Sophie McShera as Daisy, Lesley Nicol as Mrs. Patmore and Kevin Doyle as Mr. Molesley who becomes a worker at Downton Abbey itself. 🙂
There are new members of staff at Downton Abbey, including Matt Milne as Alfred Nugent, O’Brien’s nephew; Ed Speleers as Jimmy Kent; and Cara Theobold as Ivy Stuart. In the last episode of Series 3, we’re introduced to Lily James (who played Cinderella in the 2015 Disney film) as Lady Rose.
I like how the last episode of Series 3 features a cricket match. It was fun to see most of the ‘Downton Abbey’ cast, particularly the men, in summer clothes as well as cricket whites when playing the game. A Fifth Doctor crossover with ‘Downton Abbey’ involving cricket has to be done! 🙂
Incidentally, Shirley Maclaine guest stars in a couple of episodes as Martha Levinson, Cora Crawley’s mother. I saw her last year in the Christmas film ‘Noelle’ as well as the 1960 film ‘The Apartment’. It was fun to see her in Series 3 of ‘Downton Abbey’ and how she interacted with Maggie Smith here. 🙂
Michael Cochrane also makes a return appearance as the vicar Albert Travis in the series. If only Sarah Sutton was still acting, she could have had a guest star appearance in ‘Downton Abbey’. 😀 There’s also Tim Piggott-Smith as Sir Philip Tapsell, who guest stars in the episode where Sybil dies. 😦
Series 3 of ‘Downton Abbey’ has been enjoyable to watch. Despite the heartbreaks featured in Series 3, this is a cheerful season of sorts compared to Series 2 which dealt with the First World War. I’m currently looking forward to checking out ‘Downton Abbey: A Journey to the Highlands’ up next.
Thanks for reading!
Bye for now!
Tim. 🙂
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