Badger

Actually, Lord Grantham did want to fight, but he wasn't allowed to. Also, there were actually more officers killed than enlisted men. It is true though that many of the officers operating in safety behind the front lines really had no idea what was going on and insisted on an optimism that wasn't shared by the men doing the actual fighting. I watched this when it aired in the UK and really enjoyed it. I was disappointed it didn't get a second series as the ratings were good.

Christopher Lee was the uncle of British actress Harriet Walter. She's probably best known to American audiences for her recurring role as "Lady Shackleton" in "Downton Abbey."

Yes, she did. The ironic thing is, I don't think the other nurses necessarily believed she had a problem. I think they saw her drinking as kind of one of her quirks I think when Sister Mary Cynthia found her calling a suicide hotline that she knew Trixie had a problem..

I think Florence Henderson's characterization as Carol Brady's great grandmother might have been a shout out to her rural Indiana roots where she was the daughter of a sharecropper.

The marathon was on April 26 and yes, he made his target. He's actually gone past it to slightly under 15, 800 pounds. He finished the race in 3:43:34 time. You can still donate if you want as the site will be open until 6 months after the race.

Barbara is a vicar's daughter from Liverpool. That's the extent of knowledge about her background.

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Interesting factoid about the actress who played the deaf mother: She's deaf but had to learn sign language because she uses speech in real life.

Annabelle Apsion also plays Margaret on "The Village."

I always think of Chummy as a kind of female Bertie Wooster in terms of her language and affect. I can still remember when "Life Magazine" did an article about thalidomide along with pictures of the children who were affected.

Does the kid who plays Timothy Turner remind anyone else of Roddy McDowell? Also, did anyone else get the feeling that Delia's mother kind of knew what was going on with De. lia and Patsy? ITA that storyline isn't over yet. I don't know if it's going to end happily, but it's not over yet.

I've learned if you want to remain spoiler-free, stay off the internet until you get a chance to watch the show. I'm pretty sure I know the "spoiler" you're talking about, Sigmaforce and that's all I'll say.

RIP David Ryall who played Mr. Mills. He passed away last Christmas. He played Old Bert in the BBC drama "The Village" which the actress who plays Violet, Fred's new girlfriend is also in.

Samantha Bond is starring in a new BBC WWII drama called "Home Fires."

It was good until that terrible ending which was nothing but propaganda for the idea that women never ever lie about rape. They did the same thing with the show that was based on the UVA case. Even though in real life it was obvious that the accuser lied, on the show, they made it seem as though she had told the truth.

He was also Mr. Bryant, Ethel's baby's mean grandfather in "Downton Abbey."

She's also in another UK series called "Fortified." BTW, she is very good and very unJenny like in "Wolf Hall."

Matthew lived and worked in Manchester before he became Robert's heir and i'm pretty sure the Swires were based in London. I don't think Matthew worked for Reggie. I'm guessing Matthew met Lavinia socially maybe at a dance or an officer's tea or something. I'm thinking that maybe Lavinia didn't realize how much money her father actually had and maybe he wasn't really in danger of losing everything the way she thought. Remember Matthew was shocked by how much Reggie left to him because he had a very simple standard of living.

I didn't see anything particularly anachronistic about how the women applauded for Marie. I think it was just their way of saying they knew what was going on with her husband was not her fault. Having said that, I think they were kind of shamed into it by Tom and the sisters clapping. I mean, if a man of God and a bunch of nuns are clapping, how can they not? And as in "Downton Abbey", no one expressed approval of what Tony did or even of homosexuality in general.

Yes, that was Cara Theobold. She's also in a couple episodes of Last Tango in Halifax.

How did they sugarcoat it on "Downton Abbey?" It was made clear that while people knew Thomas was gay, there was nothing to suggest that anyone saw it as anything but a terrible affliction that Nature/Chance/God had burdened him with. No one was waving a rainbow flag. BTW, Marie Stopes referred to homosexuality as a perversion people are born with so the idea that it wasn't totally a choice was not unknown then. Most people were like Dr. Clarkson though and thought gay people should remain celibate and focus their energies in other directions. That was also the advice given to spinsters, incidentally. This episode reminded me a little of the 1961 movie "Victim" which is about a young married lawyer who becomes involved in a blackmail scheme targetting gay men. He had a relationship with a man before he was married which his wife knows about but has not strayed in any way since. There's a scene where she asks him just why he chose to befriend a young gay man who has committed suicide and he yells at her, "BECAUSE I WANTED HIM." There's also a scene with a cop who expresses his displeasure at having to arrest homosexuals while another younger policeman says as far as he's concerned, it's a sin and that's good enough for him. You can find it on YouTube.

I thought it was fine until the ridiculously PC ending because God forbid someone should ever tell the truth about the rape culture hoax on campus. To be fair to NBC though, this show was probably done before we found out that the "victim" in the UVA case almost certainly lied about the whole thing.

I loved the reference to rosehip syrup. When we were kids, my dad used to make a really incredible iced tea with rosehip tea. We also drank it hot. Yes, it does taste like roses.

Yes, but Mary and Matthew, as well as Tom and Sybil, were set up as couples who were each the great loves of each other's lives. I think you could say the same thing about Robert and Cora. Sp the idea that suddently Matthew would turn gay for no reason is ridiculous. Or that suddently he would want a divorce is also ridiculous. The reason Matthew had to die was because that was the only realistic situation. You can quibble about how that was done, but when Dan Stevens left, Matthew's fate was sealed. I don't think JF necessarily thought Dan was going to renew his contract. However, I do think he thought he might agree to do a scene or two in the Season 4 opener before being killed off.

FWIW, I have to walk back my previous post Gareth Neame did say he did not see the show ending for a while, but that was back last year when the season ended in the UK. As for the event I had referenced, they were both actually fairly noncommital one way or the other. I still say until we get official confirmation, nothing is official or confirmed. Having said that, I'm pretty sure everyone who needs to know already knows if next season is the last or not. The one thing I want to see is for Thomas to have a proper love interest/romance storyline that doesn't end with a platonic friendship a la Jimmy. If that happens, although I'd still be sad that the show is ending, I'd be satisfied.