Downton Quotes & Sayings

Americans should be ashamed of how aflutter they get about Downton Abbey - it's unpatriotic. I seem to remember we fought a revolution so as not to put up with this nonsense, where notions of station are so unforgiving that upper and lower echelons are practically different species. — Steve Erickson

The world of the flapper - live free, wild and young - that energy is intoxicating. It's nice to inject that into the more controlled 'Downton' way of living. — Lily James

We were all expecting to finish [Downton Abbey] after Series 1, actually. And then, it got extended to Series 3, and that's when two of our much loved and much missed friends left. And then, it was going to be done with Series 5, but Julian Fellowes said, "I'd like to do one more." So it's been a series of extensions, rather than wondering how much longer we can go on for. — Hugh Bonneville

I really love a challenge, but in 'Downton' it was really hard going because there's no CGI - what you see is what you get. These were real explosions right in front of our faces, and you just had to make sure that you cleared out of the way. — Thomas Howes

Oh, it is quite possible that none of us in 'Downton' will ever again get the ratings this has had. But from a career point of view, it has opened so many doors. — Dan Stevens

The American obsession with 'Downton' amuses me slightly because it's such a fiction. I've always been questioned about my historical veracity, and 'Downton' just flies past, when it's completely made up. — Michael Hirst

I actually don't watch much TV, but my goal is to watch 'Downton Abbey.' I want to catch up on the series ... that's like my style. — Kelly Rutherford

The acting in 'Downton Abbey' has been consistently excellent across the board. — James Frain

I loved my experience on 'Downton Abbey.' We shot it in six months, and it was the first time I'd ever been on TV, and I was surrounded by my friends. It was a wonderful, wonderful time. — Rose Leslie

In Downton Abbey, foreplay is basically hanging your clothes up properly — Allen Leech

'Downton Abbey' didn't have the impact it had just because it was a good story about people. It was something about that period and that world that was fascinating to people on a level that wasn't just as an entertainment. — Noah Hawley

I got into this thing called the National Youth Theatre, and to me, that was all about the status quo. It seemed to me like 'Downton Abbey' - all the working-class and black people were playing servants, or the gravedigger in 'Hamlet,' and the boys from Eton and posh private schools got Hamlet, all the big roles. — DeObia Oparei

Brits are cool at the moment. We've taken over the world, what with 'Game of Thrones', 'Downton Abbey', One Direction ... to be British is to be fashionable. — Russell Tovey

For the last episode [of Downton Abbey], you'll need some handkerchiefs. I needed handkerchiefs reading it. It wasn't because it necessarily moved me while reading it, but it was the experience of reading it when I realized it was the last time I was ever going to be reading one of those scripts. That was quite terminal. — Hugh Bonneville

'Downton Abbey' is just one cliche after another, and it is a really, really poor piece of drama. But that's only me talking. That's just my take on it. — Michael Hirst

The first episodes I actually read for 'Downton,' Sybil was really intimidated and hadn't come into her own. So it's only in Series Two that she's become so headstrong. In general, I find it exciting to play strong, female roles because they're shocking. — Jessica Brown Findlay

I definitely think it opened doors for me and what was so fantastic about 'Downton' being showed over in the States, was that it helped get me noticed. — Rose Leslie

You do feel a certain obligation to shows that raise your profile like 'Downton' has. But there are definitely other exciting opportunities out there. — Dan Stevens

We filmed 'Labyrinth' in South Africa for two and a half months and it was just the most unbelievable experience. Lots of sword fighting, mud in hair and lots of weeping! It's very different from 'Downton' because I was going to work and having mud put in my hair - it's the other extreme of the look! — Jessica Brown Findlay

The women in 'Downton Abbey' don't compare to the women in 'Upstairs Downstairs.' Ours are stunning. We've got Laura Haddock, Keeley Hawes, Claire Foy ... beautiful women. — Neil Jackson

I have not watched WAGs World, I have not watched the BBC's Upstairs, Downstairs, either. It would be Downton Abbey, I think. — Theresa May

If you're an English actor, and you're asked to do an episode - especially the Christmas episode - of 'Downton Abbey,' you can't turn it down. It's like, 'Of course!' — Janet Montgomery

I think some period drama can be quite alienating, but 'Downton' isn't. This is going to sound quite, um, pretentious, but someone said that it's like a soap written by a poet. — Michelle Dockery

