Attention: SPOILERS for the movie “Downton Abbey: A New Era”
Downton’s servants, who play the main role in the film, compensate for “Downton Abbey: A New Era”: not to show the wedding of Daisy (Sophie McShera) and Andy Parker (Michael Fox). Downton Abbey: A New Era has sent part of the Crawley family to the French Riviera to find out why Lady Violet, the Dowager Countess (Maggie Smith), left the villa with a former love. Meanwhile, British Lion director Jack Barber (Hugh Dancy) is bringing his film to Downton Abbey, and servants like Daisy are thrilled to be looking after glamorous movie stars like Myrna Dalglish (Laura Haddock) and Guy Dexter (Dominic West). The finale of the “New Era” attracted the attention of the servants, since Daisy and Andy’s wedding was not shown in the film.
“Downton Abbey: A New Era” opened with the lavish wedding of Tom Branson (Allen Leach) and Lucy Smith (Tuppence Middleton). Tom and Lucy met in the previous film “Downton Abbey” when she portrayed herself as her mother’s maid, Lady Maud Bagshaw (Imelda Staunton). The Branson wedding at the Brampton estate, which Tom and Lucy inherited, was stunning enough for a Yorkshire high society wedding, and even the servants agreed that it was quite romantic. Daisy and Andy were guests at the wedding, but they were already Mr. and Mrs. Parker. Downton’s footman and the cook’s assistant met during the TV series “Downton Abbey” and got engaged, but Daisy wasn’t sure Andy was right for her until the movie “Downton Abbey”. When Andy jeopardized the visit of King George V (Simon Jones) and Queen Mary (Geraldine James) because he was jealous of someone else loving Daisy, she realized that Andy was a committed person with whom she wanted to go through the world together.
It was disappointing that “Downton Abbey: A New Era” began with Andy and Daisy already married, which deprived viewers of the opportunity to see how two hardworking servants spend a happy day together. Fortunately, “Downton Abbey: A New Era” paid tribute to Andy, Daisy and all the servants when Jack Barber asked them all to act as extras in his movie “The Gambler”. Daisy, along with Anna Bates (Joanne Froggatt), have already saved the film by having a good talk with Mirna when she threatened to quit acting after the “Player” switched from silent films to sound films. When the finale of “The Gambler” was filmed, all of Downton’s servants were dressed as posh dinner guests and appeared in the film, while their employers, Crowley, watched from the sidelines as Lady Mary (Michelle Dockery) voiced the character of Myrna.
In “Downton Abbey” 2019, the servants rebelled against the king and Queen’s family and served dinner themselves, restoring the “glory of Downton”. But this movie ended with the Crowleys joining the royal family at a magnificent ball, and all the servants stayed at Downton. Downton Abbey: The end of a New Era deftly turned the script around, so that the servants finally got a chance to prove themselves. Including Daisy and Andy, who not only played in “The Gambler”, but also saw that their main problem was solved: Daisy’s former father-in-law, Mr. Mason (Paul Copley), agreed to move in with Mrs. Patmore (Leslie Nichol). This means that the Parkers will inherit Mason’s yew tree farm, and Mr. Mason gets out of the newlyweds’ hair and starts his own affair with Mrs. Patmore.
The servants of “Downton Abbey” are just as important to the saga as the Crowley family, but it’s understandable, given the timing of the sequel, why creator Julian Fellowes decided to marry Daisy and Andy off-screen so that the “New Era” could begin with the wedding of Tom and Lucy from the storybook. . Daisy is actually too down-to-earth to want pomp and circumstance, but it was still a shame that viewers were denied the opportunity to see her finally marry Andy. However, “Downton Abbey: A New Era” lovingly made Daisy, Andy and the rest of the servants the happy centerpiece of the film’s finale, before moving on to the sadness of Lady Violet’s death and funeral. And the movie ends with Andy training to become Downton’s new butler when the Crowleys welcome Tom and Lucy’s baby, which shows that everyone at Downton Abbey is really entering a new era.
