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Giving birth is a personal and intimate experience. Some choose to do so at home, while others opt for the amenities that the hospital can offer. In some cases, however, there simply is no choice in where the baby is coming once it decides to come.For the following women, the miracle of life happened in some strange yet memorable places, leaving them with stories to tell for years to come. Here are ten decidedly unusual places where women have given birth.
10
Walmart

While this may sound like the plot of the 2000 Natalie Portman movie Where the Heart Is, it is far from fiction.An unnamed woman in Utah had no plans to give birth the day she went into Walmart to buy a few necessities in October 2016. After managing to complete her shopping trip, the woman and her husband went through checkout and were about to pay when she started feeling pains. By then, it became obvious that she was in labor, but before any other measures were taken, the woman insisted on paying first. Despite the manager insisting it wasn’t necessary, the woman paid for her merchandise and ended up being too far along for emergency services to get there in time to help deliver the baby.The mother gave birth in checkout aisle 11 to a healthy baby boy before being taken to the hospital. Afterward, the store employees and managers stayed in contact with the mother and detailed their plans to throw her a baby shower, providing her with gifts such as diapers and formula and even a cake to celebrate the birth of the baby.[1]This is not the first baby to be born in a Walmart. Similar incidents have occurred in Georgia, Kansas, Colorado, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Virginia, New York, Indiana, and Quebec, giving a whole new meaning to the phrase “one-stop shop.”
9
McDonald’s
Breakfast is considered the most important meal of the day, and at a Sarasota, Florida, McDonald’s in December 2016, it was an important time of the day for a completely different reason.
April Jones was visiting her local McDonald’s to have breakfast with her mother during the latter’s shift on a regular Saturday morning. What April didn’t expect was for her breakfast to be interrupted by a man calling for help. Sean Jordan and his expecting wife Cathy, along with their two-year old son, had also stopped in McDonald’ for a quick bite to eat. While waiting for her food, Cathy had experienced a sudden need to use the restroom, and while she was in there, she began to go into labor. She called for help and was heard by her husband, who alerted the restaurant. A person in the next stall offered Cathy her jacket once Cathy announced she was in labor. Thankfully, April, a nurse who works with the elderly, was able to go to the mother’s aid.By the time April joined the mother in the bathroom stall, Cathy had already started crowning. At this time, it also became obvious that the umbilical cord was wrapped around the baby’s neck. April was able to turn the baby boy and loosen the cord, but he was blue and not breathing on his own. Paramedics arrived on the scene, helping April cut the cord, and the baby was given oxygen.The paramedics took both mother and son to the ambulance for treatment, and April was allowed to see them before they were taken to the hospital. At this point, the baby boy was breathing on his own and had opened his eyes.[2] The experience had April considering going back to school to become a registered nurse and work in labor and delivery, deciding that she was, in fact, “lovin’ it.”

8
Chick-Fil-A
When a baby decides it’s on its way, the time between labor and delivery varies greatly. For one mother, making a pit stop on the way to the hospital didn’t seem to be a problem. Falon Griffin went into labor in July 2018 and was en route to the hospital when she and her husband Robert had to drop their two daughters off with a friend. The meeting point chosen? A San Antonio Chick-fil-A.While Robert was bringing the girls over to meet their friend, Falon had a serious urge to use the restroom. Despite already being in labor, she managed to get out of the car and ask the manager if she could be allowed in. The manager agreed, but it turned out that Falon’s need to use the restroom was a sign of the labor progressing, and the baby was no longer waiting to get to the hospital to arrive.[3]Thankfully, the staff helped Falon and Robert, bringing them towels and standing by as Robert used his shirt to help deliver his newborn daughter right in the bathroom stall. The umbilical cord had been wrapped around the baby’s neck, not once but twice, yet Robert was able to loosen it without alerting his wife to the setback. The baby, named Gracelyn, was born in the bathroom stall, and the manager and Chick-fil-A staff warmed up towels to keep her warm until the paramedics arrived minutes later.After the birth, the store owner pledged that Gracelyn would be able to eat free food there for life and would be guaranteed a job if she wanted it. The manager and staff were so excited that they consulted with the owner so that when Gracelyn turns one, her first birthday can be celebrated in the exact same place she was born.
7
Lifeboat
The use of lifeboats is normally reserved for dire circumstances, when it’s necessary to save the lives of others—or in this case, to help bring a new life into the world. On the Scottish island of Mull, the ferry runs only from 8:00 AM to 8:00 PM, leaving the emergency lifeboat as the only alternative to get back to the mainland. So at around 5:00 AM on August 3, 2009, Junelle Wilson and her husband boarded the Oban lifeboat, hoping they could get to the mainland in time for the paramedics waiting for them at the dock to take them to the hospital.Junelle had realized she was going into labor, and due to the lack of alternatives, she and her husband made the call for the emergency lifeboat to take them. What Junelle didn’t expect was for her contractions to continue to increase and for her baby to decide that right then and there was the best time to come into the world, on a lifeboat in the bay just five minutes from Oban Harbor.[4] Thankfully, the Oban lifeboat crew were prepared, and there was a midwife on board ready to help Junelle deliver her baby. With their help, Junelle gave birth to a healthy baby boy, and about 12 hours after she boarded the lifeboat, both Junelle and her son, Van Harris, were boarding the ferry to go back home.For the crew of the Oban lifeboat, delivering babies is nothing new. Van Harris is one of four babies to have been born on the lifeboat as of 2016 and was the only boy so far.

6
Street Corner
Photo credit: @mattcguard/Twitter
Getting a cab in New York City can be difficult and time-consuming, but for one mother, getting a taxi was the least of her worries. Polly McCourt started to feel ill one afternoon in February 2014. After sending her oldest kid to a playground with a friend, calling for their babysitter to watch her youngest, and heading home, Polly’s symptoms started to worsen. She called her doctor, and Polly was instructed to go to the hospital—immediately.[5]By the time she made it into the lobby of her apartment building after calling her husband, her water had broke. Her doorman had already hailed a cab for her, which arrived at the same moment Polly realized she wouldn’t be making it into the cab, let alone to the hospital. The baby was coming now, right there on the sidewalk outside her building. With the help of her doorman and a crowd that had gathered, Polly delivered her baby girl outside her home.A woman named Isabel Williams offered Polly and her newborn daughter her coat. Polly and her husband Cian, who arrived three minutes after their daughter was born, named the baby Ila Isabel, her middle name chosen for the kindness bestowed upon them by a stranger.
5
Airplane
Photo credit: WPVI-TV
In what was supposed to be a routine flight from San Juan, Puerto Rico, to Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, those on board received a different sort of in-flight entertainment. Despite sounding like the introduction for a TV show, a baby was born during a JetBlue flight in February 2019. The mother had boarded the plane and seemed fine, though it became obvious during the flight that the situation was about to take a turn.Somewhere between Puerto Rico and Florida, the mother began to go into labor, and thanks to the staff on board, she was able to deliver a baby boy with no complications. The mother and baby were reported to be fine and were met on the ground by paramedics who checked them both over.Despite the chaos of having a baby being delivered on the plane, the flight ended up arriving 11 minutes ahead of schedule.[6] The baby is officially JetBlue’s youngest customer to ever fly with them. Coincidentally, the plane which hosted the birth is named “Born to Be Blue.”Babies being born on planes isn’t exactly unheard-of. In 2017, a woman gave birth prematurely to a baby during her Jet Airways flight from Saudi Arabia to India, and the baby was given free plane tickets for life by the airline.

4
Six Flags
Photo credit: WillMcC at the English language Wikipedia
Theme parks are full of happiness, time spent with the family, adventure, and sometimes even unexpected surprises. In July 2018, a Georgia mom named Crusita was enjoying the day at the park with her daughter in Hurricane Harbor at Six Flags when she realized that something was off. She took her daughter with her to the first aid post and informed them that she was pretty certain she was going into labor.The Six Flags team acted quickly, calling emergency responders in to help Crusita, and although they arrived quickly, Crusita was already too far along to make it to the hospital. Instead, Crusita had her baby in the theme park with no complications. The baby boy, named Matthew, was the second baby to be born at the park.[7]To celebrate the birth of Matthew, Six Flags offered both him and his mother Diamond Elite Memberships, allowing them to enter any Six Flags park for free for the rest of their lives.
3
New York Taxi
Photo credit: Chantal McKenna
As the saying goes, when you know, you know. Chantal McKenna had been experiencing contractions since midnight one morning in July 2017. At 7:30 AM, she knew it was time to go to the hospital. Unfortunately, going anywhere in New York takes a bit of time, even if it’s just grabbing the elevator in your own apartment building.Chantal and her husband, Mark, along with their doula, gathered up their things and headed to the elevator, which they found filled. Even though Mark announced that Chantal was in labor and had to go to the hospital, their neighbors only moved out of the way and then rode the elevator the whole 24 floors down while Chantal battled her contractions.[8]By the time they got to the bottom, their Uber had already left. Thankfully, their doorman was able to catch them a cab even though it was the morning rush hour. As the taxi crept through the slow-moving traffic, Chantal’s contractions kept speeding up, and by the time they got to Central Park, Chantal was well-aware that she was going to have her baby right there, in the back of the cab. The baby was born only a few minutes later, surprising both the doula and Chantal, who went to check on how far along Chantal was and found her baby’s head sticking out.The cab driver had pulled over by that time, and emergency personnel were called, all while a crowd gathered, cheering and congratulating the couple. Paramedics checked out the newly named Josef, who was completely healthy, and the family was transported to the hospital—but not before paying their fare and generously tipping their cab driver.

2
A Strip Club Parking Lot
Nate Jones and his wife, Amenze, had planned out the delivery of their baby, but their plans were derailed on the way to the hospital in March 2011 when Nate was pulled over for speeding. Even though they weren’t given a ticket, their timetable was now cut short, and Amenze warned her husband that there was no way she was going to make it to the hospital.Nate chose to pull into the nearest parking lot so that he could call 911. The parking lot in question was that of Flashdancers, a popular Arlington, Texas, strip club. The strip club was not unfamiliar to Nate, a reporter for the local newspaper who had covered the club on a few occasions. Their plans were once again changed when it was discovered that no one from the emergency medical personnel called in had ever delivered a baby before. Thankfully, Amanze knew what to expect, as did Nate, with this being their third child. With the help of paramedics, they were able to deliver their baby boy safely into the world.Bouncers kept the growing crowd at bay; no longer were patrons interested in the show inside but were more focused on what was going outside. The baby, named William, was taken to the hospital and given a clean bill of health.[9]
1
Inside A Hospital Elevator
Getting to the hospital in time can be one of the hardest struggles for mothers when their child decides to change its arrival plans. One mother, Katie Thacker, had the opposite problem in January 2012. After getting safely to the St. Joseph Medical Center in Tacoma, Washington, with her husband, mom, sister, and midwife in tow, Katie was transported along with three nurses to the 14th floor in order for her to give birth.[10] On the way there, however, the elevator made an unplanned stop on floor 12. Deciding to get off to give Katie more space, as her contractions were increasing, her husband (Luke), mom, and sister got off and chose to take the stairs to the 14th floor. However, when they arrived, there was no elevator.After the doors shut back on the 12th floor, the elevator seemed to have malfunctioned, leaving Katie and the nurses stuck between floors. Despite calling in the fire department for aid and reaching out to the elevator company in an attempt to get the elevator up and running again, the baby came before they could be freed. Katie gave birth in the elevator with the help of the nurses and her midwife while information was given to her husband through the nurses’ walkie-talkies. By the time they were able to get the elevator doors slightly ajar, almost two hours later, Luke was able to climb down and cut the umbilical cord.The baby boy was handed up by his father through the doors and over to nurses. The infant was deemed to be healthy and in perfect shape. Katie and Luke decided to nickname their son Otis, after the company whose elevator he was delivered in.
Read more bizarre birth tales on 10 Unreal Tales Of Childbirth and 10 Miraculous Stories Of Stillborn Babies Coming To Life.
