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<p>I tried to find something online about cases in which dislocated people had to relearn how to speak after suffering some sort of injury, and ended up speaking with a different accent as a result (or a different language!), but I couldn’t find anything. I don’t see how else he could have adopted a Canadian accent. When the Titanic sank, the real Patrick was well above the age at which he would naturally acquire the accent of his new environment.</p>
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<p>As if Downton is not already a copy. I’m a big fan, but let’s be honest, Downton is to Upstairs as Dynasty is to Dallas. </p>
<p>And put a 10-gallon hat on Robert rather then a top hat, change the accent, and put it on a ranch–and who could tell? I mean, you got all the soapy elements, amnesia, paraplegics walking out of wheelchairs, rich guys fathering children with servants, unjust incarceration, and marrying the chauffeur. Did I miss anything?</p>
<p>Meanwhile, I’m intrigued by the dress code–as I sit around in my sweats, and will be called to dinner later wearing the same. Did a bit of research. Google and you will find both discussion of the dress code minutiae, as well as the fact that there’s a bit of a fashion trend for men inspired by Downton. Apparently, the morning coat is daytime formal dress, while the white tie is the most formal evening wear. The black-tie–recall the scene where Robert’s white stuff goes missing and Matthews’s coat is still on repair–is considered semi-formal. So you get The Dowager asking Robert, who in what looks to modern eyes like a tuxedo, if he’s going to a BBQ, and later mistaking him for a footman. Amazing to me. Branson sits down in a three-piece suit and it’s like he’s wearing a Speedo. And I thought Father Knows Best lounging around in his jacket and tie was a bit dated.</p>
<p>Well, better Branson in a Speedo, than Carson.
;)</p>
<p>What a pleasant thought … Branson in a Speedo…sigh</p>
<p>Haha, chinablue! :)</p>
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<p>LOL, latichever!!</p>
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<p>As long as it’s not Mr. Bates in a speedo…ugh!</p>
<p>Been watching again with my wife, who is catching up. (It’s interesting to hear her speculation about the future, but I have to bite my tongue. She wonders about Edith hooking up with Branson, for example, which is still possible–although she doesn’t know about Matthew.) I noticed something with Attorney Murray’s jail house meetings with Bates. In the first scene, where Murray is talking about the woman who could exonerate Bates–if she doesn’t realize it–there’s a prison guard standing right next to them; and the guard in cahoots wth Bates’ cellmate overhears the conversation, and gets to the exonerating witness, who changes her story. This is a clear violation of what was long before the 1920s a well-established right of lawyer-client confidentiality. </p>
<p>Oddly, in a following scene where both Murray and Anna are meeting with Bates to discuss how to get the woman to tell the truth, there is no guard present, and, so they are able to keep their plans secret.</p>
<p>Hey guys, look at this: [?Downton</a> Abbey? Reportedly to Introduce First Black Character | XFINITY TV Blog by Comcast](<a href=“http://xfinity.comcast.net/blogs/tv/2013/02/26/downton-abbey-reportedly-to-introduce-first-black-character/]?Downton”>http://xfinity.comcast.net/blogs/tv/2013/02/26/downton-abbey-reportedly-to-introduce-first-black-character/)</p>
<p>The article says he will be a “very attractive man, with a certain wow factor.” Sounds like a love interest to me! But whose? Rose seems a likely candidate…</p>
<p>I think it would be great to add a musician to the show, ( assuming they add music) It would be more watchable perhaps, although it is already too soapy for me.</p>
<p>In Upstairs, Downstairs Anna got caught up in the suffragette movement and spends short time in jail. Women go on hunger strike but not released–bet that happens next season. They’ve already done the bit with the cook and her love interest, the butcher.
Edith will be meeting the editor in Scotland for trysts if the story line continues its faithfulness to USDS.
Even the actors of DA look exactly like their counterparts in USDS.</p>
<p>^^I think you mean Rose. Rose, not Anna, was the maid in Upstairs, Downstairs who spent time in jail. She was trying to keep Miss Elizabeth out of trouble and got arrested herself in the riot, although she wasn’t a suffragette. Miss Elizabeth was the suffragette.</p>
<p>Gee, I remember that episode. I must have seen it when the series was originally aired. I don’t remember much about upstairs downstairs, though the first glimpse of Mrs. Patmore and Daisy immediately evoked Mrs. Bridges and Ruby. Probably my most vivid memory of the series is Mrs. Bridges shrieking “Ruby!” all the time.</p>
<p>So how does Downton manage to perfectly mirror both USDS and Dallas? And all the while I thought it was a Fiddler on the Roof remake.</p>
<p>“Will Upstairs Downstairs have a new season this year. I really liked it.
What about Call the Midwife? Any news?”</p>
<p>No on Upstairs, yes on CTM. I heard second season starts at the end of March.</p>
<p>coureur–well, you obviously know whom about which I speak…
If anybody has watched USDS (and it’s on youtube) you know very well that the story line of DA isn’t very original. Great story, and I’ve loved every minute, just not original. Tired of all the accolades to Jullian Fellows. He’s done a good job updating a story but it isn’t orignal in my book.
And yeah Rose (now Anna)–we just renamed a character (as a new character–can’t even get a new name).</p>
<p>The very pretty Theo James, who played Kemal Pamuk and died in Mary’s bed, is the star of the new show Golden Boy.</p>
<p>Evil maid O’Brien is leaving for s4 but may make a return later. Allen Leech says there are “interesting things” in store for Branson, knowing Fellowes this can only mean a new love interest. Since Rose is coming on as a regular I’m thinking she will be forced upon him.</p>
<p>Can Rose produce a potential heir to Downton? I know she is someone’s neice, but I forgot her relation to Robert.</p>
<p>No, Rose is related to Robert through his matrilineal (sp?) line. The Dowager Countess’s sister was Rose’s grandmother and Susan’s mother.</p>
