The World of Downton Abbey Debuting on 9 January 2011 on PBS, Downton Abbey was an overnight success in the US. It has since gone on to become the most-watched drama in the network’s history, the most popular series in Masterpiece’s 44-year history and one of US television’s most popular dramas. Season five averaged an audience of 12.9 million viewers over the course of its run. Downton Abbey also holds the record for the British television drama with the most Emmy nominations, the US’ top television awards. To date, it has 59 nominations and won 11. [Sources: Nielsen, via www.pbs.org; www.emmys.com]
Downton Abbey has won several international honours, including Spain’s TP de Oro Award for Best Foreign Series (2012); Best Overseas Series at the Shanghai International Television Festival (2012); and Best Mini Series at the Banff Television Festival (2011); while Michelle Dockery won China’s Huading Award for Best Global Actress In A Television Series (2013). [Source: www.imdb.com]
Downton Abbey proved to be a big hit in Scandinavia on its debut in 2011. It was the biggest international show in Sweden, with a 33 per cent share of the audience. In Norway, series one delivered a 35 per cent share; and in Denmark, it was the second highest rated international show, attracting 22 per cent of the audience. [Source: www.broadcastnow.co.uk ] Downton Abbey is distributed internationally by NBCUniversal International Studios
Alfred Nugent Matt Milne Joseph Molesley Kevin Doyle
James Kent Ed Speleers
Andy Michael Fox
Thomas Barrow Rob James-Collier
Isobel Crawley Charles Carson Penelope Wilton Jim Carter Rose Aldridge (née MacClare) Lily James
John Bates Brendan Coyle William Mason Thomas Howes
Matthew Crawley Dan Stevens Atticus Aldridge Matt Barber X
Violet Grantham Maggie Smith
Robert Grantham Hugh Bonneville
Rosamund Painswick (née Crawley) Samantha Bond