More Great Lists

Quit Your Whining: Violet (amiably... for her) says something to this effect to a recently jilted Edith who's worrying what to do with her life.
Rags to Riches: Matthew and Branson each, via the means described under the trope below. On a lesser scale, in Season 3 Robert has bankrupted the estate and there are plans to downsize (they would still appear rich and classy by modern standards, but to them it might as well be poverty), until Matthew comes into (another) inheritance and catapults them back to wealth. (At this point begins Matthew's — and later Branson's — ongoing campaign to modernise the estate and turn it into a profitable, modern agricultural enterprise. It works.)
Rags to Royalty: Branson, after he marries Lady Sybil. It starts out as the opposite, with his wife being "cast down" by the match, but when he's forced to flee his native Ireland and Sybil dies in childbirth, the family take pity on him and his daughter and take them in.
Rape as Drama: Anna, in a way that will break your heart.
Reaction Shot: So many great ones.
Real Life Writes the Plot:
Isobel Crawley went to France in series 2 because Penelope Wilton was busy starring in A Delicate Balance at the Almeida Theatre.
During series 3, Dan Stevens revealed that he wanted to leave the show, putting Fellowes in the quite awkward position of having to write Matthew out after he and Mary were married. Ultimately the only way out was to kill him.
Charles Edwards wasn't able to commit to the show once Fellowes decided to make Gregson a more prominent character, hence the awkward storyline where his status is up in the air for a couple years before Fellowes finally decided to just kill him off.
Samantha Bond was busy doing stage work during filming of Series 3, hence Rosamund's mysterious absence from Mary and Edith's weddings.
Rear Window Witness: Daisy.
Rebellious Princess: Though she's not quite royalty, Lady Sybil is a rebel who is interested in politics, supports women having the vote, wears trousers, consorts with servants and in Season 2 goes so far as to — shudder — actually get a job as a nurse, not to mention marrying the socialist Irish chauffeur, which her father has a hard time coming to terms with.
Replacement Goldfish: Primarily for Mary and Tom:
Following Matthew's death, Mary gets two new love interests, Anthony Gillingham and Charles Blake. And by the time the Season 5 special rolls around, with Gillingham essentially out of the picture, Henry Talbot shows up as a replacement for a replacement.
Less successful in the case of Tom: first comes Edna, a maid who at first seems to admire him but then starts guilt-tripping him and eventually attempts a Baby Trap. Later, Sarah Bunting appears to be a clear replacement, with character traits quite similar to the late Sybil, but turns out too extreme and rude.
Rescue Romance: Played with after Sybil's rescue. Mary assumes that Sybil has a crush on Matthew, but it's Branson who's interested in Sybil.
Reset Button: Edith at the beginning of Season 3.
Revenge: Lady Mary and Lady Edith just seem to chase each other in an endless circle of one-upmanship that increases in cruelty at every new level.
Rich b***h: Mary and Edith, usually to each other.
Rich in Dollars, Poor in Sense: Robert fits this trope, as it is revealed in Season 3 that his poor management of Downton has bankrupted the estate, and it is the former solicitor Matthew (with an unexpected windfall) and chauffeur/sheep farmer’s nephew Branson who reorder the running of the estate to bail it out.
Riches to Rags:
Sybil undergoes this by marrying Branson, although it's an unusual variation in that it's her choice and she welcomes her new lifestyle and claims that she is happy to be “just Mrs Branson”. (This is a very weird occurrence also in that it is synonymous with Branson’s Rags to Royalty rise.)
This looks like it is going to happen when Robert loses Cora’s fortune and it looks like they’re going to lose Downton — they wouldn’t be reduced to anything like 'rags', but they would have to suffer a major reduction in their standard of living. Luckily, this is averted at the last minute.
Rich Language, Poor Language:
The RP of the Crawley family (plus Carson the butler) and other aristocrats versus the Yorkshire accent of Downton's servants and townsfolk.
At Duneagle Castle in Scotland, the RP of the MacClare family versus the Highland accents of their servants.
Right for the Wrong Reasons: In Season 4, Thomas accuses one of the nannies of mistreating the children just because he takes a dislike to her. Of course, Cora should go up to hear her side of the story at precisely the moment that she's telling baby Sybil to "shut up, you filthy little half-breed" because she's keeping her blue-blooded cousin awake.
The Rival: Isobel Crawley to Violet Crawley. This seems less so during Season 3, as they seem fonder of each other and even decide to get a car home together. Even less so when Isobel nurses Violet back to health in Season 4.
The Roaring '20s: The setting for Season 3 and all of Season 4.
Romantic False Lead: Lavinia, Matthew's fiancée.
Romanticism Versus Enlightenment: A recurring theme is the polarisation of the household between the more modern members who want to embrace change (notably Matthew, Sybil and Edith upstairs; Gwen, Thomas and Branson downstairs), those who would rather leave it the way it is/return to the past (Robert and Violet upstairs; Carson downstairs), and those happy to compromise (particularly Cora, Mrs Hughes and Mrs Patmore). Things start to reach a head in Season 3, as Matthew and Robert are now co-owners of the estate and have wildly different ideas about how to run it.
Romantic Rain: When Lady Mary is being escorted by her suitor Henry Talbot to her aunt's place where she is staying in London, it starts raining and they end up sharing a kiss under a roof. Lampshaded by her brother-in-law who says it was romantic.
Rule of Three: Used In-Universe. After the sinking of the Titanic and the death of the Turkish gentleman, Daisy is certain that something else is bound to happen. It takes two years, but sure enough... Maybe people should listen to Daisy more often. Cruelly averted in Season 3, though, when tragedies come in four.
Runaway Groom: Sir Anthony, albeit for selfless reasons.
Running Gag: Beginning with Season 3, the Abbey's more or less always in need of some extra cash.
Screw the Money, I Have Rules!:
Branson turns down Robert's offer of a bribe to abandon Sybil.
Ethel refuses to give her baby to Major Bryant's wealthy parents, as she believes it's better for him to grow up with a poor but loving mother. This is later averted in a redux of the same situation.
Matthew refuses Reggie Swire's inheritance claiming that it would be "taking money under false pretenses" as Reggie didn't know the truth of him and Lavinia. Of course, after two episodes he's given a convenient excuse for accepting.
Screw the Rules, I Have Connections!:
Jane has no shame in asking Robert to influence a prestigious grammar school to award her son a place.
A running theme throughout the show is how this changes over time the Crowley's and by extention the entire aristocratic upper class have less and less connections as time goes on. At the start Robert is a member of the House of Lords with a Conservative government in power several close friends and family members as high ranking members of said government. This allows for them to use their influence (and brag about it) to among other things get William transfered to an officers only hospital and for Robert to find out what happened to Mrs. Patmore nephew. But by the final season the Blue Bloods literally had the upcoming generation die off in World War I, a new Liberal government has taken over and greater economic oppurtunties in cities for lower class people mean less people to work tenant farms or in service so many older families die off or go bankrupt.
Scullery Maid: Daisy. Also Ivy, when she gets there.
Second Episode Introduction: We don't meet Matthew and Isobel until the very last minute of the first episode, where they have a single very short scene.
Secret Keeper:
Several, regarding the Kemal Pamuk affair, but someone spills the beans.
Mrs Patmore regarding Mrs Hughes' cancer scare.
Mrs Hughes keeps Anna's secret about being raped. (Though she eventually lets it out to Mary, to explain why Bates needs to stay home rather than accompany Robert to New York. Mary keeps it thereafter.)
Rosamund regarding Edith's pregnancy at first, although more people find out or figure it out on their own later.
Secret Other Family: The Season 5 Christmas special reveals that Lord Sinderby has a mistress and love child somewhere off on the side. Rose's quick thinking after Sinderby's Secret Other Family shows up at a party finally endears her to her father-in-law.
Self-Made Man:
Cora's father was this as part of his backstory.
Matthew and Richard Carlisle. Lampshaded by Carlisle himself when he explains to Mary that he sees no shame in not being from "old money".
Separated by a Common Language: From the Season 4 Christmas special, when Martha and Harold Levinson cross the pond to visit their Crawley in-laws:
Martha: Well, the gang's all here!
Violet: Is that American for "hello"?
Martha: Harold, I don't believe you've met Tom, Sybil's husband.
Tom: It seems strange we never met when she was here to introduce us.
Harold: Well, I'm glad to know you now.
Violet: How curious these phrases are!
Serious Business: Oh no! We may have to sell our enormous castle and move into a slightly smaller mansion! Branson lampshades this, pointing out that even the smaller mansion is a "fairy palace" by most peoples' standards.
Shell-Shocked Veteran: Lang, the footman.
Shipper on Deck:
Carson, Cora, Robert, The Dowager Countess, Rosamund (although perhaps in part out of guilt for shooting it down the first time), possibly Branson, even Isobel and Anna, even Lavinia, at the end of her life... at this point, is there anyone who doesn't ship Mary/Matthew? Apparently so, for Martha Levinson isn't fond of them to begin with, but it grows on her.
Maybe Edith. Sir Richard.
Mary, for her part, ships Anna/Bates rather blatantly.
Isobel for Sybil/Branson in S2. Matthew jumps on board in S3. (And they do need the support).
Cruelly subverted/deconstructed with O'Brien in Season 3. After discovering that Jimmy not only suspects that Thomas has a crush on him, but is revolted and a whisper away from reporting him to Carson, she starts encouraging Thomas that Jimmy feels the same way. This hearsay evidence is enough to convince Thomas to sneak into Jimmy's room half-undressed and kiss him as he sleeps.
Branson for Mary/Henry in season 6, to Mary's annoyance.
Shipping Torpedo:
Daisy is not fond of anyone Alfred flirts with.
In Season 2, everyone towards Tom and Sybil, and Violet and Rosamund towards Matthew and Lavinia.
Mary effectively and intentionally ruins the engagement between Edith and Bertie Pelham by revealing that Marigold is Edith's daughter.
Ship Tease: If Carson cheerfully singing "She Stole My Heart Away" whilst polishing silver after Mrs Hughes is declared cancer-free — while that lady looks on biting her lip and beaming like a giddy schoolgirl — isn't this, then nothing is. And then in the Season 4 Christmas Special Carson and Hughes holding hands on the beach.
Shirtless Scene:
Branson gets a partial one in Season 1 and then a full one in the Season 3 Christmas Special.
Jimmy has one, just when Thomas happens to stumble upon him undressing.
Shock Value Relationship: Though Rose does genuinely care for Jack Ross, she also plans on marrying him explicitly because she "want(s) to see mummy's face crumble when she finds out." Ironically, she actually does get to see "mummy's face crumble" when she marries a very nice (and aristocratic, if recently so) Jewish boy whom she genuinely loves and who loves her back.
Shot at Dawn: The fate of Mrs Patmore's nephew, for cowardice.
Shout-Out:
Matthew remarks "I am the cat that walks by himself, and all places are alike to me" — a reference to one of Rudyard Kipling's Just So Stories.
In the first Christmas special Mary compares herself and Matthew to Tess Durbeyfield and Angel Clare.
Mrs Hughes makes a parallel between Ethel's story and The Scarlet Letter. Violet doesn't get the reference but says it sounds "most unsuitable" (trust the Dowager Countess not to know anything about American literature!).
In Season 5 Tom and Sybbie play a game of Poohsticks. This is a particularly nice piece of Shown Their Work, as the story that introduced the game was indeed published in 1924 when the episode is set, but Winnie the Pooh hadn't yet been given a name beyond Teddy Bear so they don't actually call it that.
Shown Their Work/Truth in Television:
There was in fact a real Earl of Grantham. The title was created in 1698, but became extinct upon the Earl's death in 1754, because he had no surviving male heirs. Ironically, this also averts the trope of did not do the research, for the press pack states that the First Earl of Grantham (in the show) became earl in 1772, eighteen years later.
Though it's played for laughs, acting was seen by many at the time to be just as disreputable a profession as Carson believes it to be.
It may seem to views like an a** Pull to have Lavinia die of the Spanish flu rather than Cora, especially when the latter was initially responding worse to it. However, part of what made the 1918 flu unique was that, unlike other strains, most of the deaths were from teenagers and young adults with healthy immune systems.
