Andorra

Well, I like Gillingham much more than Blake, but I honestly don't care which man Mary will chose. Maybe it will be Napier?

They're currently filming Episode 7 and 8 and were in Ealing this week. They will probably go to Highclere next week or the week after, because they have to wrap up there at July 10th.

After that they will probably go to Bampton again (they only were there once this season and usually they go there at least 2 times if not 3) and then it depends on what will happen in the CS. They already filmed a few scenes for the CS out of sequence at the train station. Does it mean they will again be away in the CS? Could be because it makes things easier for opening Highclere to the public in the summer.

Famu

I am still hoping Evelyn will be brought back. I am not a fan of Blake and Tony.

NikNak

Thanks.

SannraB

Well, nobody knows what will happen in season 5 and it's good that way. Spoilers are fun, but don't let them drive you mad. i remember filming season 4 wnen someone saw a funeral and a lot of people thought it would be Robert who had died. And at the end it "just" had been a Farmer. Some spoilers are also set artificially from the movie company itself to rise tension and make a good marketing. Butthat doesn't mean they are true. So iam careful with that. when there is a gillingham kissing Mary in front of a grant Hotel in Liverpool it must not mean that they are a couple now, it can also be a kiss goodbye.

I watched season 4 again during the last days and for me the whole love triangle had been too much. "i won't give up" (gillingham), "i will fight for you" (blake), always the same . Too many appearences of them, too many dialogues, no development. Ich hope we will get to Know them better in a more calm.
. way in season 5, because, to be true, they really stepped in my nerves at the end.

For me, blake Pr napier

SannraB

Sorry postet too early.
For me blake or napier would be okay. I don't like gillingham that much. Maybe u iam not the romantic type, because his whole love speaking right up from the beginning had been too much for me. It didnt seem to be serious.

But well nobody knows what season 5 will bring. Maybe she will choose none of them and stay alone. Maybe there will be a fourth man, she will fall in love with (also a good way i would prefer), maybe Mary won't be in the christmas special either, who knows?

Andorra

I hated Blake to be honest. I think he's an arrogant, little prick who thinks he knows it all and everyone else is too daft to understand his superior knowledge.

It is just a gut feeling of antipathy though, so no real reason. That kind of man makes me agressive and to my own luck I honestly don't care who will end up with Mary. I like her, but she's just a sidenote fo me and not that important. So if she's going to end up with Blake I will still hate him, but well good luck to them.

I like Gillingham much more, because I think he is a more interesting character. He has this slight aura of a deep inner sadness and I to me that's more fascinating than Mr "I know it all you dumb peasants so bow for me" Blake. Yes, Tony's love confession was completely ill-timed and awkward, but I felt a deep desperation in him. He just found the woman of his dreams out of the blue and when he wasn't expecting it and so he just blurted it out. And got rejected.

I also like that he is very fair. In contrary to dishonest Blake, he tells Mary about Blake's prospects even though he knows he could have a much better chance with Mary if Blake would be out of the picture. I liked that.

I think Tony would bring Mary's good side, like Matthew did. While with Blake she would probably just feel even more like "Queen Mary" as she always did. With a man at her side who is as arrogant as Blake, they would make a horrible couple IMO.

But that's just me. And as I said, I don't care. If Fellows wants to go there, I'll follow.

As to spoilers: We found a lot of things out last year. There're always things that we don't get right, but I think our quote wasn't bad last year.

- We knew that Rose would have an affair with Jack Ross, but that nothing would come out of it, since we found out that Jack Ross would leave before the CS.

- we knew Evelyn Napier was going to be back even though the show never announced his return

- we knew Edna was going to be back even though the show never announced his return.We knew she would be gone in the middle of the series though and we assumed there would be some blackmailing involved. We thought she might have really gotten pregnant, but luckily she didn't.

- We figured out that Edith would be pregnant

- we figured out that Michael Gregson would disappear Midseason

- we found out that Andrew Alexander would play Sir John Bullock and that he was going to be involved with Rose

- we knew there was going to be a pub fight in one episode

- we knew there was going to be a funeral

- we thought something would happen to Robert because HB was filming "The Monument Men" and disappeared from twitter in May, but in the end we were wrong there and Robert just went to America.

- We knew Sarah Bunting would neither be a Nanny nor a "live in governess", but a teacher. We figured that out through pics from the filming of the CS. We also knew that she and Tom Branson wouldn't get close in season 4

- We assumed Tom and Rose would have a romance and were wrong in that part (sadly)

- We knew that Tom would get more political again and that he and Isobel would bond


So in the end, I thing we were pretty good!

This year they're very secretive though. It's annoying. But the main thing for me personally is that Sarah Bunting will be out of the picture. Aside from that nothing else matters!

Lauren60

I too hope it's true that the Sarah Bunting character makes an exit for good during season 5. Nothing against the actress Daisy Lewis but there wasn't much chemistry between Sarah and Tom. Plus she definitely came across rather abrasive and not very likeable.

