Downton's Best Lines & Remembering Maggie Smith 💙| Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale

Ballywell kiss me. Yeah, can I Ballywell kiss you then? Have you done something jolly with your hair? Right, I'm going upstairs to take off my pants. I can't believe that this is the end. How has Downton Abbey changed your lives? How long have you got? It's been such a huge chapter in our lives. Yeah. 15 years. I don't think any of us saw it coming. To be very honest, as an actor, it gave us exposure that was very unexpected to the whole world, you know, and there's certainly opportunities that I've had and movies I've done. The Imitation Game is how I got that job. His wife sat there and went, Hey, you have to have Tom Branson in your movie. That's how I got the job. So it really has changed the trajectory of my career. I think I wouldn't have met a bear called Paddington. I don't think without this project, I wouldn't have. Well, George Clooney wouldn't have turned up on our set if I hadn't done a film with him because of this film. Yeah. And it's not often you can be part of something that is instantly recognisable in every corner of the world. Absolutely. Someone walks up to you in the street and says, I recognise you. What's it from? Have you heard of Downton Abbey? That's good. You'd have to go through your whole CV. But really, it's kind of given us this. It's this, you know, amazing bond. We're really like a family. We all got on so well together. It's a key part of the reason this gels, I think. Because you can't make that happen, can you? No. It's an absolute lottery who comes to it. But often, you know, if a show that they get on very well, the show's not very good. Yes, that's true. And they have a ball and it's really not good. A certain amount of friction makes the show. But actually, in this case, it did work, didn't it? Yes. Even though this may be the finale of Downton, I doubt it's the end of the hanging out with these guys, which is great. It's hard to accept that it's time to go. Your friendship has never been more important to all of us. Seeing In Loving Memory of Maggie Smith just brought me to tears. What impact did Maggie have on you guys as actors? A massive impact. I mean, just to work with her for as long as we did was such a privilege. She was such a joy to work with, is all I can say. But I'd seen her in the theatre. It must have been wild then for you to find yourself up the stairs. Well, I suppose. Because this was one of my heroines. I never got over that excitement of Maggie being on set. You know, after all those years, a day when Maggie was in, it just added something to the day that you were working with Maggie, and that she was there. Getting to sit and watch her, that was a real gift. And joining it as the chauffeur, I thought, I'll probably get to open a door or two for her. But then the opportunity of sitting at that table, at the dining room table, for days on end, shooting the same scene, and watching her be pitch perfect, yeah, it was a gift. Maggie just had a way of interrogating a scene, and finding the truth in it, and the humour, and making it all look incredibly easy and natural. And we were very lucky because we did become close. She was like a kind of granny to us. That's just an incredible privilege. If Mama were alive, what would she do? The lines in Downton never disappoint. Do you guys have a particular favourite line? I mean, the one that sticks in my mind, because it was often repeated, was, dinner is served, my lady. How many times I've said that, I've no idea. Ballywell kiss me. Yeah, can I Ballywell kiss you then? Have you done something jolly with your hair? Oh yeah, I like that. I love that. Sounds so accurate for the period. I had a line that I really liked, where Mary just said, she just walked in and she arrived back from the town, and she just says, right, I'm going upstairs to take off my hat. That's one of my favourite lines. Well, we always think of it because one take, for a joke, I said to everyone, right, I'm going upstairs to take off my pants. So it's become a favourite. Yes, that's right. Sympathy butters no parsnips, and that made it to a mug. I've got a mug with that one. I got you that thing with all your best lines on. Yes, she did, she got this for me as a present. I've got a frame of all her kind of one-liners. She had so many good ones. I said you could have a drink of water, not to trip up the nail. One point Julian said, I've got sort of that for Maggie, and Lesley sort of gets the downstairs version of it. So it was a great privilege to have those to do. Lady Mary must go now. She's divorced. I'm very sorry, I shouldn't have come. There's nothing more quintessentially British than Downton Abbey. What are the most amusing Britishisms? We're too nice sometimes. It's because of the etiquette that we just non-stop apologise, and we love to queue. We love a queue system. Oh yeah, it's our national sport, isn't it? Well, I suppose always talking about the weather. Have you seen what it's like? I guess the tea thing is strange, isn't it? If you think about it, not everyone feels the need for a tea every two hours. When you put it like that, it's like, yeah, the obsession is real. It is the first thing I offer anyone that comes to the house, whether they're coming to clean the windows, coming to see me, whatever it is, I'm like, cup of tea, do you want a cup of tea? And a biscuit. It's the thing, and that was something that we would say to Maggie, like, you just need a biscuit, really, if you're feeling a little low. Dominic, which set felt posher to work on, The Crown or Downton? Ooh, that's a good question. The teas on The Crown were incredible. The cakes, and I used to really look forward to a group tea session, but Downton, the food wasn't quite so good. He's completely right there. Food was really good on The Crown. Who would win in a posh-off, though, between the Crawleys and the Windsors? Oh, the Crawleys, definitely. Interesting. Yeah, I don't think the Windsors are very posh. They're the royal family. Well, I know, but they're all quite middle class. Downton is one of those shows that you can just watch over and over again. What is your favourite episode? It's hard to say when there are 52 of them. I know, they all stop going to one. I always loved the Christmas specials, were always... because we always knew that it was going to be something like that everyone was going to sit down for, and I'll never forget when it was Dan Stevens I remember turning to on his last day, and I turned and went, well done, mate, you just ruined Christmas for most of the UK. I probably would go back to my William wedding. Yes. Because that was, as an actor, good to do. And being at his deathbed. The deathbed and everyone around and all of that. Yeah. Oh, yes, the deathbed. Poor William. I think if there was one, I'd probably go back to the first one of the... the first episode of the first series. It shook TV for a little while, didn't it? I mean, it sort of... Oh, right, oh, this is possible to do a period drama on ITV and it'd be successful. We realised, oh, we're up to something here. So, yeah, I'd go back to the very first episode. That's the perfect way to end. Thank you guys so much and huge congratulations on it. Thank you. Thank you very much.