Edith's plans to move to Detroit might sound like a bad case of This example contains a YMMV entry. It should be moved to the YMMV tab.Critical Research Failure - why would an earl's daughter ever want to move to a place whose name is synonymous with urban decay and high crime? But in fact, back in the 1920s, Detroit was one of America's most beautiful and affluent cities, known as "the Paris of the Midwest". So in fact it would be a perfect place for Edith to live a comfortable life and probably not be tracked down.
Sibling Rivalry: Between Mary and Edith. Culminates most viciously in the end of Season 1 when Mary learns that Edith ruined her reputation by informing the Turkish ambassador of the circumstances of Mr Pamuk's death, and ruins Edith's prospect of a good and happy marriage in revenge.
Single Woman Seeks Good Man
Slap-Slap-Kiss: Matthew and Mary, holy crap.
Sleeping Single: Averted by Robert and Cora, despite the fact that "really smart people sleep in separate rooms". Technically Robert's bedroom is his dressing room, essentially a very large walk-in wardrobe adjoining the marital bedroom that also happens to have a small bed in it. This was actually a fairly common practice for aristocracy and royalty at the time, so husbands who had stayed up late playing cards, travelling, or working wouldn't wake their wives by coming to bed late. In Season 3, Cora refuses her bed to Robert because she blames him for Sybil’s death. This is one of the few occations where Robert's own bed gets some use.
Slipping a Mickey: Larry Grey does this to Tom at one dinner early in Season 3; he is roundly condemned for it by everyone, especially his father.
Slut-Shaming: Premarital sex was just short of a crime. For women.
Lady Mary's unfortunate dalliance with the Turk wasn't just unlucky, but very nearly a social disaster, and not merely because he died.
From the second season, housemaid Ethel loves a man in uniform, and when caught with one is sacked without notice and without references. The gentleman has to put his trousers back on. Pregnancy leaves her destitute and him... mildly inconvenienced when people try to rub his nose in it.
By the third season, Ethel has become a prostitute. It goes as well for her as you might imagine when she asks for help. Her son's grandparents are divided: the grandmother is sympathetic and caring, the grandfather heaps her with recrimination and hatred. When Mrs Crawley takes her in as a maid (and later cook), her cook has nothing but contempt for her and eventually leaves Mrs Crawley's service over it. Lady Violet doesn't care for it either, and eventually helps Mrs Crawley get her a position in London, away from the village and its gossip.
Cousin Rose's mother even calls her a slut in the Season 3 Christmas special for wearing a dress in the latest fashion. Lady Violet, of all people, defends her ("Dear me, that's not a word you often hear among the heather"). Amusingly, she then says she has no place to criticise when in her youth she had once worn the latest fashions of the 1860s and '70s:
Violet: Oh, my dear, in my day I wore the crinoline, the bustle, and the leg-of-mutton sleeves; I am not in a strong position to criticise.
Lady Edith in Season 4 is called out by Aunt Rosamund for spending the night with Gregson. Rosamund eventually helps Edith give birth to a child discreetly in Switzerland.
Small Reference Pools: The writers were wise making the sinking of the RMS Titanic as the starting event for the series considering it is the one historical event at the time that is widely known with the general English-speaking public that would logically make such a big impact on the nobility.
Smug Snake: Thomas.
Snow Means Love: The moment when Matthew finally pops the question to Mary (at the end of the Season 2 Christmas special) provides the image on this trope's page.
Someone to Remember Him By:
Gender Swapped with Baby Sybil. It's the mother who dies in this case.
When Matthew is killed in an accident right after the birth of his son we’re even treated to a shot of an unsuspecting Mary holding their baby in the hospital right afterwards to close out the episode.
Though Michael Gregson's fate was unknown when Edith had their baby in Season 4, the confirmation of his death in the following season puts Edith in the same boat.
Something Only They Would Say: Patrick.
Spirited Young Lady: Mary and Sybil.
Spiritual Successor: To Upstairs Downstairs and Gosford Park. Julian Fellowes, who created both Downton and Gosford, This example contains a TRIVIA entry. It should be moved to the TRIVIA tab.says so himself.
Spot of Tea:
Lady Violet: Nanny always said sweet tea is the thing for frayed nerves. Don’t know why it has to be sweet, I couldn’t tell you.
It's just the ticket for when the handsome stranger's sudden death has upset the ladies.
Your estranged wife suddenly appears to ruin any sliver of happiness you might have had. Have some tea.
Sorry, you'll never walk again. Tea?
Mary points this out when she first discovers Sybil and Branson's relationship and says, "What do you think would happen, you'd marry the chauffeur and you'd invite us over for tea?"
Spousal Privilege: Anna is forced onto the sidelines at Bates' trial.
Star-Crossed Lovers: The chauffeur Tom Branson and Lady Sybil. Subverted in that they elope in Season 2.
Stigmatic Pregnancy Euphemism: Edith's pregnancy is covered up with the pretext of going on a long trip to Switzerland with Rosamund.
The Stoic: Bates. Except when he cries alone in his room. So a This example contains a YMMV entry. It should be moved to the YMMV tab.Stoic Woobie, really.
Straight Gay: Thomas.
Strange Minds Think Alike: In the pilot, both Daisy and Robert think its pointless to install electricity in the kitchen.
Succession Crisis: Two of the Earl's heirs die on the Titanic.
Suffrage and Political Liberation: Lady Sybil is a suffragist and socialist. She tries to help women and takes part in a socialist rally. She bonds with Tom Branson, an Irish chauffeur employed at Downton, who is very active politically, too; he's a socialist and fights for the liberation of the Irish. He had a cousin killed in the Easter Rebellion (an armed insurrection in Ireland during Easter Week in April 1916; launched by Irish republicans to end British rule in Ireland and establish an independent Irish Republic while the United Kingdom was heavily engaged in the First World War). There's also a moment where he and Sybil spar over it when she doesn't understand why Tom has such a strong dislike of the English government and military. She views the issue from the English side of things, and even though she's a rebelling daughter, she still grew up among aristocracy.
The Suffragette:
Lady Sybil is a politically active young woman, liberal and radical in her opinions. She's a socialist at heart and supports woman's suffrage. She also cares on a personal level. She befriends housemaid Gwen Dawson who is determined not to follow the prescribed path for women of her social status and strives to make a better life for herself. Lady Sybil helps her.
After WWI, Lady Edith finds out she's a worthy person, too, and finds her cause. She takes an interest in writing about her support for women's suffrage and other political issues to a newspaper.
Gwen Dawson, now Mrs Harding, reappears in season 6. It is revealed that she has made a successful career in government alongside her husband John, and helps to support young women from similarly disadvantaged backgrounds to progress their careers. John is named as a trustee at a woman's college for middle-class girls who want to do other jobs aside from service.
Suicide, Not Murder: The resolution to the mystery of Vera Bates's death.
Sunday Evening Drama Series: In both the U.K. and in the U.S., interestingly enough.
Suspiciously Similar Substitute:
An ambitious redhead that doesn't want to stay in service but go out and make it big. Where have we heard that before, Ethel? Although there are some differences: Gwen's ambition ran only to the much more realistic goal of becoming a secretary; Ethel wants to be a movie star. And Gwen actually works toward her goals (with some help from Lady Sybil), while Ethel seems to think she should just be handed them. In turn, the ends for each of their characters are also very different.
After Sybil's death, Rose seems set to take her place as the upstairs "modern girl", although, in true M*A*S*H fashion, there are clear differences between their characters (Sybil was an idealistic reformer and Rose is a party girl).
After William is killed in World War I, Season 3 brings us Alfred: tall, fair-haired, awkward, and a potential love interest for Daisy.
It takes a while to determine who fits this role most closely, but by the end of Series 4, it appears that Charles Blake is turning out to be this regarding Matthew. He and Mary start out with an initially hostile relationship, then share a sweeter moment or two, and by the end of the season wants to marry her. Sound familiar?
Sarah Bunting has strong opinions, particularly where politics and class are concerned, likes helping people, and is attracted to Tom, much like the late Sybil.

Quit Your Whining: Violet (amiably... for her) says something to this effect to a recently jilted Edith who's worrying what to do with her life.
Rags to Riches: Matthew and Branson each, via the means described under the trope below. On a lesser scale, in Season 3 Robert has bankrupted the estate and there are plans to downsize (they would still appear rich and classy by modern standards, but to them it might as well be poverty), until Matthew comes into (another) inheritance and catapults them back to wealth. (At this point begins Matthew's — and later Branson's — ongoing campaign to modernise the estate and turn it into a profitable, modern agricultural enterprise. It works.)
Rags to Royalty: Branson, after he marries Lady Sybil. It starts out as the opposite, with his wife being "cast down" by the match, but when he's forced to flee his native Ireland and Sybil dies in childbirth, the family take pity on him and his daughter and take them in.
Rape as Drama: Anna, in a way that will break your heart.
Reaction Shot: So many great ones.
Real Life Writes the Plot:
Isobel Crawley went to France in series 2 because Penelope Wilton was busy starring in A Delicate Balance at the Almeida Theatre.
During series 3, Dan Stevens revealed that he wanted to leave the show, putting Fellowes in the quite awkward position of having to write Matthew out after he and Mary were married. Ultimately the only way out was to kill him.
Charles Edwards wasn't able to commit to the show once Fellowes decided to make Gregson a more prominent character, hence the awkward storyline where his status is up in the air for a couple years before Fellowes finally decided to just kill him off.
Samantha Bond was busy doing stage work during filming of Series 3, hence Rosamund's mysterious absence from Mary and Edith's weddings.
Rear Window Witness: Daisy.
Rebellious Princess: Though she's not quite royalty, Lady Sybil is a rebel who is interested in politics, supports women having the vote, wears trousers, consorts with servants and in Season 2 goes so far as to — shudder — actually get a job as a nurse, not to mention marrying the socialist Irish chauffeur, which her father has a hard time coming to terms with.
Replacement Goldfish: Primarily for Mary and Tom:
Following Matthew's death, Mary gets two new love interests, Anthony Gillingham and Charles Blake. And by the time the Season 5 special rolls around, with Gillingham essentially out of the picture, Henry Talbot shows up as a replacement for a replacement.
Less successful in the case of Tom: first comes Edna, a maid who at first seems to admire him but then starts guilt-tripping him and eventually attempts a Baby Trap. Later, Sarah Bunting appears to be a clear replacement, with character traits quite similar to the late Sybil, but turns out too extreme and rude.
Rescue Romance: Played with after Sybil's rescue. Mary assumes that Sybil has a crush on Matthew, but it's Branson who's interested in Sybil.
Reset Button: Edith at the beginning of Season 3.
Revenge: Lady Mary and Lady Edith just seem to chase each other in an endless circle of one-upmanship that increases in cruelty at every new level.
Rich b***h: Mary and Edith, usually to each other.
Rich in Dollars, Poor in Sense: Robert fits this trope, as it is revealed in Season 3 that his poor management of Downton has bankrupted the estate, and it is the former solicitor Matthew (with an unexpected windfall) and chauffeur/sheep farmer’s nephew Branson who reorder the running of the estate to bail it out.
Riches to Rags:
Sybil undergoes this by marrying Branson, although it's an unusual variation in that it's her choice and she welcomes her new lifestyle and claims that she is happy to be “just Mrs Branson”. (This is a very weird occurrence also in that it is synonymous with Branson’s Rags to Royalty rise.)
This looks like it is going to happen when Robert loses Cora’s fortune and it looks like they’re going to lose Downton — they wouldn’t be reduced to anything like 'rags', but they would have to suffer a major reduction in their standard of living. Luckily, this is averted at the last minute.
Rich Language, Poor Language:
The RP of the Crawley family (plus Carson the butler) and other aristocrats versus the Yorkshire accent of Downton's servants and townsfolk.
At Duneagle Castle in Scotland, the RP of the MacClare family versus the Highland accents of their servants.