I would love to be in 'Downton Abbey.' That's the thing I thing many people would have a good laugh with me saying anything like that. I feel like that's the next phase of my career. To reprove to everyone that I can do things besides the crazy characters. — Ari Graynor

Sunday night is curry night. I always order a spinach paneer and a chicken tikka. There's usually something good on TV like 'Mr Selfridge' or 'Downton Abbey,' so I'll watch them before I have to think about blowdrying my hair and all the other boring stuff us girls have to do! — Donna Air

I think the first time I realised 'Downton Abbey' was a hit was when I was sitting in a tea shop in New York and the couple next to me were talking about 'Downton Abbey,' and then they recognised me. — Michelle Dockery

Vulgarity is no substitute for wit — Julian Fellowes

I love when people become obsessed with 'Downton.' — Jessica Brown Findlay

I think the success of 'Downton' is partly because there are effectively 18 leading characters, all given equal importance, so it's enormously involving on many levels. But also, it's a new story. It's not like Dickens or Austen, where everyone knows the denouement. — Michelle Dockery

With 'Downton Abbey,' you're always stuck in one stately home. — Kit Harington

Anyone suffering Downton Abbey withdrawal symptoms will find an instant tonic. — Allison Pearson

Walter looked like he could chew nails and still come back for a helping of chain link fence. "Why can't Romeo and Juliet meet in a garden like in Downton Abbey?" Romeo asked. "I mean who meets on a balcony? How real is that? — Suzanne M. Trauth

'Downton' has really pushed me to a new level in my career, but it's not like I have a big career plan. They are about as useful as a birth plan; they should be burned. — Siobhan Finneran

Between the action sequences, the pleasure lies in observing impeccably dressed Brits exchanging barbed witticisms - making it, basically, Downton Abbey with cyber crime and shower sex. — Karina Longworth

I had the most fantastic time filming 'Downton.' — Rose Leslie

I get invited to a lot more glamorous parties since I've been in 'Downton Abbey,' which has made me much more fashion conscious. — Lesley Nicol

To Stanley Ager, the gift of human "service" was no one-way loyalty. He clearly gave his all to the families he served but, though he was almost too polite to state this, his expectation of loyalty in return was implicit. — Stanley Ager

'Upstairs Downstairs' and 'Downton Abbey' appeal to people because they're about our history, they look so beautiful, are written by amazing writers and have high production values. — Keeley Hawes

I'm amazed by just constantly - there's not a week that goes past where there's not someone in Ulan Bator or Rio De Janeiro suddenly says, 'Ooh, 'Downton' started this week.' You completely forget it's staggered across the world. — Dan Stevens

What is a week-end? Maggie Smith in Downton Abbey. — Julian Fellowes

The Americans think British T.V. shows are amazing, and everybody references 'Downton Abbey', and, in my genre, 'Doctor Who', which everyone is crazy for. People are always asking me and are always disappointed that I haven't been in it. — Jaime Murray

People talk about confidence without ever bringing up hard work. That's a mistake. I know I sound like some dour older spinster on Downton Abbey who has never felt a man's touch and whose heart has turned to stone, but I don't understand how you could have self-confidence if you don't do the work ... I have never, ever, ever, met a high confident person and successful person who is not what a movie would call a 'workaholic.' Because confidence is like respect; you have to earn it. — Mindy Kaling

There are two words that send romance authors into spasms of rapture: 'Downton Abbey.' — Teresa Medeiros

My dad keeps joking about sneaking into my grandparents' house and switching out their HBO for PBS so they think I'm on 'Downton Abbey.' — Allison Williams

You could have knocked ... Or, you know, announced your entrance like they do on Downton Abbey".
He steps out of his drawstring pants, now completely naked. He walks towards the glass shower door and stops. And then he knocks on it.
I have petrified by the tiled wall.
"It's Loren Hale," he says, a smile spreading across his lips. "May I come in? — Krista Ritchie

I think the reason why people love 'Downton Abbey' is because all the characters are given the same weight. Some are nice, some are not, but it has nothing to do with class or oppressors versus the oppressed. — Julian Fellowes

'Mr Selfridge' is a lot more accessible than shows like 'Downton.' Everyone knows the store, but not everyone knows the story. Having this store as the backdrop with all of society working under one roof, I think it really captures people's imaginations. — Zoe Tapper

