Downton Abbey, Series 3 Scripts (Official)

by Julian Fellowes

  The atmosphere is awkward.

  TRAVIS: But isn’t there something rather un-English about the Roman Church?26

  BRANSON: Since I am an Irishman, that’s not likely to bother me.

  TRAVIS: I cannot feel bells and incense and all the rest of that pagan folderol is pleasing to God.

  BRANSON: I see. So is He not pleased by the population of France? Or Italy?

  TRAVIS: Not as pleased as He is by the worship of the Anglicans, no.

  EDITH: South America? Portugal? Have they missed the mark, too?

  TRAVIS: I do not mean to sound harsh. I’m sure there are many individuals from those lands who please Him.

  MARY: And the Russians? And the Spanish?

  TRAVIS: There must be many good Spaniards.

  MATTHEW: And we haven’t even started on the non-Christians. There’s the whole Indian sub-continent to begin with.

  ISOBEL: And the British Empire. Does He approve of that?

  TRAVIS: If you mean does He approve of the expansion of the Christian message, then yes, I think He does.

  ROBERT: And so do I. Poor Mr Travis. You’re all ganging up on him.

  MARY: Well, you and Granny are ganging up against Tom.

  VIOLET: Not me. The Dowager Duchess of Norfolk is a dear friend, and she’s more Catholic than the Pope.27

  ROBERT: I simply do not think that it would help the baby to be baptised into a different tribe from this one.

  BRANSON: She will be baptised into my tribe.

  ROBERT: Am I the only one to stand up for Sybil? What about her wishes?

  MARY: Sybil would be happy for the child to be a Catholic.

  ROBERT: How do you make that out?

  MARY: Because she said so. To me. On the day she died.

  BRANSON: Did she? Oh, God, did she, really?

  ROBERT: I’m flabbergasted.

  CORA: You’re always flabbergasted by the unconventional.

  ROBERT: But in a family like this one —

  CORA: Not everyone chooses their religion to satisfy Debrett’s.

  Naturally, this silences the table. Violet glances at Robert.28

  21 INT. SERVANTS’ HALL. DOWNTON. NIGHT.

  The servants are eating dinner.

  CARSON: I’ve no great wish to persecute Catholics, but I find it hard to believe they’re loyal to the Crown.

  MRS HUGHES: Well, it’ll be a relief for them to know you no longer want them burned at the stake.

  JIMMY: I don’t believe in orthodoxy.

  O’BRIEN: That’s a long word.

  JIMMY: A man can choose to be different without it making him a traitor.

  THOMAS: I agree.

  He finds Jimmy’s observation encouraging.

  ANNA: I don’t like discussing religion. We’ll only fall out, and surely it’s our private business.

  MRS HUGHES: Amen.

  ALFRED: It’s funny though, isn’t it? All that Latin and smelly smoke and men in black dresses. I’m glad I’m Church of England, me.

  THOMAS: Really. And what do you feel about transubstantiation?

  ALFRED: You what?

  CARSON: Never mind, Alfred. Your heart’s in the right place, and I can’t say that for everyone under this roof.29

  22 INT. MARY’S BEDROOM. DOWNTON. NIGHT.

  Mary and Matthew are in bed together, lit by the moon.

  MATTHEW: When Sybil was talking about the baby being a Catholic, did you get the sense that she knew?

  MARY: I’m not sure. Not at the time, but of course I’ve asked myself since.

  MATTHEW: You’d think we’d be used to young death, after four years of war.

  MARY: That’s why we must never take anything for granted.30

  MATTHEW: Which is what I’m trying to get Robert to see. He wasn’t given Downton by God’s decree. We have to work if we want to keep it.

  MARY: But not only Downton. Us. We must never take us for granted. Who knows what’s coming?

  MATTHEW: Well, I have to take one thing for granted, that I will love you until the last breath leaves my body.

  MARY: Oh, my darling. Me, too. Me, too.

  And she pulls him into an embrace.

  22A EXT. MRS BARTLETT’S HOUSE. LONDON. DAY.

  Murray walks along the street and knocks on the door.

  23 INT. MRS BARTLETT’S HOUSE. LONDON. DAY.

  Murray is with Mrs Bartlett.

  MURRAY: But this is quite different from the story you told before.

  MRS BARTLETT: I don’t think it is.

