Downton does disco: The girls of the Abbey ditch their pinafores and gowns for a festive photoshoot

By Andrea Magrath

Last updated at 3:30 PM on 14th November 2011


Season Two of their hit series went out with a bang this month. And so the girls of Downton Abbey have ditched their pinafores and gowns for sequins and hot pants in a glittering new photoshoot.

The actresses get their disco on for a festive feature for Marie Claire magazine's December issue.

Jessica Brown-Findlay and Amy Nuttall bring out their Dancing Queen moves for the shoot, which sees the stars shake a leg in a downpour of christmas confetti.

Dancing queens: The girls of Downton Abbey (L-R) Clare Calbraith, Amy Nuttall, Jessica Brown-Findlay, Laura Carmichael, Zoe Boyle, Joanne Froggatt, Michelle Dockery and Sophie McShera, ditch their uniforms and gowns for some festive sparkle in a glamorous new photoshoot

Laura Carmichael is almost unrecognisable without her ladylike frock, opting instead for glittering tights, sequinned hotpants and purple platform heels.

Clare Calbraith, who joined the series this season as Jane Moorsum rocks a feathered skirt and sparkly heels.

Zoe Boyle, whose character Miss Lavinia Swire fans watched die at the end of season two, is alive and kicking as she strikes a pose in gold trousers.

Head housemaid Joanne Froggatt has turned party girl for the shoot, shot by John Wright, dancing in a fringed LBD.

Michelle Dockery, better known as Lady Mary Crawley, lets her hair down in a star-spangled gold frock.

The actress has had plenty of practise in transforming herself for her role as Pea in stage play Jerusalem of late.

The second season has barely left our screens but Downton fans have a Christmas special to look forward to - and the just-announced season three, airing in 2012.

'The new series will be set in 1920 and 1921, and the drama will cover a period of 18 months in the lives of the Crawley family and the servants who work for them,' ITV announced.

Audience figures for the second season increased by over 21 percent on season one, with an average of 11.5 million viewers.

To read the feature in full feature, see the December issue of Marie Claire, on sale now, or visit www.marieclaire.co.uk

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Lady Sybil and the chauffeur: Downton stars now set up together in off-screen romance

By Leon Watson

Last updated at 6:19 PM on 6th November 2011



It's a case of life imitating art - as a real-life romance has blossomed between the Downton Abbey actors who play Lady Sybil and her driver Tom Branson.

Allen Leech, who plays the aristocrat's chauffeur in the ITV hit, has reportedly been an item with co-star Jessica Brown Findlay 'for some time'.

Racing columnist Jo Foster told the Sunday Telegraph: 'After a few too many glasses of burgundy, Simon [Leech's brother] let it slip that the pair had begun an off-screen love affair some time ago.

'It came from the horse's mouth.'

On and off screen? Lady Sybil, played by Jessica Brown Findlay, and chauffeur Branson, played by Allen Leech, are said to be together in real life

Leech, 30, has made it clear he is single, while Brown Findlay, 22, was thought to have a boyfriend, artist Thomas Campbell.

Her publicists have also played down the rumour, saying there is 'no truth' in the affair.

Speaking about the on-screen romance last week, Leech said: 'He has always been madly in love with Sybil and he is a character who doesn’t give up easily.'


News of the reported romance comes in the same week that ITV confirmed the hit drama will return to our screens for a third series.

Watched by 11.5million viewers on average, it will be back next September to cover 18 months in the lives of the Crawley family and their servants during the 'Roaring Twenties'.

The action – set in the First World War and the Spanish flu pandemic of 1919 this series – will jump forward to 1920 and 1921, when national events included the first UK birth control clinic and the creation of Northern Ireland.

Real life romance: Jessica Brown Findlay is reportedly 'an item' with co-star Allen Leech

Down to work: Carol Vorderman (right) paid the set a visit earlier this year and managed to help out on set by teaching Allen Leech (left) his lines

Despite the most recent series having had a more negative response than the debut run, amid criticism about the complicated plot and the number of adverts, the programme has proved to still be a massive ratings hit.

The announcement came after Oscar-winning creator Julian Fellowes had earlier in the week sparked fears over whether the show would come back.

Earlier this week he said: ‘I am extremely grateful to ITV for this. I have grown very fond of my Downton family and I certainly do not want to say goodbye to them quite yet.’

Filming will begin in the new year and stars including Dame Maggie Smith and Hugh Bonneville are set to appear.

ITV’s director of drama commissioning, Laura Mackie, said: ‘We’re absolutely delighted to be bringing Downton Abbey back for a third series, as we follow the inhabitants…into the Roaring Twenties.

‘It’s rare to find a drama that the audience connects with so strongly and we’re extremely proud to have commissioned a series that has become such a phenomenon.’

ITV claims ratings for this run have increased by 21 per cent and it is the most popular drama series on UK television for more than ten years.

Chauffeur Branson, played by Allen Leech, can be seen driving Lady Sybil (Jessica Brown-Findlay) in this image from the second series of Downton Abbey

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2058202/Downton-Abbey-stars-set-screen-romance.html#ixzz1cyhGHUUA

Introducing Jessica Brown Findlay (Downton Abbey's Lady Sybil Crawley)

Chosen as one of Screen International’s Stars of Tomorrow 2010, Jessica hit our screens in last year’s ITV smash hit Downton Abbey, playing Lady Sybil Crawley. She also appeared in the E4 drama Misfits and plays the lead role of Emelia in Niall MacCormick’s forthcoming film Albatross. She is currently filming the second series of Downton Abbey.

What did you want to be when you were growing up?

At the age of eight I decided that I was going to be a professional ballerina and trained with the National Youth Ballet. When I was 17, and at the point of auditioning for professional companies, I had an ankle operation that went wrong, meaning I couldn’t dance any more. I was crushed and felt completely bereft. A teacher suggested that I pursue art instead as I’d always loved to paint, so I enrolled on a fine-art course at Central Saint Martins in London, where I also took acting classes. I was spotted by an agent who cast me in the film Albatross with Felicity Jones and Sebastian Koch. I discovered there was life without ballet after all and have realised that acting
is my true passion.

Did you have any idea that Downton Abbey would be so big?

It’s been such a whirlwind. I felt lucky to even be allowed to audition for Downton because the names involved – such as Maggie Smith and Hugh Bonneville – were so amazing and so well established. Right from the very first read-through it felt electric. To go to work every day with such a brilliant cast and to be part of something so huge is an amazing experience for a young actress.

Most actors have a part that got away. Has that happened to you?

I got down to the final three actresses in the running for the role of Alice in Tim Burton’s 2010 version of Alice in Wonderland. Mia Wasikowska eventually got the part, which was gutting. But with the benefit of hindsight, if I’d been cast as Alice I couldn’t have been in Albatross, and I also met my now agent through the Alice auditions, so everything happened for a reason.

Are you ever recognised in the street?

Never! I think I look very different in real life. A teenage girl approached me last week and I thought she was going to ask for pictures and autographs – in fact, she wanted me to buy her cigarettes from the corner shop as she was too young! That brought me down to earth with a bang. But I’d much prefer to remain anonymous. I want to be an actor – I don’t want to be famous.