I got a chuckle from the picture of Elaine from Seinfeld you used Andorra to express your elation at the Daisy Lewis news.

You mentioned the train station pictures are from a scene in the CS. What indicates that? I don't see much there that looks very Christmasy. Of course they've only had one "Christmas Special" where the story actually occurred during the Christmas season. I saw something from Allen Leech months ago where he said they were definitely lobbying to have the CS actually be set at Christmas time. Any news on that front?

Very interesting! I've always thought from the storyline that Tony will be "the one" for Mary. Of course, I'm absolutely rooting for that. Julian Ovenden's involvement with this play does lend one to think he's not working on DA much if at all anymore. I'll reserve use of the Elaine picture to express my elation at Blake being shown the door until I have a bit more proof that it's really going to happen.

As always, thanks for sharing this news Andorra!

About this post Andorra.........loved it!

lipsticklullabies

There's a few stills out from S5 here! Edith presumably with her daughter, Bates looking shady as ever, Mary with Gillingham and Tom (shooting party?), and Cora with the art dealer guy.

Andorra

I love those! Edith and her daughter are adorable!

Oh and Tom in the hunting picture...



I also have to mention that we knew there would be a hunt in this series. We're such good sleuthers!!

And do I see that right, that Cora seems to be flirting with the art historian?!
OMG, I would LOVE it if Cora would give Robert something to think about!! I would completely LOVE it!

Nothing indicates that it was shot for CS, but they probably said that it was. It might be around Christmas time this year again, because people in the station are wearing winter coats. But there's no proof that it is. It doesn't seem to be set in summer though, that's for sure.

I don't know how they will manage to film a winter special though since they will mostly film in July and August. And a train station indicates that they will be away from Downton once again (which is easier for Highclere, because it opens to the public Mid July). We'll see.
A

Lauren60

These pictures! I zeroed in on the Mary/Tony/Tom one of course. My first thought was "is it authentic?" Mary's outfit is exactly what she wore in the season two hunting scene. Her hat appears to be different though. Tony wore that suit in season four so it could be realistic for him to be wearing it again. I'm no expert but it doesn't look fake to me. The other three photos look authentic too. Can the source of the photos be trusted?

The one with Edith and her little girl is very cute. Bates looks like he's having a brush with the law yet again (related to Green's death?). Cora looks very lovely in the photo with the art historian.

And of course any season five photo with Mary and Tony together gets me very excited.

Tony is looking so very fine!



Hmmm....now where have I seen that before? You gotta love Blanche from the Golden Girls!

Andorra

Yes it can. I don't know if it is an "official" site, but it always has the first stills of every episode. It has never posted faked pictures in the past years and has always been the first page to leak stills from Downton.

Isn't that girl a bit too old to be Edith's daughter? I think she looks about 1.5 to 2 years old at least, doesn't she? And Edith's daughter had to be a year when the season starts IMO.
Is this the hair of a one year old??

lipsticklullabies

Someone on Tumblr just pointed out the little girl is probably be the new Sybbie instead? Which would make waaaay more sense because I was also thinking that that little girl looked too old to be Edith's and trying to figure out if I messed up the time jump math

northboundtrain

I think Tony's pretty boring and underdeveloped as a character. And, like you, I was totally turned off by his fast proposal and charming "he's dead and I'm alive" speech. In fact, that was one of the reasons that made me think JF wouldn't have him be Mary's choice in the end -- it was just so tone-deaf.

I'm rooting for Charles, but I have to admit that I'm discouraged by the lack of pictures or scoop about his role in S5. I thought that surely there'd be something by now. If she doesn't choose him, I'll be pretty disappointed, because Mary is one of my favorite characters and I want her to be with a guy I like. But if she ends up with one of the other two, I'll keep watching the show because I care about other characters.


What evidence do we have that Tony would bring out Mary's good side while Charles would make her act like "Queen Mary"? If anything, we have evidence of the reverse -- the least regal we have ever seen Mary was when she went out to the pig pen, slopped around in the mud, and then actually cooked. And that was all due to Charles's influence. I think Matthew would have been extremely proud of her.

Humdinger

Or maybe she's one of the farmer's kids? The background of that pic looks a bit rustic to me--or Edith takes Sybbie to the illicit baby farm which would be a terrible idea cuz Sybbie can talk by now. Oh, Edith no...

lipsticklullabies

I didn't consider that she's one of Drake's children but that's definitely a possibility as well. You're totally right that that doesn't look like a Downton room in the background.

Also Julian Ovenden just posted this picture on Instagram with the caption "Goodbye Downton, Hello Jason Statham" (must be filming for this) so.... who knows. I'm not sure if Tom Cullen's still filming but he didn't go with Tatiana Maslany to the Critics Choice Awards earlier this week like he did last year. Of course that may also mean nothing at all or he could've still been on set.