Sometimes I like to watch TV, though I never get to watch any of the shows in real time. I'm a fan of 'Downton Abbey,' 'Boardwalk Empire,' and 'Boss.' There's a British series called 'Luther,' but in England, they think a series means four episodes. And I like 'Mad Men.' Otherwise, it's always good to unwind with a book. — L'Wren Scott

I tried to get people at 'South Park' into 'Downton Abbey,' and it didn't work. I think they were like, 'Downton Abbey?' What?' And I kinda made a big plea in the writer's room, like, 'Guys, you should really watch it. It's good. It's addicting. My wife and I are obsessed with it.' — Bill Hader

I have not one, but two presents for you. — Toby Downton

When I left 'Downton Abbey,' it hadn't yet taken off and become the phenomenon that it is, to this day. That all happened after I left. But, it was fabulous to be a part of it and to be a part of the cast. We had an absolute ball! — Rose Leslie

I'm proud of the fact that Downton Abbey was born in a recession, at a time when ITV had dropped a lot of drama programmes. And I know that because I was out of work at the time! — Rob James-Collier

I know that everyone wants to know about 'Downton Abbey,' but the truth is that it was only a few days out of my life. Still, you play a distinctive part on a hit series, and everyone suddenly knows who you are. Isn't it crazy how this business works? — Theo James

Sometimes a hard sacrifice must be made for a future that's worth having — Tom Branson

I let steam off by watching 'Downton Abbey.' — Nina Arianda

Working on 'Downton Abbey' is amazing, but there's an ensemble cast of between 18 and 21 actors. With 'Love Life,' there are two couples and a few other key characters. As a smaller unit, you've got to take more responsibility - at the same time, you can have more ownership of the direction it's going in. — Rob James-Collier

When I heard I had gotten 'Downton Abbey,' I remember I was standing on a freezing cold street in Manchester where we were shooting the Manchester part of 'West is West.' — Lesley Nicol

After spending the last few years working on a serious novel set in Chechnya, I was drawn to both the brevity and casualness of Twitter, and wrote a series of tweets titled 'The Erotic Inner Life of Mr. Bates from Downton Abbey.' — Anthony Marra

Like 'Twin Peaks,' '24,' 'Mad Men,' and 'The Sopranos' before it, 'Downton Abbey' enriches the iconography and collective lore of pop culture. It replenishes the stream. — James Wolcott

Downton Abbey is the most popular drama in the history of public television. When the whole of the TV universe is fragmenting, that isn't just impressive. It's almost impossible. But here we are. — David Bianculli

I sometimes wonder what it would have been like if I'd got 'Downton Abbey' when I was 22. — Lesley Nicol

Coming eyeball to eyeball with a hummingbird on my terrace is as exciting to me as any celebrity I've met as a result of 'Downton Abbey.' — Lesley Nicol

People in the U.K. absolutely love my character in 'Downton,' and in equal measure, people absolutely hate him, and that's all I wanted. — Tom Cullen

'Downton' is one of the best jobs in the world, and I'm looking forward to the next series for Maggie Smith's wicked sense of humour. — Samantha Bond

'Downton Abbey' about upper-class posh people: of course it is. — Phyllis Logan

To be honest, I'm not even thinking about America. If I was to start thinking about the enormity of 'Downton' and the size of the project, then I wouldn't be able to be very truthful to the work. I would start to watch myself too much. I'm not even thinking about it. Who knows what will happen. — Tom Cullen

I think people used to read 'War and Peace,' and now they don't; now they sit around with their tablets and watch 'Downton Abbey' and 'Breaking Bad' or whatever, and they want the things that they watch to be better so that they can feel better about themselves for watching it. — Noah Hawley

'Downton Abbey' is one of my favourite shows ever - it's just beautifully filmed, and the stories and characters are so wonderful. — Amanda Donohoe

I've got four piercings in my left, so we've dubbed my right one the 'period drama ear.' I have to be filmed from that side when I do emotional close-ups in 'Downton.' — Jessica Brown Findlay

You have no idea what's going to happen [in Downton Abbey] until you get the script. We roughly knew a couple of the key points that were going to happen, but when I got the last episode, I turned to the last page to check that I was still alive. — Hugh Bonneville

Look, it comes down to whether or not you love me! That's all! That's it! The rest is detail — Tom Branson

I was sad to leave 'Downton,' but I will always remember it fondly, as they did me a lot of favours. I owe them a lot. — Thomas Howes