Right for the Wrong Reasons: In Season 4, Thomas accuses one of the nannies of mistreating the children just because he takes a dislike to her. Of course, Cora should go up to hear her side of the story at precisely the moment that she's telling baby Sybil to "shut up, you filthy little half-breed" because she's keeping her blue-blooded cousin awake.
The Rival: Isobel Crawley to Violet Crawley. This seems less so during Season 3, as they seem fonder of each other and even decide to get a car home together. Even less so when Isobel nurses Violet back to health in Season 4.
The Roaring '20s: The setting for Season 3 and all of Season 4.
Romantic False Lead: Lavinia, Matthew's fiancée.
Romanticism Versus Enlightenment: A recurring theme is the polarisation of the household between the more modern members who want to embrace change (notably Matthew, Sybil and Edith upstairs; Gwen, Thomas and Branson downstairs), those who would rather leave it the way it is/return to the past (Robert and Violet upstairs; Carson downstairs), and those happy to compromise (particularly Cora, Mrs Hughes and Mrs Patmore). Things start to reach a head in Season 3, as Matthew and Robert are now co-owners of the estate and have wildly different ideas about how to run it.
Romantic Rain: When Lady Mary is being escorted by her suitor Henry Talbot to her aunt's place where she is staying in London, it starts raining and they end up sharing a kiss under a roof. Lampshaded by her brother-in-law who says it was romantic.
Rule of Three: Used In-Universe. After the sinking of the Titanic and the death of the Turkish gentleman, Daisy is certain that something else is bound to happen. It takes two years, but sure enough... Maybe people should listen to Daisy more often. Cruelly averted in Season 3, though, when tragedies come in four.
Runaway Groom: Sir Anthony, albeit for selfless reasons.
Running Gag: Beginning with Season 3, the Abbey's more or less always in need of some extra cash.
Screw the Money, I Have Rules!:
Branson turns down Robert's offer of a bribe to abandon Sybil.
Ethel refuses to give her baby to Major Bryant's wealthy parents, as she believes it's better for him to grow up with a poor but loving mother. This is later averted in a redux of the same situation.
Matthew refuses Reggie Swire's inheritance claiming that it would be "taking money under false pretenses" as Reggie didn't know the truth of him and Lavinia. Of course, after two episodes he's given a convenient excuse for accepting.
Screw the Rules, I Have Connections!:
Jane has no shame in asking Robert to influence a prestigious grammar school to award her son a place.
A running theme throughout the show is how this changes over time the Crowley's and by extention the entire aristocratic upper class have less and less connections as time goes on. At the start Robert is a member of the House of Lords with a Conservative government in power several close friends and family members as high ranking members of said government. This allows for them to use their influence (and brag about it) to among other things get William transfered to an officers only hospital and for Robert to find out what happened to Mrs. Patmore nephew. But by the final season the Blue Bloods literally had the upcoming generation die off in World War I, a new Liberal government has taken over and greater economic oppurtunties in cities for lower class people mean less people to work tenant farms or in service so many older families die off or go bankrupt.
Scullery Maid: Daisy. Also Ivy, when she gets there.
Second Episode Introduction: We don't meet Matthew and Isobel until the very last minute of the first episode, where they have a single very short scene.
Secret Keeper:
Several, regarding the Kemal Pamuk affair, but someone spills the beans.
Mrs Patmore regarding Mrs Hughes' cancer scare.
Mrs Hughes keeps Anna's secret about being raped. (Though she eventually lets it out to Mary, to explain why Bates needs to stay home rather than accompany Robert to New York. Mary keeps it thereafter.)
Rosamund regarding Edith's pregnancy at first, although more people find out or figure it out on their own later.
Secret Other Family: The Season 5 Christmas special reveals that Lord Sinderby has a mistress and love child somewhere off on the side. Rose's quick thinking after Sinderby's Secret Other Family shows up at a party finally endears her to her father-in-law.
Self-Made Man:
Cora's father was this as part of his backstory.
Matthew and Richard Carlisle. Lampshaded by Carlisle himself when he explains to Mary that he sees no shame in not being from "old money".
Separated by a Common Language: From the Season 4 Christmas special, when Martha and Harold Levinson cross the pond to visit their Crawley in-laws:
Martha: Well, the gang's all here!
Violet: Is that American for "hello"?
Martha: Harold, I don't believe you've met Tom, Sybil's husband.
Tom: It seems strange we never met when she was here to introduce us.
Harold: Well, I'm glad to know you now.
Violet: How curious these phrases are!
Serious Business: Oh no! We may have to sell our enormous castle and move into a slightly smaller mansion! Branson lampshades this, pointing out that even the smaller mansion is a "fairy palace" by most peoples' standards.
Shell-Shocked Veteran: Lang, the footman.
Shipper on Deck:
Carson, Cora, Robert, The Dowager Countess, Rosamund (although perhaps in part out of guilt for shooting it down the first time), possibly Branson, even Isobel and Anna, even Lavinia, at the end of her life... at this point, is there anyone who doesn't ship Mary/Matthew? Apparently so, for Martha Levinson isn't fond of them to begin with, but it grows on her.
Maybe Edith. Sir Richard.
Mary, for her part, ships Anna/Bates rather blatantly.
Isobel for Sybil/Branson in S2. Matthew jumps on board in S3. (And they do need the support).
Cruelly subverted/deconstructed with O'Brien in Season 3. After discovering that Jimmy not only suspects that Thomas has a crush on him, but is revolted and a whisper away from reporting him to Carson, she starts encouraging Thomas that Jimmy feels the same way. This hearsay evidence is enough to convince Thomas to sneak into Jimmy's room half-undressed and kiss him as he sleeps.
Branson for Mary/Henry in season 6, to Mary's annoyance.
Shipping Torpedo:
Daisy is not fond of anyone Alfred flirts with.
In Season 2, everyone towards Tom and Sybil, and Violet and Rosamund towards Matthew and Lavinia.
Mary effectively and intentionally ruins the engagement between Edith and Bertie Pelham by revealing that Marigold is Edith's daughter.
Ship Tease: If Carson cheerfully singing "She Stole My Heart Away" whilst polishing silver after Mrs Hughes is declared cancer-free — while that lady looks on biting her lip and beaming like a giddy schoolgirl — isn't this, then nothing is. And then in the Season 4 Christmas Special Carson and Hughes holding hands on the beach.
Shirtless Scene:
Branson gets a partial one in Season 1 and then a full one in the Season 3 Christmas Special.
Jimmy has one, just when Thomas happens to stumble upon him undressing.
Shock Value Relationship: Though Rose does genuinely care for Jack Ross, she also plans on marrying him explicitly because she "want(s) to see mummy's face crumble when she finds out." Ironically, she actually does get to see "mummy's face crumble" when she marries a very nice (and aristocratic, if recently so) Jewish boy whom she genuinely loves and who loves her back.
Shot at Dawn: The fate of Mrs Patmore's nephew, for cowardice.
Shout-Out:
Matthew remarks "I am the cat that walks by himself, and all places are alike to me" — a reference to one of Rudyard Kipling's Just So Stories.
In the first Christmas special Mary compares herself and Matthew to Tess Durbeyfield and Angel Clare.
Mrs Hughes makes a parallel between Ethel's story and The Scarlet Letter. Violet doesn't get the reference but says it sounds "most unsuitable" (trust the Dowager Countess not to know anything about American literature!).
In Season 5 Tom and Sybbie play a game of Poohsticks. This is a particularly nice piece of Shown Their Work, as the story that introduced the game was indeed published in 1924 when the episode is set, but Winnie the Pooh hadn't yet been given a name beyond Teddy Bear so they don't actually call it that.
Shown Their Work/Truth in Television:
There was in fact a real Earl of Grantham. The title was created in 1698, but became extinct upon the Earl's death in 1754, because he had no surviving male heirs. Ironically, this also averts the trope of did not do the research, for the press pack states that the First Earl of Grantham (in the show) became earl in 1772, eighteen years later.
Though it's played for laughs, acting was seen by many at the time to be just as disreputable a profession as Carson believes it to be.
It may seem to views like an a** Pull to have Lavinia die of the Spanish flu rather than Cora, especially when the latter was initially responding worse to it. However, part of what made the 1918 flu unique was that, unlike other strains, most of the deaths were from teenagers and young adults with healthy immune systems.
Edith's plans to move to Detroit might sound like a bad case of This example contains a YMMV entry. It should be moved to the YMMV tab.Critical Research Failure - why would an earl's daughter ever want to move to a place whose name is synonymous with urban decay and high crime? But in fact, back in the 1920s, Detroit was one of America's most beautiful and affluent cities, known as "the Paris of the Midwest". So in fact it would be a perfect place for Edith to live a comfortable life and probably not be tracked down.
Sibling Rivalry: Between Mary and Edith. Culminates most viciously in the end of Season 1 when Mary learns that Edith ruined her reputation by informing the Turkish ambassador of the circumstances of Mr Pamuk's death, and ruins Edith's prospect of a good and happy marriage in revenge.
Single Woman Seeks Good Man
Slap-Slap-Kiss: Matthew and Mary, holy crap.
Sleeping Single: Averted by Robert and Cora, despite the fact that "really smart people sleep in separate rooms". Technically Robert's bedroom is his dressing room, essentially a very large walk-in wardrobe adjoining the marital bedroom that also happens to have a small bed in it. This was actually a fairly common practice for aristocracy and royalty at the time, so husbands who had stayed up late playing cards, travelling, or working wouldn't wake their wives by coming to bed late. In Season 3, Cora refuses her bed to Robert because she blames him for Sybil’s death. This is one of the few occations where Robert's own bed gets some use.
Slipping a Mickey: Larry Grey does this to Tom at one dinner early in Season 3; he is roundly condemned for it by everyone, especially his father.
Slut-Shaming: Premarital sex was just short of a crime. For women.
Lady Mary's unfortunate dalliance with the Turk wasn't just unlucky, but very nearly a social disaster, and not merely because he died.
From the second season, housemaid Ethel loves a man in uniform, and when caught with one is sacked without notice and without references. The gentleman has to put his trousers back on. Pregnancy leaves her destitute and him... mildly inconvenienced when people try to rub his nose in it.
By the third season, Ethel has become a prostitute. It goes as well for her as you might imagine when she asks for help. Her son's grandparents are divided: the grandmother is sympathetic and caring, the grandfather heaps her with recrimination and hatred. When Mrs Crawley takes her in as a maid (and later cook), her cook has nothing but contempt for her and eventually leaves Mrs Crawley's service over it. Lady Violet doesn't care for it either, and eventually helps Mrs Crawley get her a position in London, away from the village and its gossip.
Cousin Rose's mother even calls her a slut in the Season 3 Christmas special for wearing a dress in the latest fashion. Lady Violet, of all people, defends her ("Dear me, that's not a word you often hear among the heather"). Amusingly, she then says she has no place to criticise when in her youth she had once worn the latest fashions of the 1860s and '70s:
Violet: Oh, my dear, in my day I wore the crinoline, the bustle, and the leg-of-mutton sleeves; I am not in a strong position to criticise.
Lady Edith in Season 4 is called out by Aunt Rosamund for spending the night with Gregson. Rosamund eventually helps Edith give birth to a child discreetly in Switzerland.
Small Reference Pools: The writers were wise making the sinking of the RMS Titanic as the starting event for the series considering it is the one historical event at the time that is widely known with the general English-speaking public that would logically make such a big impact on the nobility.
Smug Snake: Thomas.
Snow Means Love: The moment when Matthew finally pops the question to Mary (at the end of the Season 2 Christmas special) provides the image on this trope's page.
Someone to Remember Him By:
Gender Swapped with Baby Sybil. It's the mother who dies in this case.
When Matthew is killed in an accident right after the birth of his son we’re even treated to a shot of an unsuspecting Mary holding their baby in the hospital right afterwards to close out the episode.
Though Michael Gregson's fate was unknown when Edith had their baby in Season 4, the confirmation of his death in the following season puts Edith in the same boat.
Something Only They Would Say: Patrick.
Spirited Young Lady: Mary and Sybil.