  MURRAY: I’m afraid so. You said you went to Mrs Bates’s house after you’d eaten your evening meal, whatever you choose to call it, and that she was in the process of cooking hers —

  MRS BARTLETT: Well, I had just eaten when I saw her, that’s true, but it was dinner at midday. Mr Bates was going to call on her that afternoon.31

  MURRAY: But you described how the light from the gas lamps caught the rain, and made a kind of halo round her.

  MRS BARTLETT: That sounds rather fanciful for me.

  MURRAY: So you do not remember saying it?

  MRS BARTLETT: I don’t remember, because I never said it.

  MURRAY: I see… As a matter of interest, why did you let me come here today, if nothing you could say would alter the verdict?

  MRS BARTLETT: I thought it was time you saw how real people live.32

  24 INT. KITCHENS. DOWNTON. DAY.

  Ivy is humming as she works, doing the odd dance step. Jimmy’s eating an apple. Alfred watches from the door.

  ALFRED: Where’s Daisy?

  IVY: Gone off to play the milkmaid.

  ALFRED: Do you like dancing?

  JIMMY: ’Course she likes dancing. Everyone likes dancing.

  IVY: I love the foxtrot, don’t you?

  JIMMY: It’s all right.

  IVY: What about you, Alfred?

  JIMMY: Alfred wouldn’t do the foxtrot, would you, Alfred? He takes himself too seriously for that.

  IVY: Well, I love it. I think it makes you glad to be young.

  Alfred cannot answer before Mrs Patmore returns.33

  25 EXT. MASON’S FARM. DAY.

  Daisy walks through the busy farmyard towards the house.

  26 INT. MASON’S FARM. DAY.

  Mason is serving Daisy with another lavish tea. But she can’t eat because of what she has just heard.

  DAISY: Me? Run this farm? Are you serious?

  MASON: Not right away, but eventually.

  DAISY: But… I’m a cook.

  MASON: And you think there’s no cooking on a farm? You could do a cracking trade. With jams and jellies and cake and all sorts. You could sell them at the fairs.

  DAISY: But I’m a woman.

  MASON: Are you? Well, I never knew that!

  He laughs. This is definitely his plan.

  MASON (CONT’D): There are widows who take on a tenancy and you’re liked in the big house. They’ll not refuse you. I own the equipment, all the stock and I’ve quite a bit put by. It’s hard work, but you’re used to that.

  DAISY: I can’t answer now.

  MASON: No, of course not! But think on it. And think on this an’ all. My dream would be if you were to come here and live with me. So I could teach you.

  DAISY: But I always thought I’d spend my life in service.

  MASON: You have forty years of working ahead of you. Do you think these great houses like Downton Abbey are going to go on, just as they are, for another forty years? Because I don’t.

  All these notions are difficult for her to take in.

  MASON (CONT’D): How’s that young man you were talking about? Did you ever tell him how you feel?

  DAISY: No… I thought he might like me, but I were wrong. He’s keener on someone else.

  MASON: Then he’s a fool and not worth bothering with. He’s seen a diamond and he’s chosen glass.34

  27 INT. DRAWING ROOM. DOWER HOUSE. DAY. 27

  Clarkson enters.

  CLARKSON: You wanted to speak to
me, Lady Grantham.35

  VIOLET: Yes. On a melancholy matter, I’m afraid. Please.

  Violet beckons for Clarkson to sit, and he does.

  CLARKSON: How can I help?

  VIOLET: I want to talk a little more about the death of my granddaughter.

  CLARKSON: A terrible, terrible tragedy.

  VIOLET: But now I am concerned beyond that.

  CLARKSON: Oh. Are you worried for the child?

  VIOLET: No, not especially. No. She seems quite a tough little thing.

  CLARKSON: Are you fond of babies?

  VIOLET: Of course.

  CLARKSON: What’s your favourite age?

  VIOLET: About sixteen.

  CLARKSON: So, how can I help?

  VIOLET: Doctor Clarkson, my daughter-in-law is quite convinced you could have saved Sybil had you been allowed to.

  CLARKSON: Well… One can never speak of these things with any certainty.

  VIOLET: Well, this is the point. What was the likelihood of Sybil’s survival?

  CLARKSON: Had we operated? She might have lived. There are cases where an early caesarean saved the mother after pre-eclampsia.

  VIOLET: How many cases?

  CLARKSON: Not many, I admit. I’d need to do some research.

  VIOLET: Then can you do it?

