Video: Michelle Dockery Singing 'San Souci' at the London Jazz Festival

Here's a gem I found thanks to Elizabeth McGovern (@elizabethmcgov) who tweeted it earlier this month. It was posted on youtube back in January but it's from Michelle singing at the London Jazz Festival on 11/11/11. It was new to me so I thought it might be new for some of you too. What a talent Michelle Dockery is! Is there anything she can't do???

Allen Leech and Hugh Bonneville Bromance on Twitter

Allen Leech ( Hottie Branson) and Hugh Bonneville (Lord Grantham) have a 'bromance' going on twitter and are quite entertaining to follow. In their latest exchange, Allen Leech caught a misprint of Hugh's last name in an article, "Benneville" instead of "Bonneville":

To see more of their bromance, follow Allen Leech on Twitter here and Hugh Bonneville here. See our post with the whole cast Twitter list here. Don't forget to follow Downton Abbey Addicts (@downtonabbeyadd) on twitter too! We love our twitter followers!


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"Give Up Clothes For Good" Brendan Coyle & Hugh Bonneville Ads Plus BTS Video

Hugh Bonneville & Brendan Coyle both lent support to the UK's biggest clothing collection, "Give up Clothes for Good". It's to raise money for Cancer Research UK to help beat kids' cancer.

Joining in is easy - just clear out your drawers wardrobes and cupboards, and take any unwanted, quality clothes to TK Maxx between 1-30 April.

Below you'll find both their ads plus the behind the scenes filming video:





Behind the scenes:



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'Downton Abbey' Season 2 Icons

These are just a few of the 100 amazing icons created by hewontgo on her live journal page. Click here to see all of the pretties.

Because it's the "Weekend" - 'Downton Abbey' Fan Made Videos

Sure, some of these are cheesy fun but some are so good the people need to be hired by the 'Downton Abbey' publicity department!

Downton Abbey:



Matthew and Mary:





(Maybe it's because I'm a child of the '80's but this is my favorite)


Sybil and Branson:







Bates & Anna:





Ummmm and just for fun...this is a Lady Mary/Laviana ship video o.O

Downton Abbey's Iain Glen Shines as Chekhov's Uncle Vanya

Rave review from The Daily Mail for Iain Glen:

Verdict: Iain Glen gives a Chekhov masterclass.

Fans of Iain Glen should not miss the chance to witness some virtuoso acting (at exceedingly close range) from the Downton Abbey star. 

Glen has swapped ruthless newspaper tycoon Sir Richard Carlisle for Vanya, one of Chekhov’s most anguished characters: a man suffering a train wreck of a midlife crisis under the gaze of his relatives.

The show overall receives 4 out of 5 stars.

He was awesome as Sir Richard on Downton Abbey! Who thinks he's the one who really killed Vera? *raises hand*

David Letterman - Chris Elliott Cameo in 'Downton Abbey '

The "Eagleheart" star makes a cameo in the hit PBS series:



I must have missed that episode LOL.

‘Downton Abbey’ Taking Over The World and Setting Records

The final ratings are in and Downton Abbey put up some cray cray numbers for season two! I def think the Crawley's will be having a celebration ball!

According to PBS, Downton Abbey, with an estimated cumulative audience of 17 million viewers "now ranks as the most-watched 'Masterpiece' miniseries on record." Also, the Feb. 19 Season 2 finale averaged 8.1 million viewers, making it PBS' "most-watched show" since the September 2009 premiere of Ken Burns' "National Parks" series. Season 2 online episodes were were streamed 7.1 million times through PBS' and Masterpiece's sites and more than 12 million times across all platforms.

That's not all, here's more ratings amazement:

Ratings for "Downton's" Season 2 were up at least 100 percent among female and male 18- to 34-year-olds above the previous season's average for the "Masterpiece" series, the network reported Wednesday, citing Nielsen's finale ratings. (Viewership among women 18-34 was 278 percent above the "Masterpiece" average.) Among men 35-49, viewership was also 100 percent higher than the previous season's "Masterpiece" average, while among women of the same age, the increase was 173 percent.

When all the heads were counted - an increasingly complicated process in the age of the DVR - the season averaged 7 million viewers, some 2 million more than the first season and twice the 3.5 million "Masterpiece" averaged last season. (For perspective, Sunday's fifth-season premiere of "Mad Men," the most-watched episode of the series ever, averaged 3.5 million viewers in the preliminary Nielsens, a number likely to rise when the ratings that account for delayed viewing over the following seven days finally come in.)

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Downton Abbey's Michelle Dockery in Talks to Star in Spy Thriller?

Rumor is that Downton Abbey's, Lady Mary, Michelle Dockery is in talks to star in a cloak and dagger spy thriller, William Boyd’s adaptation of his award-winning novel Restless. Michelle would play the daughter of lead character 'Eva Delectorskaya'. Rumored for the role of 'Eva' are Hayley Atwell and, possibly, Charlotte Rampling who would play the character at different ages. 

 Eva’s a Paris-based Russian emigree who is emotionally manipulated by silken schemer Lucas Romer (who may be played by Rufus Sewell) into joining a unit of British Intelligence at the outbreak of World War II.

Eva Delectorskaya may be her real name but, during the war years — when she’ll be played by Hayley — she’ll be known by a host of aliases.

However, when Boyd’s story scoots forward to 1976, Eva has become Sally Gilmartin (the role Charlotte is likely to play), a 66-year-old, thoroughly respectable English grandmother living quietly in a remote Oxfordshire village.

