ClaireK80

pic of Maggie Smith filming at Cogges Manor Farm Museum



source "enormous changes at the last minute" | Downton Abbey stars returned to Witney yesterday...

Hmmm... The Dowager looks sad....

Andorra

Or contemplative. Wonder what she was doing at the Drewe's farm? It must be related to Edith's child, I think.

Also this was posted on instagram, but I don't know if it was filmed today:


No word of them being in Bampton today, so I wonder if they will be there this week or the next? Today is the last opportunity for them to film at Highclere. The house opens for the summer on Monday and the weekends have been off limits for them anyway.

ClaireK80

Emmy nominations are out and Downton Abbey got 12 nominations, just like last season... a very good result because many critics predicted a drastic drop which didn't happen.
So they got
Best drama series
Best leading actress - Michelle Dockery
Best supporting actor - Jim Carter
Best supporting actress - Maggie Smith and Joanne Froggatt
Best guest star - Paul Giamatti
Best directing for episode 1
plus a series of technical nominations (best costumes, music score etc.)

They lost two important noms (best writing and best leading actor) but they really can't complain...

Lauren60

Michelle Dockery just posted this photo on Instagram with the tag "Sleepy Crew #downtimeabbey"

Any guesses as to the location?

HarshBench

Not a clue! LOL.

fan1

The lone person sleeping on the grass with no blanket.

Lauren60

^ Yes! The working conditions look quite deplorable don't they? Do you think Michelle took that photo from the doorway of her luxury trailer?

Some casting news...the role of Lady Rose's sister has been cast. According to IMDb she is in episode 8.

Let the speculation begin...
It's interesting that they're bringing her into the story. I suspect there must be a significant event that causes it. A death in the family or perhaps a wedding? Maybe she shows up to try to get Rose to come home and reconcile with her parents?


X


Maya Lindh - IMDb

SannraB

I'm still for a wedding and i'm quite sure that Rose will do that at the end of S5. That would be a perfect reason for her sister to get introduced.

Did they say something about her sister at the end of S3? Had she been mentioned there?

ClaireK80

Yes I think she was mentioned in the 2012 CS... If I remember correctly, Shrimpie says that she has left home to get married. And Rose has a brother too, who also isn't living with his parents.

HarshBench

They've also cast Rose's brother-in-law for 5.08. So a wedding seems like a strong possibility. But could still be a funeral.

They were filming at a churchyard this morning. Not Bampton, but it looks pretty similar to it so it might be standing in for the village churchyard.

Someone managed to take a picture but all you can see is a man standing there in a waistcoat, seemingly alone. The picture is distant and grainy. He's pretty tall, dark-haired, kind of wide rounded shoulders.

Looks like Brendan to me. Allen is in LA so it can't be him. It doesn't look like Rob but I suppose its possible.

NikNak

HarshBench

There appears to be wedding happening in 5.02. An extra who is in 5.01 as a Russian Refugee is also playing a wedding guest in 5.02. I'm sure she was not supposed to breath a word of it, but she told someone and it got around a bit.

Anyway, one possibility? Isobel and Lord Merton. They filmed at her house for one of the first two episodes, and a lot of crew members were crowded around the outside of it. A bigger group than usual (about 15, maybe 20?). Also we saw a scene being filmed with Lord Merton knocking on her door.

Both of his sons, the Dastardly Larry Gray and his brother Tim Gray, are appearing in S5 as well. At this point they are only listed for 5.01, but that doesn't mean they won't stick around a little longer. It's common for information about guest actors to leak slowly this far in advance of the show airing. We don't get a comprehensive list of guest appearances until the press pack comes out.

And we know Lord Merton was in hot pursuit of Isobel last season. I think that, combined with the scenes they apparently filmed and the appearance of both of his sons in the season might point to an Isobel/Merton marriage. It would be one thing if it was only Larry returning, since he appeared before and was, for lack of a better word, entertaining. He has some history with Tom too. But the other son, Tim, would be a new face. There must be some reason why they decided to introduce him.

We'll see.

ClaireK80

I think if the people getting married are relevant to the story (and aren't just two villagers or distant friends etc.), then Isobel / Lord Merton is a very good guess. He was indeed pursuing her last season, and I doubt he would wait long before proposing, so it would make sense.

TBH though I'm not a huge fan of this couple, Lord Merton is surely a good man, but he seems a bit too stiff and boring for someone like Isobel. But I'll be glad to see her happy again after Matthew's death.

SannraB

But do you think, the possible marriage of Isobel and Lord Merton would be that much important, that Rose would bring her family to Downton? I' m not sure....

Andorra

I think Isobel and Lord Merton marrying is a good guess. It could be that PW didn't want to prolong her contract or wants to have less episodes to film. All the actors had to get new contracts during the last series and it would be very weird, if none of them wanted to bow out.

So it would make absolute sense to bring in Lord Merton at the end of series 4, marry Isobel to him in series 5 and have her only as a recurring guest for the rest of the show. I do think her response to him was different than it was to Dr. Clarkson. She was flustered!

And a marriage would of course explain why they'd bring in Larry and his brother!

Also the fact that Isobel is going to live somewhere else could be what "deeply saddened" Allen/Tom? Allen has repeatedly said that Tom's relationship to Isobel is one of his favourite relationships for his character and her leaving would be very sad for Tom and for Allen as an actor, because he loved working with PW.

The story with the "wedding dress" be seen on set in Burghclere is mysterious. For once why would they have a wedding dress at school? Even if Sarah Bunting was going to be the bride, they would hardly marry at school!

Also why would Edith be there and why did none of the people that were actually SEEN on set wear clothes that looked as if they were wedding guests? Especially the supposed "groom" Tom Branson, who wore a compeltely normal every day suit?

Then the woman who saw the dress said it looked "very small". How small? Sarah Bunting is very short, but that short?

I wonder if the dress was a dress for a flower girl (Sybbie?) and it was actually for Isobel and Lord Merton's wedding? Maybe Fifi was also on set that day in Burghclere and they did a fitting. The time with the children on set is very limited and they try to fit in as many scenes and work as they can in just a few days.

Well, since we know for sure by now that Tom and Sarah Bunting are not really getting married (unless they have the show's first divorce in series 5), I'm not very worried that the wedding dress could be for Bunting. If there's a wedding planned, we know it won't take place after all, thank god.

BTW all the guests actors are generally listed for 5.01 on ImdB as long as they don't know precisely for which episodes they're actually in the show.

So Shrimpy is listed for 5.01, too for example, but since his daughter and her husband were cast for Episode 5.08, it is much more likely that he will be in Episode 5.08 and not 5.01.

So we could have two weddings in the series: First Isobel and Dr. Clarkson in 5.01 or 5.02 and then Rose's wedding in 5.08. The question is: Who would Rose be marrying?

Since Blake seems to be out of the picture for the later episodes and filming for "Mr. Sloane series 2" started filming in May (with Brendan Patricks in it), I'd say chances are good for Tony Gillingham to be the remaining suitor for Mary after all. So it is unlikely that he would marry Rose.

I also would say Tom is not going to marry Rose, since she will leave in series 6 and I seriously doubt that Allen Leech will leave. He has expressed his wish to stay with the show often enough.

My hopes are still on Madeline Allsop's return for series 5. But we won't know about that until the press pack comes out.