  CLARKSON: It was the way Sir Philip set his face against any —

  VIOLET: Sir Philip Tapsell is a vain and tiresome man. We won’t quarrel over him.

  CLARKSON: So why will we quarrel?

  VIOLET: Possibly because I want you to tell Lord and Lady Grantham what you have almost admitted to me.

  CLARKSON: But there was a chance…

  VIOLET: Doctor Clarkson. You have created a division between my son and his wife, when the only way they can conceivably bear their grief is if they face it together.

  CLARKSON: So you want me to lie to them and say there was no chance at all?

  VIOLET: ‘Lie’ is so unmusical a word. I want you to review the evidence, honestly and without bias.

  CLARKSON: Even to ease suffering, I could never justify telling an outright lie.

  Violet looks at him coldly.

  VIOLET: Have we nothing in common?36

  END OF ACT TWO

  ACT THREE

  28 EXT. FARMLAND. DOWNTON. DAY.

  Matthew is walking with Branson. He points as he speaks.

  MATTHEW: This is the farm I’d like to take back in hand. It’s badly run, and it makes no sense to manage it separately.

  BRANSON: What about the tenant?

  MATTHEW: We’d look after him.

  BRANSON: He’s growing barley and wheat; I’d say he’d do better with sheep.

  MATTHEW: Exactly. We’d merge the grazing — How do you know that?

  BRANSON: How do you? After spending all your growing years in Manchester.

  MATTHEW: I’ve been on a steep learning curve since arriving at Downton.

  BRANSON: My grandfather was a tenant farmer in Galway, with black-faced sheep.

  MATTHEW: So there’s a country boy inside the revolutionary.

  BRANSON: Not much of one.

  MATTHEW: You must hate it here.

  BRANSON: No, I don’t hate it. But I don’t belong here, either. Lord Grantham tries to put up with me, but now Sybil’s gone he cannot understand why there’s a chauffeur at his table.

  MATTHEW: What will you do?

  BRANSON: I’ve thought of Liverpool. There may be something for me there.

  MATTHEW: And the baby?

  Branson sighs.

  BRANSON: I’ll hire a woman or get a cousin over to take care of her. I don’t know. But what else can I do?

  MATTHEW: You could leave her here.

  BRANSON: No. I’ll not be separated from her. She’s all I have left of her mother.37

  29 INT. KITCHEN. CRAWLEY HOUSE. DAY.

  Mrs Patmore is putting on her coat. Ethel is with her.

  MRS PATMORE: Right. You know what you’re doing?

  ETHEL: I think so. Yes.

  MRS PATMORE: Use an alarm clock to remind you when to put things in the oven and when to take them out.

  ETHEL: I will.

  MRS PATMORE: You’ve done well, Ethel. Maybe you’ve also done yourself a favour.

  ETHEL: I’m very grateful.

  30 EXT. CRAWLEY HOUSE. DAY.

  Mrs Patmore walks through the gate and away, just as Carson comes out of the Post Office. He is shocked by what he sees.

  31 INT. YORK PRISON. VISITING ROOM. DAY.

  Murray is with Bates and Anna.

  BATES: I expected her to deny everything. The moment she realised her testimony would release me.

  ANNA: You know she did say every word of it?

  MURRAY: Of course. But I’m afraid someone tipped her off before I went to see her.

  BATES: I think I know who.

  Bates looks up at Officer Durrant, who stands nearby.

  MURRAY: The question remains as to what we do next. I wonder what Mrs Bartlett is thinking at this moment.

  ANNA: That she’s glad Mr Bates is still in prison.

  MURRAY: I’m not sure. It’s a big thing for a woman like that to lie to a lawyer. To flout the law.

  BATES: They would have bribed her to do it. Or frightened her.

  MURRAY: Well, we cannot offer a bribe. But perhaps we can try to persuade her. Into returning to the path of truth.

  BATES: Let me see what I can do.

  ANNA: Nothing foolish. You mustn’t do anything stupid. Promise me.

  BATES: Leave it with me, Mr Murray.38

  32 INT. KITCHEN. CRAWLEY HOUSE. DAY.

  Isobel comes in to where Ethel is working.

  ISOBEL: I don’t understand. I can smell cooking.

  ETHEL: It’s quite simple, ma’am. You’ll be pleased, I promise. I’ve had help.

  ISOBEL: And I suppose there’s no ham and there’s no salad?

  Ethel’s silence confirms this. The front doorbell rings.