Spiritual Successor: To Upstairs Downstairs and Gosford Park. Julian Fellowes, who created both Downton and Gosford, This example contains a TRIVIA entry. It should be moved to the TRIVIA tab.says so himself.
Spot of Tea:
Lady Violet: Nanny always said sweet tea is the thing for frayed nerves. Don’t know why it has to be sweet, I couldn’t tell you.
It's just the ticket for when the handsome stranger's sudden death has upset the ladies.
Your estranged wife suddenly appears to ruin any sliver of happiness you might have had. Have some tea.
Sorry, you'll never walk again. Tea?
Mary points this out when she first discovers Sybil and Branson's relationship and says, "What do you think would happen, you'd marry the chauffeur and you'd invite us over for tea?"
Spousal Privilege: Anna is forced onto the sidelines at Bates' trial.
Star-Crossed Lovers: The chauffeur Tom Branson and Lady Sybil. Subverted in that they elope in Season 2.
Stigmatic Pregnancy Euphemism: Edith's pregnancy is covered up with the pretext of going on a long trip to Switzerland with Rosamund.
The Stoic: Bates. Except when he cries alone in his room. So a This example contains a YMMV entry. It should be moved to the YMMV tab.Stoic Woobie, really.
Straight Gay: Thomas.
Strange Minds Think Alike: In the pilot, both Daisy and Robert think its pointless to install electricity in the kitchen.
Succession Crisis: Two of the Earl's heirs die on the Titanic.
Suffrage and Political Liberation: Lady Sybil is a suffragist and socialist. She tries to help women and takes part in a socialist rally. She bonds with Tom Branson, an Irish chauffeur employed at Downton, who is very active politically, too; he's a socialist and fights for the liberation of the Irish. He had a cousin killed in the Easter Rebellion (an armed insurrection in Ireland during Easter Week in April 1916; launched by Irish republicans to end British rule in Ireland and establish an independent Irish Republic while the United Kingdom was heavily engaged in the First World War). There's also a moment where he and Sybil spar over it when she doesn't understand why Tom has such a strong dislike of the English government and military. She views the issue from the English side of things, and even though she's a rebelling daughter, she still grew up among aristocracy.
The Suffragette:
Lady Sybil is a politically active young woman, liberal and radical in her opinions. She's a socialist at heart and supports woman's suffrage. She also cares on a personal level. She befriends housemaid Gwen Dawson who is determined not to follow the prescribed path for women of her social status and strives to make a better life for herself. Lady Sybil helps her.
After WWI, Lady Edith finds out she's a worthy person, too, and finds her cause. She takes an interest in writing about her support for women's suffrage and other political issues to a newspaper.
Gwen Dawson, now Mrs Harding, reappears in season 6. It is revealed that she has made a successful career in government alongside her husband John, and helps to support young women from similarly disadvantaged backgrounds to progress their careers. John is named as a trustee at a woman's college for middle-class girls who want to do other jobs aside from service.
Suicide, Not Murder: The resolution to the mystery of Vera Bates's death.
Sunday Evening Drama Series: In both the U.K. and in the U.S., interestingly enough.
Suspiciously Similar Substitute:
An ambitious redhead that doesn't want to stay in service but go out and make it big. Where have we heard that before, Ethel? Although there are some differences: Gwen's ambition ran only to the much more realistic goal of becoming a secretary; Ethel wants to be a movie star. And Gwen actually works toward her goals (with some help from Lady Sybil), while Ethel seems to think she should just be handed them. In turn, the ends for each of their characters are also very different.
After Sybil's death, Rose seems set to take her place as the upstairs "modern girl", although, in true M*A*S*H fashion, there are clear differences between their characters (Sybil was an idealistic reformer and Rose is a party girl).
After William is killed in World War I, Season 3 brings us Alfred: tall, fair-haired, awkward, and a potential love interest for Daisy.
It takes a while to determine who fits this role most closely, but by the end of Series 4, it appears that Charles Blake is turning out to be this regarding Matthew. He and Mary start out with an initially hostile relationship, then share a sweeter moment or two, and by the end of the season wants to marry her. Sound familiar?
Sarah Bunting has strong opinions, particularly where politics and class are concerned, likes helping people, and is attracted to Tom, much like the late Sybil.

Quit Your Whining: Violet (amiably... for her) says something to this effect to a recently jilted Edith who's worrying what to do with her life.
Rags to Riches: Matthew and Branson each, via the means described under the trope below. On a lesser scale, in Season 3 Robert has bankrupted the estate and there are plans to downsize (they would still appear rich and classy by modern standards, but to them it might as well be poverty), until Matthew comes into (another) inheritance and catapults them back to wealth. (At this point begins Matthew's — and later Branson's — ongoing campaign to modernise the estate and turn it into a profitable, modern agricultural enterprise. It works.)
Rags to Royalty: Branson, after he marries Lady Sybil. It starts out as the opposite, with his wife being "cast down" by the match, but when he's forced to flee his native Ireland and Sybil dies in childbirth, the family take pity on him and his daughter and take them in.
Rape as Drama: Anna, in a way that will break your heart.
Reaction Shot: So many great ones.
Real Life Writes the Plot:
Isobel Crawley went to France in series 2 because Penelope Wilton was busy starring in A Delicate Balance at the Almeida Theatre.
During series 3, Dan Stevens revealed that he wanted to leave the show, putting Fellowes in the quite awkward position of having to write Matthew out after he and Mary were married. Ultimately the only way out was to kill him.
Charles Edwards wasn't able to commit to the show once Fellowes decided to make Gregson a more prominent character, hence the awkward storyline where his status is up in the air for a couple years before Fellowes finally decided to just kill him off.
Samantha Bond was busy doing stage work during filming of Series 3, hence Rosamund's mysterious absence from Mary and Edith's weddings.
Rear Window Witness: Daisy.
Rebellious Princess: Though she's not quite royalty, Lady Sybil is a rebel who is interested in politics, supports women having the vote, wears trousers, consorts with servants and in Season 2 goes so far as to — shudder — actually get a job as a nurse, not to mention marrying the socialist Irish chauffeur, which her father has a hard time coming to terms with.
Replacement Goldfish: Primarily for Mary and Tom:
Following Matthew's death, Mary gets two new love interests, Anthony Gillingham and Charles Blake. And by the time the Season 5 special rolls around, with Gillingham essentially out of the picture, Henry Talbot shows up as a replacement for a replacement.
Less successful in the case of Tom: first comes Edna, a maid who at first seems to admire him but then starts guilt-tripping him and eventually attempts a Baby Trap. Later, Sarah Bunting appears to be a clear replacement, with character traits quite similar to the late Sybil, but turns out too extreme and rude.
Rescue Romance: Played with after Sybil's rescue. Mary assumes that Sybil has a crush on Matthew, but it's Branson who's interested in Sybil.
Reset Button: Edith at the beginning of Season 3.
Revenge: Lady Mary and Lady Edith just seem to chase each other in an endless circle of one-upmanship that increases in cruelty at every new level.
Rich b***h: Mary and Edith, usually to each other.
Rich in Dollars, Poor in Sense: Robert fits this trope, as it is revealed in Season 3 that his poor management of Downton has bankrupted the estate, and it is the former solicitor Matthew (with an unexpected windfall) and chauffeur/sheep farmer’s nephew Branson who reorder the running of the estate to bail it out.
Riches to Rags:
Sybil undergoes this by marrying Branson, although it's an unusual variation in that it's her choice and she welcomes her new lifestyle and claims that she is happy to be “just Mrs Branson”. (This is a very weird occurrence also in that it is synonymous with Branson’s Rags to Royalty rise.)
This looks like it is going to happen when Robert loses Cora’s fortune and it looks like they’re going to lose Downton — they wouldn’t be reduced to anything like 'rags', but they would have to suffer a major reduction in their standard of living. Luckily, this is averted at the last minute.
Rich Language, Poor Language:
The RP of the Crawley family (plus Carson the butler) and other aristocrats versus the Yorkshire accent of Downton's servants and townsfolk.
At Duneagle Castle in Scotland, the RP of the MacClare family versus the Highland accents of their servants.
Right for the Wrong Reasons: In Season 4, Thomas accuses one of the nannies of mistreating the children just because he takes a dislike to her. Of course, Cora should go up to hear her side of the story at precisely the moment that she's telling baby Sybil to "shut up, you filthy little half-breed" because she's keeping her blue-blooded cousin awake.
The Rival: Isobel Crawley to Violet Crawley. This seems less so during Season 3, as they seem fonder of each other and even decide to get a car home together. Even less so when Isobel nurses Violet back to health in Season 4.
The Roaring '20s: The setting for Season 3 and all of Season 4.
Romantic False Lead: Lavinia, Matthew's fiancée.
Romanticism Versus Enlightenment: A recurring theme is the polarisation of the household between the more modern members who want to embrace change (notably Matthew, Sybil and Edith upstairs; Gwen, Thomas and Branson downstairs), those who would rather leave it the way it is/return to the past (Robert and Violet upstairs; Carson downstairs), and those happy to compromise (particularly Cora, Mrs Hughes and Mrs Patmore). Things start to reach a head in Season 3, as Matthew and Robert are now co-owners of the estate and have wildly different ideas about how to run it.
Romantic Rain: When Lady Mary is being escorted by her suitor Henry Talbot to her aunt's place where she is staying in London, it starts raining and they end up sharing a kiss under a roof. Lampshaded by her brother-in-law who says it was romantic.
Rule of Three: Used In-Universe. After the sinking of the Titanic and the death of the Turkish gentleman, Daisy is certain that something else is bound to happen. It takes two years, but sure enough... Maybe people should listen to Daisy more often. Cruelly averted in Season 3, though, when tragedies come in four.
Runaway Groom: Sir Anthony, albeit for selfless reasons.
Running Gag: Beginning with Season 3, the Abbey's more or less always in need of some extra cash.
Screw the Money, I Have Rules!:
Branson turns down Robert's offer of a bribe to abandon Sybil.
Ethel refuses to give her baby to Major Bryant's wealthy parents, as she believes it's better for him to grow up with a poor but loving mother. This is later averted in a redux of the same situation.
Matthew refuses Reggie Swire's inheritance claiming that it would be "taking money under false pretenses" as Reggie didn't know the truth of him and Lavinia. Of course, after two episodes he's given a convenient excuse for accepting.
Screw the Rules, I Have Connections!:
Jane has no shame in asking Robert to influence a prestigious grammar school to award her son a place.
A running theme throughout the show is how this changes over time the Crowley's and by extention the entire aristocratic upper class have less and less connections as time goes on. At the start Robert is a member of the House of Lords with a Conservative government in power several close friends and family members as high ranking members of said government. This allows for them to use their influence (and brag about it) to among other things get William transfered to an officers only hospital and for Robert to find out what happened to Mrs. Patmore nephew. But by the final season the Blue Bloods literally had the upcoming generation die off in World War I, a new Liberal government has taken over and greater economic oppurtunties in cities for lower class people mean less people to work tenant farms or in service so many older families die off or go bankrupt.
Scullery Maid: Daisy. Also Ivy, when she gets there.
Second Episode Introduction: We don't meet Matthew and Isobel until the very last minute of the first episode, where they have a single very short scene.
Secret Keeper:
Several, regarding the Kemal Pamuk affair, but someone spills the beans.
Mrs Patmore regarding Mrs Hughes' cancer scare.
Mrs Hughes keeps Anna's secret about being raped. (Though she eventually lets it out to Mary, to explain why Bates needs to stay home rather than accompany Robert to New York. Mary keeps it thereafter.)
Rosamund regarding Edith's pregnancy at first, although more people find out or figure it out on their own later.
Secret Other Family: The Season 5 Christmas special reveals that Lord Sinderby has a mistress and love child somewhere off on the side. Rose's quick thinking after Sinderby's Secret Other Family shows up at a party finally endears her to her father-in-law.
Self-Made Man:
Cora's father was this as part of his backstory.
Matthew and Richard Carlisle. Lampshaded by Carlisle himself when he explains to Mary that he sees no shame in not being from "old money".
