Page 42 - WINE DINE & TRAVEL MAGAZINE DISCOVERING ENGLAND

Classy ladies of the Abbey

Photos courtesy of ITV

By Carl H. Larsen by time and hard work. Carmichael still “No one is above her in the kitchen,” said
can leave Edith behind after shooting. Nicol of her character. But there is a bit of
hey’re an upstairs-downstairs Tall and demure, her long hair gives no tension between Mrs. Patmore and Mrs.
pair who easily cast aside their hint of the short, curled styles required Hughes, the housekeeper, who is keeper
presumed class differences while of her role. You probably wouldn’t rec- of the keys of the household stores. Be-
Ton the road pitching “Downton ognize her on the street – but all that is tween soufflés, Mrs. Patmore struggles
Abbey,” the British tele-drama that has changing for the talented actress. to keep various youthful footmen and
made them international stars. kitchen maids focused on their work and
With so many episodes of “Downton Ab- not on their love lives.
Laura Carmichael, cast as the show’s bey” (now in Season 4) under their belts,
snarky and ambitious Lady Edith Craw- the difference between real life and man- But to many of the women on “Down-
ley, and Lesley Nicol, the tyrannical yet or-house decorum must be hard for the ton,” enduring romance has been an elu-
loveable Mrs. Patmore, ruler of Down- two and others in the cast to sort out. sive dream. Nicol said she cajoled Down-
ton Abbey’s kitchen, appear to be best of ton creator and writer Julian Fellowes
friends in off-camera life. Nicol for years has been well known as to give her a love interest. His response:
a character actor to TV viewers in Brit- “Do you want to leave the cast?” Instead,
That was demonstrated by the hug they ain, and to West End theater-goers as Mrs. Patmore was wooed by a philander-
gave each other at the end of an inter- Rosie in the London stage production of ing merchant in Season 3. He was plainly
view in a San Diego hotel suite before “Mama Mia.” smitten by her cooking skills. That’s an
making an appearance at a public-televi- asset that in real life, Nicol confesses she
sion fund-raiser. In person, you’d recog- In “Downton Abbey,” she is a key mem- does not possess.
nize Nicol in an instant as Mrs. Patmore, ber of the ensemble cast, even though
with her red hair and sharp, direct voice the only part of upper crust manor- Carmichael said that of all the three
that is quick with a story or laugh. In house life she encounters is when a loaf Crawley sisters portrayed in the series
fairness, Nicol is bulked up for the role of bread rises in her oven. (one of whom, Lady Sybil, died suddenly),
by costumers, and made to look chiseled she is the most conventional – the one

42 Wine Dine & Travel Winter 2014