Fans of Downton Abbey across the globe were left broken-hearted last Christmas when show favourite, Matthew Crawley, met his maker when his car careered off the road, moments after meeting his first born son and heir.

Not just broken-hearted, but incredibly disappointed as Matthew’s death not only came a few weeks after that of his sister-in-law, Lady Sybil’s (Jessica Brown-Findlay), but the circumstances surrounding both were uncannily similar.
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Downton Abbey star, Allen Leech, has closed the lid of speculation over his characters future regarding his recently widowed sister-in-law, Lady Mary.

Fans of the hit ITV period drama will know how Allen’s character, Tom Branson, was left devastated when his wife, Sybil (Jessica Brown-Findlay) died shortly after giving birth to their daughter during last year’s series of the show.

Since then Tom has remained at Downton Abbey, bringing up baby Sybil with the help of his late wife’s family, desperately lonely and lost.
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With all the recent chopping and changing of the Downton Abbey cast list, it has now been revealed that one face from last year who wasn’t expected to be returning, Shirley MacLaine, is set to reprise her role as Martha Levinson!

We reported last month how show bosses had expressed a desire for Hollywood actress MacLaine, who plays the modern-world embracing mother of Lady Cora (Elizabeth McGovern) to make a return in series 4 of the hit ITV period drama, but that her busy schedule probably meant that was unlikely.
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After months of searching it would seem that bosses at Downton Abbey have finally found a suitable actor to play a new love interest for Lady Mary, but with three new male actors being cast, the question remains which one will be Mr Right?

Bosses at Downton Abbey confirmed earlier this year how, after the untimely death of Matthew Crawley (Dan Stevens), his widow Lady Mary (Michelle Dockery) would be finding a new male companion in the fourth series, which has just begun filming.
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After months of speculation about the future love life of Lady Mary Crawley in the much-anticipated fourth series of the hit ITV period drama, Downton Abbey, the character being lined up as a match for the widow has been named Lord Anthony Gillingham!

As we reported earlier this year, following the death Matthew Crawley (Dan Stevens) at the end of last year’s Christmas special, producers on Downton Abbey have been on the hunt for a new love interest for his widow Lady Mary (Michelle Dockery).
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As we reported earlier this month, Miranda star Tom Ellis was reportedly being lined up to play the new love interest for Lady Mary Crawley in the new series of the hit ITV period drama, Downton Abbey.

The decision to cast a new suitor for the eldest daughter of the Grantham family came after the untimely death of Lady Mary’s husband, Matthew Crawley, during last year’s Christmas special.
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As we reported earlier this year, following the tragic death of Matthew Crawley during last year’s Christmas special of the popular ITV period drama, Downton Abbey, producers are currently on the hunt to find a new love interest for his widow, Lady Mary, and it seems that they might have set their sights on Miranda star, Tom Ellis!

Fans of Downton watched in horror on Christmas Day when Matthew (Dan Stevens) met his maker by crashing his car moments after meeting his first born son and heir.

The decision to kill of Matthew was out of the writer’s hands after Dan Stevens, who played Matthew, decided not to renew his contract at the end of series 3. Given the time the show is set, and nature of Matthew’s family, death really was the only answer, but it still left a bitter taste in viewer’s mouths.
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Joanne Froggatt has revealed that the scripts the cast of Downton Abbey have just received for Series 4 are the best the show has ever had!

Joanne, whose character Anna Bates campaigned tirelessly to clear her husband, Valet John Bates’ (Brendan Coyle) name following his wrongful conviction of the murder of his ex-wife, Vera throughout the last series, has also revealed that playing out this storyline, which saw Bates freed eventually, helped her gain a real sense of achievement, both personally and for her character.
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With filming for the much-anticipated fourth series of the epic ITV period drama, Downton Abbey, due to begin next week, reports have come out suggesting that there may be a new love interest on the cards for recently widowed Lady Mary Crawley.

Fans of the phenomenon drama will know how during last year’s Christmas special Lady Mary’s husband, Matthew Crawley (Dan Stevens) was killed in a tragic car crash, moments after meeting his first son and heir.

Despite the criticism of this storyline and comparisons made between it and the sudden death of Lady Sybil (Jessica Findlay-Brown) the series before it, the decision to kill of such a pinnacle character was out of the production teams hands as Dan Stevens, who played Matthew, had decided not to renew his contract with the hit show to embark on a career in America, where Downton has gathered a huge following also.
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Following the tragic, and disappointing, death of Matthew Crawley in last year’s Downton Abbey Christmas special, the show’s executive producer has revealed that fans can expect the iconic ITV period drama to take a different direction when it returns this autumn for series 4.

Fans of the show were left slightly disappointed by Matthew’s death when he crashed his car straight after meeting his first born son and heir, in a storyline which bore an uncanny resemblance to the exit of Lady Sybil (Jessica Brown-Findlay) earlier the same year.
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Following the shocking and disappointing death of Matthew Crawley in this year’s Christmas special of Downton Abbey, the creator of the epic ITV1 period drama, Julian Fellowes, has echoed claims from ITV made earlier this week that the decision was out of their hands, and the fact that Dan Stevens who played the character had refused to sign up for a fourth series was to blame for the storyline.

We reported earlier this year that Stevens, whose character Matthew Crawley was killed in a car crash following the birth of his first child by his wife Lady Mary (Michelle Dockery), was rumoured to not be signing a contract for the fourth series due to commence filming next year, and that he had set his sights on cracking America, where the show has a huge fan base also.
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After an incredibly disappointing Christmas Special of the hugely popular ITV period drama, Downton Abbey, during which Matthew Crawley was killed in a fatal car crash, ITV have stated that the reason for the shocking death was down to the fact that Dan Stevens, who played Matthew in the show, had decided not to renew his contract with them.

We reported earlier this year that Dan Stevens, who plays Matthew Crawley, was rumoured to be leaving the show and had not signed up for the fourth series, which is due to commence filming next year. Upon hearing this we speculated that the only way he could exit the show without being replaced was by death. And the fact that he had not signed up for the fourth series meant that this would probably have to happen during the Christmas special, and we were right!
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In this weird time between Christmas and New Years it seems that normal TV service won’t be resumed till 2013 but sometimes this week produces some of the best programmes of the year thanks in part to the fact that the schedulers have so much time to fill. Two-part spy drama Restless is a case in point as BBC1 have devoted two ninety minute slots to properly tell this story which is based on a William Boyd novel of 2006. Boyd’s novels have been adapted for TV before, most notably with Channel 4′s 2010 interpretation of Any Human Heart, however here I feel that the ninety minute episode helped develop the plot and the cut-off point for this first episode was superbly judged.
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This Christmas saw the much-anticipated 2 hour special of the phenomenally successful ITV period drama, Downton Abbey.

Whilst not actually set at Christmas, the show still treated it’s viewers to a fine festive selection of drama, including a birth, and a death!
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ITV’s epic period drama, Downton Abbey, looks like it might be set to repeat last year’s Golden Globes success as it picks up a handful of nominations for this year’s awards.

Nominated for the best television drama series award, up against some of the biggest US shows including Boardwalk Empire, Breaking Bad and Homeland, Downton also has nominations for two of its female stars, Dame Maggie Smith and Michelle Dockery, who have been shortlisted for best supporting actress in a miniseries or motion picture made for TV and best actress in a television drama series respectively.
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