A Year in the Life of Downton Abbey: Seasonal Celebrations, Traditions, and Recipes by Jessica Fellowes Page B
Authors: Jessica Fellowes
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make some sort of point.’
CORA:
‘He’s trying to show that a woman’s place is in the home.’
It is now that we see Mary’s true mettle. Despite her old-fashioned outlook in many ways – she does not fundamentally disagree with the order of the world and is far less a suffragette than Edith, let alone Sybil – at this point, she begins to be attracted to the idea that she herself might be the protector of her son’s inheritance. The question is whether she decides to protect it in the traditional way, through a second suitable marriage to a man with money and power of his own, which would stabilise Downton, or in a radical new way, through industry and modern farming methods.
The 1920s were a constant battle of trying to outwit the weather, machinery, interest rates and the world markets – a battle the farmer often lost. Many landowning families did not manage to find a solution to the difficulties they faced, but Mary is pragmatic. Together with Tom, as the land agent, and occasionally with Robert’s backing, she works to find new ways for the estate to yield money. Pig farming is one such idea.
At this point in our story, Charles Blake enters the fray, a rather handsome knight in tweed, although Mary doesn’t see him that way at first. He is part of a government investigation into how the breaking up of estates may affect food production, something that was indeed happening at the time. Diversification from arable farming into livestock was a big risk, particularly as improvements in refrigeration meant that cheap meat started to be imported from abroad. Nor do the Granthams appear to be starting slowly: they have embarked on intensive farming with pigs, managed by Mr Drewe. The recent discovery of vitamin supplements – allowing animals to be raised indoors – makes this a new method and, therefore, pretty risky. If it all goes wrong, Mary and Tom’s bright idea could be responsible for losing a great deal of money.
Charles Blake
Tom’s role as land agent is crucial to the success of the estate. A land agent, sometimes called a steward, traditionally was the man (and it always was a man) who supervised the business affairs of an estate, from the farming to the collecting of the rents. He would be treated as a privileged and senior servant. So in some ways, this puts Tom in a funny position – he is from below stairs, now above stairs as widower of the family’s daughter and essentially works as a servant once more. Hence Violet’s confusion: ‘I thought that I could call him Branson again now he’s the agent.’ But his experience from the farm in Ireland, his trustworthiness, his energy for new ideas and his friendship with Mary should stand the estate in good stead (so long as it works out with the pigs).
ROSAMUND:
‘I gather you’ve launched into pigs these days.’
BRANSON:
‘Yes. And their arrival was quite the adventure in which Mr Blake and Mary were the hero and heroine.’
The outdoor scenes on the estate are largely shot at the Highclere Castle location itself, which is nothing enviable. The crew have a saying that when it’s warm elsewhere, it’s cold at Highclere; and when it’s cold elsewhere, it’s freezing. Julian Ovenden, who plays Charles Blake, however, did enjoy filming the pig scenes, despite the mud: ‘They were very juicy scenes. Usually one has to concentrate and be very economical and specific, as you only have a few lines to establish your character.’
The infamous pig scene in series four, in which Mary and Charles spend the night giving water to the dehydrated pigs and end up very muddy in the process, was in fact filmed during the day. ‘By that point we were shooting in high summer,’ explains producer Chris Croucher, ‘so to film at night would have put our schedule out. Julian rewrote what was originally an exterior scene as an interior so that it could take place in a barn. An enormous tent was put over the barn to black it out and then we had
CORA:
‘He’s trying to show that a woman’s place is in the home.’
It is now that we see Mary’s true mettle. Despite her old-fashioned outlook in many ways – she does not fundamentally disagree with the order of the world and is far less a suffragette than Edith, let alone Sybil – at this point, she begins to be attracted to the idea that she herself might be the protector of her son’s inheritance. The question is whether she decides to protect it in the traditional way, through a second suitable marriage to a man with money and power of his own, which would stabilise Downton, or in a radical new way, through industry and modern farming methods.
The 1920s were a constant battle of trying to outwit the weather, machinery, interest rates and the world markets – a battle the farmer often lost. Many landowning families did not manage to find a solution to the difficulties they faced, but Mary is pragmatic. Together with Tom, as the land agent, and occasionally with Robert’s backing, she works to find new ways for the estate to yield money. Pig farming is one such idea.
At this point in our story, Charles Blake enters the fray, a rather handsome knight in tweed, although Mary doesn’t see him that way at first. He is part of a government investigation into how the breaking up of estates may affect food production, something that was indeed happening at the time. Diversification from arable farming into livestock was a big risk, particularly as improvements in refrigeration meant that cheap meat started to be imported from abroad. Nor do the Granthams appear to be starting slowly: they have embarked on intensive farming with pigs, managed by Mr Drewe. The recent discovery of vitamin supplements – allowing animals to be raised indoors – makes this a new method and, therefore, pretty risky. If it all goes wrong, Mary and Tom’s bright idea could be responsible for losing a great deal of money.
Charles Blake
Tom’s role as land agent is crucial to the success of the estate. A land agent, sometimes called a steward, traditionally was the man (and it always was a man) who supervised the business affairs of an estate, from the farming to the collecting of the rents. He would be treated as a privileged and senior servant. So in some ways, this puts Tom in a funny position – he is from below stairs, now above stairs as widower of the family’s daughter and essentially works as a servant once more. Hence Violet’s confusion: ‘I thought that I could call him Branson again now he’s the agent.’ But his experience from the farm in Ireland, his trustworthiness, his energy for new ideas and his friendship with Mary should stand the estate in good stead (so long as it works out with the pigs).
ROSAMUND:
‘I gather you’ve launched into pigs these days.’
BRANSON:
‘Yes. And their arrival was quite the adventure in which Mr Blake and Mary were the hero and heroine.’
The outdoor scenes on the estate are largely shot at the Highclere Castle location itself, which is nothing enviable. The crew have a saying that when it’s warm elsewhere, it’s cold at Highclere; and when it’s cold elsewhere, it’s freezing. Julian Ovenden, who plays Charles Blake, however, did enjoy filming the pig scenes, despite the mud: ‘They were very juicy scenes. Usually one has to concentrate and be very economical and specific, as you only have a few lines to establish your character.’
The infamous pig scene in series four, in which Mary and Charles spend the night giving water to the dehydrated pigs and end up very muddy in the process, was in fact filmed during the day. ‘By that point we were shooting in high summer,’ explains producer Chris Croucher, ‘so to film at night would have put our schedule out. Julian rewrote what was originally an exterior scene as an interior so that it could take place in a barn. An enormous tent was put over the barn to black it out and then we had
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