I've never seen an episode of 'Downton Abbey.' — Keeley Hawes

Obviously, I play a villain in 'Downton Abbey'. As an actor, you want to get a variety of roles, so to be offered the part of Joe, it was perfect. — Rob James-Collier

The price of great love is great misery when one of you dies. — Julian Fellowes

Soap opera seems to be a dirty word, but actually they are the most popular shows we have. People want to know what happens next, people hate the villains and love the lovers. It's good, fun TV. But I wouldn't call 'Downton' a soap opera as such. — Dan Stevens

She pursed her lips and nodded, swiveling around to continue her survey of my modest living space. Her arms were folded tightly across her chest as she strolled around. Letting out a long, deep breath, she dropped her hands to her sides when she reached my DVD collection.
"Downton Abbey?"
I jolted forward, clearing my throat. "Yeah, it's uh ... it's a good show. — Rachael Wade

It took me a while to warm to the '20s costumes on 'Downton.' I love it when women accentuate their curves, and that era was all about hiding them. The shapes they wore then were in tune with female empowerment. Cutting off their hair and hiding their busts was a way of saying, 'We're equal to men!' — Lily James

My wife tells me I should check out 'Downton Abbey', but I gather that series might be almost too intense for my temperate nature. — Michael Dirda

The girls in 'Downton Abbey' do what they do so well, which is make it so natural despite the fact that you're living within these constraints and taking so much from the research aspect of it. — Anastasia Griffith

I filmed 'Albatross' before I got 'Downton.' It's a coming-of-age movie about this girl who leaps into this family's life, like a whirlwind. She's ballsy and brash and wonderful, it was such an amazing character to play. — Jessica Brown Findlay

People will consider me a part of their lives for however long 'Downton Abbey' lasts. It's a lovely thing to feel as an actor. — Michelle Dockery

The way I see it, the third series of 'Downton Abbey' is all about change and how each character adapts to those changes. — Michelle Dockery

I always have to get my U.K. fix, and 'Downton Abbey' is definitely that. I absolutely love period dramas, but this one is particularly appealing - following the ins and outs of aristocracy as well as the interaction between the rich and the poor. — Estelle

I'm sure I wouldn't have been asked to judge the Man Booker if it weren't for 'Downton.' — Dan Stevens

I keep waiting for the day in which everyone who loves 'Downton Abbey' will realize they were actually watching a historical romance novel. — Julia Quinn

'Downton Abbey' has become this huge thing, and I really enjoy the success of it, but I sometimes find myself on the outside looking in, which is sort of a healthy way to look at it so you don't get too caught up in it. — Michelle Dockery

Show creator Julian Fellowes echoed the sentiment. "The 'Downton' journey has been amazing for everyone aboard. People ask if we knew what was going to happen when we started to make the first series and the answer is that, of course — Anonymous

I can pretty much say all of us know when 'Downton' is going to end. This is a show with a finite life. — Brendan Coyle

This is college?' Schyler asked. 'or Downton Abbey? — Melissa De La Cruz

Did they like being maids & butlers? Before you answer this consider everything you've ever read about English history after Robin Hood and before he Who. Your choices were: serving, being served, being killed by Jack the Ripper. So, the employee class made the best of it and got with the program. It was indoor work, after all. And as a wise man once observed, "You're gonna hafta serve somebody." (Bob Dylan, C. 1497-1580). And it beat mining. — Chris Kelly

My childhood was not an episode from Downton Abbey — Harry Leslie Smith

'Downton Abbey' is a pageant, a cavalcade of a time when being born right is the first and most irrevocable career move, and in which an older order - whose passing 'Downton's' creator, Julian Fellowes, clearly mourns - is submerging in icy seas as surely as a grand and extravagant ocean liner. — Steve Erickson

People in L.A. think I'm so posh. They think I live in 'Downton Abbey.' — Annabelle Wallis

It's stupid to say that there's any comfort to be had in 'knowing your place,' but there is a sense of reassuring escapism to something like 'Downton Abbey.' There's a perceived romance and elegance that is wonderful to lose yourself in. — Kate Reardon

I am a huge 'Downton Abbey' fan - huge! — Joan Rivers

None of us had any idea of how successful Downton was going to be. I thought I was signing up for another period drama that had a slightly modern feel. It had a freedom about it because it was coming out of the head of Julian Fellowes. Anything could happen and generally did. — Dan Stevens

I seem to watch less and less television. The best thing in 'Downton Abbey' is Penelope Wilton. She is always worth the watch. — John Hurt