  ISOBEL (CONT’D): If this luncheon is a failure, Ethel, I shall hold you responsible.39

  33 INT. MRS HUGHES’S SITTING ROOM. DOWNTON. DAY.

  Carson and Mrs Hughes wait for Mrs Patmore, who comes in.

  MRS PATMORE: Oh, I’m sorry if I’ve kept you waiting, but I had to send up the luncheon.

  MRS HUGHES: It’s good of you to spare the time.

  MRS PATMORE: It’s all right. I’ve only the men to cook for today and they’re easy.

  CARSON: What were you doing at Crawley House this morning?

  MRS PATMORE: Who says I was at Crawley House?

  CARSON: I saw you coming out.

  MRS PATMORE: Oh, I see. Well, Mrs Crawley was giving a luncheon party and I…

  CARSON: And you were helping Ethel.

  MRS PATMORE: I suppose I was.

  CARSON: Against my strict instructions to give the place a wide berth.

  MRS HUGHES: Now, Mr Carson, no one disputes your position as head of this household, but I’m not sure that you’re entitled to dress down Mrs Patmore in this way —

  CARSON: Of course, if Mrs Patmore wants to spend her time frolicking with prostitutes —

  MRS PATMORE: Do I look like a frolicker?

  CARSON: May I ask who was expected at this precious luncheon?

  MRS PATMORE: Her ladyship, the young ladies and the Dowager.

  This is much, much worse than Carson had thought.

  CARSON: You have allowed a woman of the streets to wait at table on members of our family?

  MRS HUGHES: They may be your family, Mr Carson. They’re not mine.

  CARSON: Oh… I am speechless.

  He stalks out of the room.

  MRS HUGHES: I would guess he won’t stay speechless for long.40

  34 INT. DINING ROOM. DOWNTON. DAY.

  Robert, Matthew and Branson are having lunch. They’re alone.

  MATTHEW: I really need to spend a day with the agent. To talk it through.

  ROBERT: Jarvis has a lot on his plat
e.

  MATTHEW: Yes, of course, but I want to —

  ROBERT: Must we discuss this now? It’s very boring for Tom.

  BRANSON: I don’t —

  MATTHEW: Tom is your son-in-law, and his daughter is your only grandchild.

  ROBERT: None of which gives him a word in the running of this place. Or would you like to involve Carson? Or the maids? Or people in the village?

  BRANSON: Look, I really —

  Robert is angry but so is Matthew.

  MATTHEW: Robert, we must act if we are to avoid another crisis. At the moment the capital is leaking into the cracks caused by bad management.

  ROBERT: Bad manage—?

  Alfred and Jimmy arrive with the pudding.

  ROBERT (CONT’D): We’ll discuss it later.41

  But it means he is already furious when Carson arrives.

  CARSON: M’lord, I wonder if I could have a word.

  ROBERT: Can’t it wait?

  CARSON: No, m’lord. It can’t.

  Robert gets up and leaves, throwing his napkin on his chair in anger. The two young men catch each other’s eye.

  35 INT. KITCHENS/PASSAGE. DOWNTON. DAY.

  Alfred and Jimmy carry in full trays of plates.

  JIMMY: Mr Carson’s got a real bee in his bonnet. What’s that about?

  MRS PATMORE: Never you mind. Ivy? Have you been running?

  IVY: No. Why?

  MRS PATMORE: Well, your colour’s up. I hope you’re not coming down with something.42

  ALFRED: How was your day off, Daisy?

  DAISY: Lovely, thank you.

  IVY: What are you doing? With your day off?

  JIMMY: What I usually do. I’m going somewhere on me own.

  He walks off, passing Thomas who lingers at the kitchen door.

  MRS PATMORE: You never give up, do you? He’s not interested.

  IVY: Well, he must be interested in someone. He’s young, isn’t he?

  THOMAS: But that ‘someone’ is not you.

  He moves on and Ivy takes some plates into the scullery. Left alone, Mrs Patmore talks to Daisy in a gentler voice.

  MRS PATMORE: How was Mr Mason?

  DAISY: Very well. As nice as usual…

  MRS PATMORE: What is it?

  DAISY: He made me an offer. He wants me to go and live at the farm, because he wants to leave me the tenancy and all his stock and all his tools and all his money and everything.

  MRS PATMORE: My lord. You’re a proper heiress.

  DAISY: I haven’t said yes, yet.

  MRS PATMORE: But he’s made the offer. And a very generous one it is, too.