Separated by a Common Language: From the Season 4 Christmas special, when Martha and Harold Levinson cross the pond to visit their Crawley in-laws:
Martha: Well, the gang's all here!
Violet: Is that American for "hello"?
Martha: Harold, I don't believe you've met Tom, Sybil's husband.
Tom: It seems strange we never met when she was here to introduce us.
Harold: Well, I'm glad to know you now.
Violet: How curious these phrases are!
Serious Business: Oh no! We may have to sell our enormous castle and move into a slightly smaller mansion! Branson lampshades this, pointing out that even the smaller mansion is a "fairy palace" by most peoples' standards.
Shell-Shocked Veteran: Lang, the footman.
Shipper on Deck:
Carson, Cora, Robert, The Dowager Countess, Rosamund (although perhaps in part out of guilt for shooting it down the first time), possibly Branson, even Isobel and Anna, even Lavinia, at the end of her life... at this point, is there anyone who doesn't ship Mary/Matthew? Apparently so, for Martha Levinson isn't fond of them to begin with, but it grows on her.
Maybe Edith. Sir Richard.
Mary, for her part, ships Anna/Bates rather blatantly.
Isobel for Sybil/Branson in S2. Matthew jumps on board in S3. (And they do need the support).
Cruelly subverted/deconstructed with O'Brien in Season 3. After discovering that Jimmy not only suspects that Thomas has a crush on him, but is revolted and a whisper away from reporting him to Carson, she starts encouraging Thomas that Jimmy feels the same way. This hearsay evidence is enough to convince Thomas to sneak into Jimmy's room half-undressed and kiss him as he sleeps.
Branson for Mary/Henry in season 6, to Mary's annoyance.
Shipping Torpedo:
Daisy is not fond of anyone Alfred flirts with.
In Season 2, everyone towards Tom and Sybil, and Violet and Rosamund towards Matthew and Lavinia.
Mary effectively and intentionally ruins the engagement between Edith and Bertie Pelham by revealing that Marigold is Edith's daughter.
Ship Tease: If Carson cheerfully singing "She Stole My Heart Away" whilst polishing silver after Mrs Hughes is declared cancer-free — while that lady looks on biting her lip and beaming like a giddy schoolgirl — isn't this, then nothing is. And then in the Season 4 Christmas Special Carson and Hughes holding hands on the beach.
Shirtless Scene:
Branson gets a partial one in Season 1 and then a full one in the Season 3 Christmas Special.
Jimmy has one, just when Thomas happens to stumble upon him undressing.
Shock Value Relationship: Though Rose does genuinely care for Jack Ross, she also plans on marrying him explicitly because she "want(s) to see mummy's face crumble when she finds out." Ironically, she actually does get to see "mummy's face crumble" when she marries a very nice (and aristocratic, if recently so) Jewish boy whom she genuinely loves and who loves her back.
Shot at Dawn: The fate of Mrs Patmore's nephew, for cowardice.
Shout-Out:
Matthew remarks "I am the cat that walks by himself, and all places are alike to me" — a reference to one of Rudyard Kipling's Just So Stories.
In the first Christmas special Mary compares herself and Matthew to Tess Durbeyfield and Angel Clare.
Mrs Hughes makes a parallel between Ethel's story and The Scarlet Letter. Violet doesn't get the reference but says it sounds "most unsuitable" (trust the Dowager Countess not to know anything about American literature!).
In Season 5 Tom and Sybbie play a game of Poohsticks. This is a particularly nice piece of Shown Their Work, as the story that introduced the game was indeed published in 1924 when the episode is set, but Winnie the Pooh hadn't yet been given a name beyond Teddy Bear so they don't actually call it that.
Shown Their Work/Truth in Television:
There was in fact a real Earl of Grantham. The title was created in 1698, but became extinct upon the Earl's death in 1754, because he had no surviving male heirs. Ironically, this also averts the trope of did not do the research, for the press pack states that the First Earl of Grantham (in the show) became earl in 1772, eighteen years later.
Though it's played for laughs, acting was seen by many at the time to be just as disreputable a profession as Carson believes it to be.
It may seem to views like an a** Pull to have Lavinia die of the Spanish flu rather than Cora, especially when the latter was initially responding worse to it. However, part of what made the 1918 flu unique was that, unlike other strains, most of the deaths were from teenagers and young adults with healthy immune systems.
Edith's plans to move to Detroit might sound like a bad case of This example contains a YMMV entry. It should be moved to the YMMV tab.Critical Research Failure - why would an earl's daughter ever want to move to a place whose name is synonymous with urban decay and high crime? But in fact, back in the 1920s, Detroit was one of America's most beautiful and affluent cities, known as "the Paris of the Midwest". So in fact it would be a perfect place for Edith to live a comfortable life and probably not be tracked down.
Sibling Rivalry: Between Mary and Edith. Culminates most viciously in the end of Season 1 when Mary learns that Edith ruined her reputation by informing the Turkish ambassador of the circumstances of Mr Pamuk's death, and ruins Edith's prospect of a good and happy marriage in revenge.
Single Woman Seeks Good Man
Slap-Slap-Kiss: Matthew and Mary, holy crap.
Sleeping Single: Averted by Robert and Cora, despite the fact that "really smart people sleep in separate rooms". Technically Robert's bedroom is his dressing room, essentially a very large walk-in wardrobe adjoining the marital bedroom that also happens to have a small bed in it. This was actually a fairly common practice for aristocracy and royalty at the time, so husbands who had stayed up late playing cards, travelling, or working wouldn't wake their wives by coming to bed late. In Season 3, Cora refuses her bed to Robert because she blames him for Sybil’s death. This is one of the few occations where Robert's own bed gets some use.
Slipping a Mickey: Larry Grey does this to Tom at one dinner early in Season 3; he is roundly condemned for it by everyone, especially his father.
Slut-Shaming: Premarital sex was just short of a crime. For women.
Lady Mary's unfortunate dalliance with the Turk wasn't just unlucky, but very nearly a social disaster, and not merely because he died.
From the second season, housemaid Ethel loves a man in uniform, and when caught with one is sacked without notice and without references. The gentleman has to put his trousers back on. Pregnancy leaves her destitute and him... mildly inconvenienced when people try to rub his nose in it.
By the third season, Ethel has become a prostitute. It goes as well for her as you might imagine when she asks for help. Her son's grandparents are divided: the grandmother is sympathetic and caring, the grandfather heaps her with recrimination and hatred. When Mrs Crawley takes her in as a maid (and later cook), her cook has nothing but contempt for her and eventually leaves Mrs Crawley's service over it. Lady Violet doesn't care for it either, and eventually helps Mrs Crawley get her a position in London, away from the village and its gossip.
Cousin Rose's mother even calls her a slut in the Season 3 Christmas special for wearing a dress in the latest fashion. Lady Violet, of all people, defends her ("Dear me, that's not a word you often hear among the heather"). Amusingly, she then says she has no place to criticise when in her youth she had once worn the latest fashions of the 1860s and '70s:
Violet: Oh, my dear, in my day I wore the crinoline, the bustle, and the leg-of-mutton sleeves; I am not in a strong position to criticise.
Lady Edith in Season 4 is called out by Aunt Rosamund for spending the night with Gregson. Rosamund eventually helps Edith give birth to a child discreetly in Switzerland.
Small Reference Pools: The writers were wise making the sinking of the RMS Titanic as the starting event for the series considering it is the one historical event at the time that is widely known with the general English-speaking public that would logically make such a big impact on the nobility.
Smug Snake: Thomas.
Snow Means Love: The moment when Matthew finally pops the question to Mary (at the end of the Season 2 Christmas special) provides the image on this trope's page.
Someone to Remember Him By:
Gender Swapped with Baby Sybil. It's the mother who dies in this case.
When Matthew is killed in an accident right after the birth of his son we’re even treated to a shot of an unsuspecting Mary holding their baby in the hospital right afterwards to close out the episode.
Though Michael Gregson's fate was unknown when Edith had their baby in Season 4, the confirmation of his death in the following season puts Edith in the same boat.
Something Only They Would Say: Patrick.
Spirited Young Lady: Mary and Sybil.
Spiritual Successor: To Upstairs Downstairs and Gosford Park. Julian Fellowes, who created both Downton and Gosford, This example contains a TRIVIA entry. It should be moved to the TRIVIA tab.says so himself.
Spot of Tea:
Lady Violet: Nanny always said sweet tea is the thing for frayed nerves. Don’t know why it has to be sweet, I couldn’t tell you.
It's just the ticket for when the handsome stranger's sudden death has upset the ladies.
Your estranged wife suddenly appears to ruin any sliver of happiness you might have had. Have some tea.
Sorry, you'll never walk again. Tea?
Mary points this out when she first discovers Sybil and Branson's relationship and says, "What do you think would happen, you'd marry the chauffeur and you'd invite us over for tea?"
Spousal Privilege: Anna is forced onto the sidelines at Bates' trial.
Star-Crossed Lovers: The chauffeur Tom Branson and Lady Sybil. Subverted in that they elope in Season 2.
Stigmatic Pregnancy Euphemism: Edith's pregnancy is covered up with the pretext of going on a long trip to Switzerland with Rosamund.
The Stoic: Bates. Except when he cries alone in his room. So a This example contains a YMMV entry. It should be moved to the YMMV tab.Stoic Woobie, really.
Straight Gay: Thomas.
Strange Minds Think Alike: In the pilot, both Daisy and Robert think its pointless to install electricity in the kitchen.
Succession Crisis: Two of the Earl's heirs die on the Titanic.
Suffrage and Political Liberation: Lady Sybil is a suffragist and socialist. She tries to help women and takes part in a socialist rally. She bonds with Tom Branson, an Irish chauffeur employed at Downton, who is very active politically, too; he's a socialist and fights for the liberation of the Irish. He had a cousin killed in the Easter Rebellion (an armed insurrection in Ireland during Easter Week in April 1916; launched by Irish republicans to end British rule in Ireland and establish an independent Irish Republic while the United Kingdom was heavily engaged in the First World War). There's also a moment where he and Sybil spar over it when she doesn't understand why Tom has such a strong dislike of the English government and military. She views the issue from the English side of things, and even though she's a rebelling daughter, she still grew up among aristocracy.
The Suffragette:
Lady Sybil is a politically active young woman, liberal and radical in her opinions. She's a socialist at heart and supports woman's suffrage. She also cares on a personal level. She befriends housemaid Gwen Dawson who is determined not to follow the prescribed path for women of her social status and strives to make a better life for herself. Lady Sybil helps her.
After WWI, Lady Edith finds out she's a worthy person, too, and finds her cause. She takes an interest in writing about her support for women's suffrage and other political issues to a newspaper.
Gwen Dawson, now Mrs Harding, reappears in season 6. It is revealed that she has made a successful career in government alongside her husband John, and helps to support young women from similarly disadvantaged backgrounds to progress their careers. John is named as a trustee at a woman's college for middle-class girls who want to do other jobs aside from service.
Suicide, Not Murder: The resolution to the mystery of Vera Bates's death.
Sunday Evening Drama Series: In both the U.K. and in the U.S., interestingly enough.
Suspiciously Similar Substitute:
An ambitious redhead that doesn't want to stay in service but go out and make it big. Where have we heard that before, Ethel? Although there are some differences: Gwen's ambition ran only to the much more realistic goal of becoming a secretary; Ethel wants to be a movie star. And Gwen actually works toward her goals (with some help from Lady Sybil), while Ethel seems to think she should just be handed them. In turn, the ends for each of their characters are also very different.
After Sybil's death, Rose seems set to take her place as the upstairs "modern girl", although, in true M*A*S*H fashion, there are clear differences between their characters (Sybil was an idealistic reformer and Rose is a party girl).
After William is killed in World War I, Season 3 brings us Alfred: tall, fair-haired, awkward, and a potential love interest for Daisy.
It takes a while to determine who fits this role most closely, but by the end of Series 4, it appears that Charles Blake is turning out to be this regarding Matthew. He and Mary start out with an initially hostile relationship, then share a sweeter moment or two, and by the end of the season wants to marry her. Sound familiar?
