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Downton Creators, Cast Speak About Upsetting Episode 2
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Warning this post contains a spoiler on episode 2. If you haven't watched it yet, please read no further. You can watch it here.
“Shaken.” “Horrified.” “Upset.” “Sad” - these are some of the fan reactions to Sunday night’s episode of Downton Abbey where beloved character Anna was the victim of a sexual assault. (Sorry to spoil it for you in the first sentence.) Downton Abbey creators and actors are talking about what it was like to film the episode and how they decided on editing what we saw onscreen.
“Of course the assault on Anna was a very big decision, I suppose,” comments creator Julian Fellowes. “It’s more significant to take a character where there was nothing negative attached to her at all and have this horrible thing happen.”
“When we were editing the show we tried all sorts of ways of delivering that moment. We decided to look at editing the sequence without showing anything that happened,” adds executive producer Gareth Naeme.
View the full video here which includes Phyllis Logan (Mrs. Hughes) describing how she played her scene with Joanne Froggart (Anna Bates).