Crucially, though, she hasn’t lost her espionage skills. Sally (or Eva, if you prefer), breaks her code of silence and tells her daughter Ruth (the part rumoured for Michelle) what she did in the war, and how she was caught in a web of duplicity and betrayal.

Read more here at The Daily Mail.

Unprecedented $1 Million Donation for MASTERPIECE Trust

Masterpiece, the PBS series that is the US home to 'Downton Abbey' has received a $1 million donation from Darlene Shiley of San Diego, a well-known philanthropist and longtime donor to her local PBS station, KPBS. It is the largest gift The MASTERPIECE Trust has received to date. Mrs. Shiley made the donation on behalf of her and her late husband Donald.

Read more here. Now that's a donation even The Dowager Countess would be proud of!

'The New Deadwardians': 'Downton Abbey' With Zombies & Vampires

Downton Abbey, The Walking Dead & Twilight fans listen up! A new comic book mini series is hitting comic shops today called, The New Deadwardians.  It's creator & writer, Dan Abnett, describes it as Downton Abbey with vampires and zombies. He also thanks ITV for producing Downton Abbey,  making the Edwardian era so popular again:

Abnett hatched the idea a few years ago but wondered if pop culture needed yet another vampire or zombie story, both of which are pervasive in comics, movies, TV shows and books. The period aspect gave it a different taste, though, and he found a confluence of other current themes, such as the Occupy movement and class clashes, plus a love for the lads and lasses of the British TV export Downton Abbey.

"I was very pleased actually that ITV were good enough to produce Downton Abbey and make a global hit of it. It was very kind of them to support the period feel in my comic so nicely," Abnett says, laughing.

He feels the show works well, even in a slightly mannered way, because it's about a stratified society where everybody has a function and boundaries don't get crossed. "Most of the dramatic tension comes from knowing full well what people are thinking and wanting to say, but knowing they can't say it because it's not their place to say so."

That carries over to The New Deadwardians in its core conceit of zombies as under-class and vampires as the upper-crust types. However, Abnett has taken the core legend of properties such as Twilight and The Walking Dead and tweaked them to create something original with its own rules.

Just thinking of Matthew as a Vampire...nom...nom...nom. Read the full article & see more pics from the comic book here at USA Today.com. 

Downton Abbey Meets The Hunger Games

Two of my biggest loves...Downton Abbey & The Hunger Games. Are you a fan of both?

What is a Tribute?

Via

The following are from The Downton Games. View more on their Tumblr:

Source: The Lady Grantham

Joanne Froggatt: Shirley MacLaine Was Such Fun on Set

Another Downton Abbey cast member reports how wonderful Shirley MacLaine is on the set of season three. At the Empire Film awards, Anna...er...uh...Joanne Froggat, said Shirley MacLaine was amazing & everyone loved her:

Joanne, who plays housemaid Anna, said: "We haven't worked together but I met her twice on set and she was absolutely lovely.

"She was amazing, everybody loved having her there. She was so much fun to have around, she's really fantastic."

The 31-year-old actress, who usually wears a dowdy maid's outfit in the hit ITV show, was partying at the Empire Film Awards 2012 and admitted she loved being able to dress up.

She said: "I love Anna, and I love playing her and I love my little maid's outfit, but any excuse to dress up and I'm all for it, definitely."

Click here to read our report on what Branson, aka Allen Leech, had to say about flubbing his lines in front of Shirley.

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'Downton Abbey' Matthew & Mary GIFS

Found these lovelies via Tumblr:

Source: ithinkyoufweaky

Mary’s effect:
 

Source:  invioletitrust

The Return of Victorian Furniture

Don't look now, but the Victorians are back.

Every generation, says Bay Area interior designer Brandon Neff, has a fling with Victorian style and fashion, and this seems to be year for it. From pedestal sinks to ornately carved furniture, we're back in love with Queen Victoria's industrious people.

And it's not just home decor. You can visit the era suggested by the PBS drama "Downton Abbey" (it's actually set in the Edwardian period)...

So polish up that silver tea pot, decorate your parlor with vintage wall paper and dust off the wicker furniture. Here are six simple ways to use Victorian style in your own home:

Arm chair

Comfort and style went hand-in-hand in the Victorian home, but the decorative value definitely took precedent. Brandon Neff says Victorians loved furniture with "curves, plush fabrics, patterned draperies and glossy woods." A pair of arm chairs and an ornately woven rug can reverse the hands of time.

Table lamps

Electricity was introduced into homes during the late Victorian era, and like everything else, it took on an elaborate style. The Industrial Revolution meant more people could afford to look like they were in the upper class, even when they weren't, Neff says. And those highly decorative items the Victorians were so fond of are now 21st-century home decorating staples.

Writing desk

Penning a note to your true love couldn't be accomplished on anything as dull as a standard desk. "The Victorians loved many different styles, drawing motifs from Gothic, Roman, Regency and Orientalism styles," Neff says. "Their interiors were truly eclectic. Chinoiserie, for example, a style derived from exaggerated Oriental influences and French Rococo, was used in many Victorian homes as a romantic interior counterpoint to the industrialized environment just outside ..."

Read the full article & see the other Victorian era home decor items here at MercuryNews.com

Photos: Joanne Froggatt Attends Jameson Empire Awards

Joanne Froggatt attended the 2012 Jameson Empire Awards at the Grosvenor House Hotel on March 25, 2012 in London, England. Looky who she was photographed in the press room with...none other then cutie Jamie Campbell Bower:

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