Sarah Bunting has strong opinions, particularly where politics and class are concerned, likes helping people, and is attracted to Tom, much like the late Sybil.

Quit Your Whining: Violet (amiably... for her) says something to this effect to a recently jilted Edith who's worrying what to do with her life.
Rags to Riches: Matthew and Branson each, via the means described under the trope below. On a lesser scale, in Season 3 Robert has bankrupted the estate and there are plans to downsize (they would still appear rich and classy by modern standards, but to them it might as well be poverty), until Matthew comes into (another) inheritance and catapults them back to wealth. (At this point begins Matthew's — and later Branson's — ongoing campaign to modernise the estate and turn it into a profitable, modern agricultural enterprise. It works.)
Rags to Royalty: Branson, after he marries Lady Sybil. It starts out as the opposite, with his wife being "cast down" by the match, but when he's forced to flee his native Ireland and Sybil dies in childbirth, the family take pity on him and his daughter and take them in.
Rape as Drama: Anna, in a way that will break your heart.
Reaction Shot: So many great ones.
Real Life Writes the Plot:
Isobel Crawley went to France in series 2 because Penelope Wilton was busy starring in A Delicate Balance at the Almeida Theatre.
During series 3, Dan Stevens revealed that he wanted to leave the show, putting Fellowes in the quite awkward position of having to write Matthew out after he and Mary were married. Ultimately the only way out was to kill him.
Charles Edwards wasn't able to commit to the show once Fellowes decided to make Gregson a more prominent character, hence the awkward storyline where his status is up in the air for a couple years before Fellowes finally decided to just kill him off.
Samantha Bond was busy doing stage work during filming of Series 3, hence Rosamund's mysterious absence from Mary and Edith's weddings.
Rear Window Witness: Daisy.
Rebellious Princess: Though she's not quite royalty, Lady Sybil is a rebel who is interested in politics, supports women having the vote, wears trousers, consorts with servants and in Season 2 goes so far as to — shudder — actually get a job as a nurse, not to mention marrying the socialist Irish chauffeur, which her father has a hard time coming to terms with.
Replacement Goldfish: Primarily for Mary and Tom:
Following Matthew's death, Mary gets two new love interests, Anthony Gillingham and Charles Blake. And by the time the Season 5 special rolls around, with Gillingham essentially out of the picture, Henry Talbot shows up as a replacement for a replacement.
Less successful in the case of Tom: first comes Edna, a maid who at first seems to admire him but then starts guilt-tripping him and eventually attempts a Baby Trap. Later, Sarah Bunting appears to be a clear replacement, with character traits quite similar to the late Sybil, but turns out too extreme and rude.
Rescue Romance: Played with after Sybil's rescue. Mary assumes that Sybil has a crush on Matthew, but it's Branson who's interested in Sybil.
Reset Button: Edith at the beginning of Season 3.
Revenge: Lady Mary and Lady Edith just seem to chase each other in an endless circle of one-upmanship that increases in cruelty at every new level.
Rich b***h: Mary and Edith, usually to each other.
Rich in Dollars, Poor in Sense: Robert fits this trope, as it is revealed in Season 3 that his poor management of Downton has bankrupted the estate, and it is the former solicitor Matthew (with an unexpected windfall) and chauffeur/sheep farmer’s nephew Branson who reorder the running of the estate to bail it out.
Riches to Rags:
Sybil undergoes this by marrying Branson, although it's an unusual variation in that it's her choice and she welcomes her new lifestyle and claims that she is happy to be “just Mrs Branson”. (This is a very weird occurrence also in that it is synonymous with Branson’s Rags to Royalty rise.)
This looks like it is going to happen when Robert loses Cora’s fortune and it looks like they’re going to lose Downton — they wouldn’t be reduced to anything like 'rags', but they would have to suffer a major reduction in their standard of living. Luckily, this is averted at the last minute.
Rich Language, Poor Language:
The RP of the Crawley family (plus Carson the butler) and other aristocrats versus the Yorkshire accent of Downton's servants and townsfolk.
At Duneagle Castle in Scotland, the RP of the MacClare family versus the Highland accents of their servants.
Right for the Wrong Reasons: In Season 4, Thomas accuses one of the nannies of mistreating the children just because he takes a dislike to her. Of course, Cora should go up to hear her side of the story at precisely the moment that she's telling baby Sybil to "shut up, you filthy little half-breed" because she's keeping her blue-blooded cousin awake.
The Rival: Isobel Crawley to Violet Crawley. This seems less so during Season 3, as they seem fonder of each other and even decide to get a car home together. Even less so when Isobel nurses Violet back to health in Season 4.
The Roaring '20s: The setting for Season 3 and all of Season 4.
Romantic False Lead: Lavinia, Matthew's fiancée.
Romanticism Versus Enlightenment: A recurring theme is the polarisation of the household between the more modern members who want to embrace change (notably Matthew, Sybil and Edith upstairs; Gwen, Thomas and Branson downstairs), those who would rather leave it the way it is/return to the past (Robert and Violet upstairs; Carson downstairs), and those happy to compromise (particularly Cora, Mrs Hughes and Mrs Patmore). Things start to reach a head in Season 3, as Matthew and Robert are now co-owners of the estate and have wildly different ideas about how to run it.
Romantic Rain: When Lady Mary is being escorted by her suitor Henry Talbot to her aunt's place where she is staying in London, it starts raining and they end up sharing a kiss under a roof. Lampshaded by her brother-in-law who says it was romantic.
Rule of Three: Used In-Universe. After the sinking of the Titanic and the death of the Turkish gentleman, Daisy is certain that something else is bound to happen. It takes two years, but sure enough... Maybe people should listen to Daisy more often. Cruelly averted in Season 3, though, when tragedies come in four.
Runaway Groom: Sir Anthony, albeit for selfless reasons.
Running Gag: Beginning with Season 3, the Abbey's more or less always in need of some extra cash.
Screw the Money, I Have Rules!:
Branson turns down Robert's offer of a bribe to abandon Sybil.
Ethel refuses to give her baby to Major Bryant's wealthy parents, as she believes it's better for him to grow up with a poor but loving mother. This is later averted in a redux of the same situation.
Matthew refuses Reggie Swire's inheritance claiming that it would be "taking money under false pretenses" as Reggie didn't know the truth of him and Lavinia. Of course, after two episodes he's given a convenient excuse for accepting.
Screw the Rules, I Have Connections!:
Jane has no shame in asking Robert to influence a prestigious grammar school to award her son a place.
A running theme throughout the show is how this changes over time the Crowley's and by extention the entire aristocratic upper class have less and less connections as time goes on. At the start Robert is a member of the House of Lords with a Conservative government in power several close friends and family members as high ranking members of said government. This allows for them to use their influence (and brag about it) to among other things get William transfered to an officers only hospital and for Robert to find out what happened to Mrs. Patmore nephew. But by the final season the Blue Bloods literally had the upcoming generation die off in World War I, a new Liberal government has taken over and greater economic oppurtunties in cities for lower class people mean less people to work tenant farms or in service so many older families die off or go bankrupt.
Scullery Maid: Daisy. Also Ivy, when she gets there.
Second Episode Introduction: We don't meet Matthew and Isobel until the very last minute of the first episode, where they have a single very short scene.
Secret Keeper:
Several, regarding the Kemal Pamuk affair, but someone spills the beans.
Mrs Patmore regarding Mrs Hughes' cancer scare.
Mrs Hughes keeps Anna's secret about being raped. (Though she eventually lets it out to Mary, to explain why Bates needs to stay home rather than accompany Robert to New York. Mary keeps it thereafter.)
Rosamund regarding Edith's pregnancy at first, although more people find out or figure it out on their own later.
Secret Other Family: The Season 5 Christmas special reveals that Lord Sinderby has a mistress and love child somewhere off on the side. Rose's quick thinking after Sinderby's Secret Other Family shows up at a party finally endears her to her father-in-law.
Self-Made Man:
Cora's father was this as part of his backstory.
Matthew and Richard Carlisle. Lampshaded by Carlisle himself when he explains to Mary that he sees no shame in not being from "old money".
Separated by a Common Language: From the Season 4 Christmas special, when Martha and Harold Levinson cross the pond to visit their Crawley in-laws:
Martha: Well, the gang's all here!
Violet: Is that American for "hello"?
Martha: Harold, I don't believe you've met Tom, Sybil's husband.
Tom: It seems strange we never met when she was here to introduce us.
Harold: Well, I'm glad to know you now.
Violet: How curious these phrases are!
Serious Business: Oh no! We may have to sell our enormous castle and move into a slightly smaller mansion! Branson lampshades this, pointing out that even the smaller mansion is a "fairy palace" by most peoples' standards.
Shell-Shocked Veteran: Lang, the footman.
Shipper on Deck:
Carson, Cora, Robert, The Dowager Countess, Rosamund (although perhaps in part out of guilt for shooting it down the first time), possibly Branson, even Isobel and Anna, even Lavinia, at the end of her life... at this point, is there anyone who doesn't ship Mary/Matthew? Apparently so, for Martha Levinson isn't fond of them to begin with, but it grows on her.
Maybe Edith. Sir Richard.
Mary, for her part, ships Anna/Bates rather blatantly.
Isobel for Sybil/Branson in S2. Matthew jumps on board in S3. (And they do need the support).
Cruelly subverted/deconstructed with O'Brien in Season 3. After discovering that Jimmy not only suspects that Thomas has a crush on him, but is revolted and a whisper away from reporting him to Carson, she starts encouraging Thomas that Jimmy feels the same way. This hearsay evidence is enough to convince Thomas to sneak into Jimmy's room half-undressed and kiss him as he sleeps.
Branson for Mary/Henry in season 6, to Mary's annoyance.
Shipping Torpedo:
Daisy is not fond of anyone Alfred flirts with.
In Season 2, everyone towards Tom and Sybil, and Violet and Rosamund towards Matthew and Lavinia.
Mary effectively and intentionally ruins the engagement between Edith and Bertie Pelham by revealing that Marigold is Edith's daughter.
Ship Tease: If Carson cheerfully singing "She Stole My Heart Away" whilst polishing silver after Mrs Hughes is declared cancer-free — while that lady looks on biting her lip and beaming like a giddy schoolgirl — isn't this, then nothing is. And then in the Season 4 Christmas Special Carson and Hughes holding hands on the beach.
Shirtless Scene:
Branson gets a partial one in Season 1 and then a full one in the Season 3 Christmas Special.
Jimmy has one, just when Thomas happens to stumble upon him undressing.
Shock Value Relationship: Though Rose does genuinely care for Jack Ross, she also plans on marrying him explicitly because she "want(s) to see mummy's face crumble when she finds out." Ironically, she actually does get to see "mummy's face crumble" when she marries a very nice (and aristocratic, if recently so) Jewish boy whom she genuinely loves and who loves her back.
Shot at Dawn: The fate of Mrs Patmore's nephew, for cowardice.
Shout-Out:
Matthew remarks "I am the cat that walks by himself, and all places are alike to me" — a reference to one of Rudyard Kipling's Just So Stories.
In the first Christmas special Mary compares herself and Matthew to Tess Durbeyfield and Angel Clare.
Mrs Hughes makes a parallel between Ethel's story and The Scarlet Letter. Violet doesn't get the reference but says it sounds "most unsuitable" (trust the Dowager Countess not to know anything about American literature!).
In Season 5 Tom and Sybbie play a game of Poohsticks. This is a particularly nice piece of Shown Their Work, as the story that introduced the game was indeed published in 1924 when the episode is set, but Winnie the Pooh hadn't yet been given a name beyond Teddy Bear so they don't actually call it that.
Shown Their Work/Truth in Television:
There was in fact a real Earl of Grantham. The title was created in 1698, but became extinct upon the Earl's death in 1754, because he had no surviving male heirs. Ironically, this also averts the trope of did not do the research, for the press pack states that the First Earl of Grantham (in the show) became earl in 1772, eighteen years later.
Though it's played for laughs, acting was seen by many at the time to be just as disreputable a profession as Carson believes it to be.
It may seem to views like an a** Pull to have Lavinia die of the Spanish flu rather than Cora, especially when the latter was initially responding worse to it. However, part of what made the 1918 flu unique was that, unlike other strains, most of the deaths were from teenagers and young adults with healthy immune systems.
Edith's plans to move to Detroit might sound like a bad case of This example contains a YMMV entry. It should be moved to the YMMV tab.Critical Research Failure - why would an earl's daughter ever want to move to a place whose name is synonymous with urban decay and high crime? But in fact, back in the 1920s, Detroit was one of America's most beautiful and affluent cities, known as "the Paris of the Midwest". So in fact it would be a perfect place for Edith to live a comfortable life and probably not be tracked down.
Sibling Rivalry: Between Mary and Edith. Culminates most viciously in the end of Season 1 when Mary learns that Edith ruined her reputation by informing the Turkish ambassador of the circumstances of Mr Pamuk's death, and ruins Edith's prospect of a good and happy marriage in revenge.
Single Woman Seeks Good Man
Slap-Slap-Kiss: Matthew and Mary, holy crap.
Sleeping Single: Averted by Robert and Cora, despite the fact that "really smart people sleep in separate rooms". Technically Robert's bedroom is his dressing room, essentially a very large walk-in wardrobe adjoining the marital bedroom that also happens to have a small bed in it. This was actually a fairly common practice for aristocracy and royalty at the time, so husbands who had stayed up late playing cards, travelling, or working wouldn't wake their wives by coming to bed late. In Season 3, Cora refuses her bed to Robert because she blames him for Sybil’s death. This is one of the few occations where Robert's own bed gets some use.
Slipping a Mickey: Larry Grey does this to Tom at one dinner early in Season 3; he is roundly condemned for it by everyone, especially his father.
Slut-Shaming: Premarital sex was just short of a crime. For women.
Lady Mary's unfortunate dalliance with the Turk wasn't just unlucky, but very nearly a social disaster, and not merely because he died.
From the second season, housemaid Ethel loves a man in uniform, and when caught with one is sacked without notice and without references. The gentleman has to put his trousers back on. Pregnancy leaves her destitute and him... mildly inconvenienced when people try to rub his nose in it.
By the third season, Ethel has become a prostitute. It goes as well for her as you might imagine when she asks for help. Her son's grandparents are divided: the grandmother is sympathetic and caring, the grandfather heaps her with recrimination and hatred. When Mrs Crawley takes her in as a maid (and later cook), her cook has nothing but contempt for her and eventually leaves Mrs Crawley's service over it. Lady Violet doesn't care for it either, and eventually helps Mrs Crawley get her a position in London, away from the village and its gossip.
Cousin Rose's mother even calls her a slut in the Season 3 Christmas special for wearing a dress in the latest fashion. Lady Violet, of all people, defends her ("Dear me, that's not a word you often hear among the heather"). Amusingly, she then says she has no place to criticise when in her youth she had once worn the latest fashions of the 1860s and '70s:
Violet: Oh, my dear, in my day I wore the crinoline, the bustle, and the leg-of-mutton sleeves; I am not in a strong position to criticise.
Lady Edith in Season 4 is called out by Aunt Rosamund for spending the night with Gregson. Rosamund eventually helps Edith give birth to a child discreetly in Switzerland.
Small Reference Pools: The writers were wise making the sinking of the RMS Titanic as the starting event for the series considering it is the one historical event at the time that is widely known with the general English-speaking public that would logically make such a big impact on the nobility.
Smug Snake: Thomas.
Snow Means Love: The moment when Matthew finally pops the question to Mary (at the end of the Season 2 Christmas special) provides the image on this trope's page.
Someone to Remember Him By:
Gender Swapped with Baby Sybil. It's the mother who dies in this case.
When Matthew is killed in an accident right after the birth of his son we’re even treated to a shot of an unsuspecting Mary holding their baby in the hospital right afterwards to close out the episode.
Though Michael Gregson's fate was unknown when Edith had their baby in Season 4, the confirmation of his death in the following season puts Edith in the same boat.
Something Only They Would Say: Patrick.
Spirited Young Lady: Mary and Sybil.
Spiritual Successor: To Upstairs Downstairs and Gosford Park. Julian Fellowes, who created both Downton and Gosford, This example contains a TRIVIA entry. It should be moved to the TRIVIA tab.says so himself.
Spot of Tea:
Lady Violet: Nanny always said sweet tea is the thing for frayed nerves. Don’t know why it has to be sweet, I couldn’t tell you.
It's just the ticket for when the handsome stranger's sudden death has upset the ladies.
Your estranged wife suddenly appears to ruin any sliver of happiness you might have had. Have some tea.
Sorry, you'll never walk again. Tea?
Mary points this out when she first discovers Sybil and Branson's relationship and says, "What do you think would happen, you'd marry the chauffeur and you'd invite us over for tea?"
Spousal Privilege: Anna is forced onto the sidelines at Bates' trial.
Star-Crossed Lovers: The chauffeur Tom Branson and Lady Sybil. Subverted in that they elope in Season 2.
Stigmatic Pregnancy Euphemism: Edith's pregnancy is covered up with the pretext of going on a long trip to Switzerland with Rosamund.
The Stoic: Bates. Except when he cries alone in his room. So a This example contains a YMMV entry. It should be moved to the YMMV tab.Stoic Woobie, really.
Straight Gay: Thomas.
Strange Minds Think Alike: In the pilot, both Daisy and Robert think its pointless to install electricity in the kitchen.
Succession Crisis: Two of the Earl's heirs die on the Titanic.
Suffrage and Political Liberation: Lady Sybil is a suffragist and socialist. She tries to help women and takes part in a socialist rally. She bonds with Tom Branson, an Irish chauffeur employed at Downton, who is very active politically, too; he's a socialist and fights for the liberation of the Irish. He had a cousin killed in the Easter Rebellion (an armed insurrection in Ireland during Easter Week in April 1916; launched by Irish republicans to end British rule in Ireland and establish an independent Irish Republic while the United Kingdom was heavily engaged in the First World War). There's also a moment where he and Sybil spar over it when she doesn't understand why Tom has such a strong dislike of the English government and military. She views the issue from the English side of things, and even though she's a rebelling daughter, she still grew up among aristocracy.
The Suffragette:
Lady Sybil is a politically active young woman, liberal and radical in her opinions. She's a socialist at heart and supports woman's suffrage. She also cares on a personal level. She befriends housemaid Gwen Dawson who is determined not to follow the prescribed path for women of her social status and strives to make a better life for herself. Lady Sybil helps her.
After WWI, Lady Edith finds out she's a worthy person, too, and finds her cause. She takes an interest in writing about her support for women's suffrage and other political issues to a newspaper.
Gwen Dawson, now Mrs Harding, reappears in season 6. It is revealed that she has made a successful career in government alongside her husband John, and helps to support young women from similarly disadvantaged backgrounds to progress their careers. John is named as a trustee at a woman's college for middle-class girls who want to do other jobs aside from service.
Suicide, Not Murder: The resolution to the mystery of Vera Bates's death.
Sunday Evening Drama Series: In both the U.K. and in the U.S., interestingly enough.
Suspiciously Similar Substitute:
An ambitious redhead that doesn't want to stay in service but go out and make it big. Where have we heard that before, Ethel? Although there are some differences: Gwen's ambition ran only to the much more realistic goal of becoming a secretary; Ethel wants to be a movie star. And Gwen actually works toward her goals (with some help from Lady Sybil), while Ethel seems to think she should just be handed them. In turn, the ends for each of their characters are also very different.
After Sybil's death, Rose seems set to take her place as the upstairs "modern girl", although, in true M*A*S*H fashion, there are clear differences between their characters (Sybil was an idealistic reformer and Rose is a party girl).
After William is killed in World War I, Season 3 brings us Alfred: tall, fair-haired, awkward, and a potential love interest for Daisy.
It takes a while to determine who fits this role most closely, but by the end of Series 4, it appears that Charles Blake is turning out to be this regarding Matthew. He and Mary start out with an initially hostile relationship, then share a sweeter moment or two, and by the end of the season wants to marry her. Sound familiar?
Sarah Bunting has strong opinions, particularly where politics and class are concerned, likes helping people, and is attracted to Tom, much like the late Sybil.

Quit Your Whining: Violet (amiably... for her) says something to this effect to a recently jilted Edith who's worrying what to do with her life.
Rags to Riches: Matthew and Branson each, via the means described under the trope below. On a lesser scale, in Season 3 Robert has bankrupted the estate and there are plans to downsize (they would still appear rich and classy by modern standards, but to them it might as well be poverty), until Matthew comes into (another) inheritance and catapults them back to wealth. (At this point begins Matthew's — and later Branson's — ongoing campaign to modernise the estate and turn it into a profitable, modern agricultural enterprise. It works.)
Rags to Royalty: Branson, after he marries Lady Sybil. It starts out as the opposite, with his wife being "cast down" by the match, but when he's forced to flee his native Ireland and Sybil dies in childbirth, the family take pity on him and his daughter and take them in.
Rape as Drama: Anna, in a way that will break your heart.
Reaction Shot: So many great ones.
Real Life Writes the Plot:
Isobel Crawley went to France in series 2 because Penelope Wilton was busy starring in A Delicate Balance at the Almeida Theatre.
During series 3, Dan Stevens revealed that he wanted to leave the show, putting Fellowes in the quite awkward position of having to write Matthew out after he and Mary were married. Ultimately the only way out was to kill him.
Charles Edwards wasn't able to commit to the show once Fellowes decided to make Gregson a more prominent character, hence the awkward storyline where his status is up in the air for a couple years before Fellowes finally decided to just kill him off.
Samantha Bond was busy doing stage work during filming of Series 3, hence Rosamund's mysterious absence from Mary and Edith's weddings.
Rear Window Witness: Daisy.
Rebellious Princess: Though she's not quite royalty, Lady Sybil is a rebel who is interested in politics, supports women having the vote, wears trousers, consorts with servants and in Season 2 goes so far as to — shudder — actually get a job as a nurse, not to mention marrying the socialist Irish chauffeur, which her father has a hard time coming to terms with.
Replacement Goldfish: Primarily for Mary and Tom:
Following Matthew's death, Mary gets two new love interests, Anthony Gillingham and Charles Blake. And by the time the Season 5 special rolls around, with Gillingham essentially out of the picture, Henry Talbot shows up as a replacement for a replacement.
Less successful in the case of Tom: first comes Edna, a maid who at first seems to admire him but then starts guilt-tripping him and eventually attempts a Baby Trap. Later, Sarah Bunting appears to be a clear replacement, with character traits quite similar to the late Sybil, but turns out too extreme and rude.
Rescue Romance: Played with after Sybil's rescue. Mary assumes that Sybil has a crush on Matthew, but it's Branson who's interested in Sybil.
Reset Button: Edith at the beginning of Season 3.
Revenge: Lady Mary and Lady Edith just seem to chase each other in an endless circle of one-upmanship that increases in cruelty at every new level.
Rich b***h: Mary and Edith, usually to each other.
Rich in Dollars, Poor in Sense: Robert fits this trope, as it is revealed in Season 3 that his poor management of Downton has bankrupted the estate, and it is the former solicitor Matthew (with an unexpected windfall) and chauffeur/sheep farmer’s nephew Branson who reorder the running of the estate to bail it out.
Riches to Rags:
Sybil undergoes this by marrying Branson, although it's an unusual variation in that it's her choice and she welcomes her new lifestyle and claims that she is happy to be “just Mrs Branson”. (This is a very weird occurrence also in that it is synonymous with Branson’s Rags to Royalty rise.)
This looks like it is going to happen when Robert loses Cora’s fortune and it looks like they’re going to lose Downton — they wouldn’t be reduced to anything like 'rags', but they would have to suffer a major reduction in their standard of living. Luckily, this is averted at the last minute.
Rich Language, Poor Language:
The RP of the Crawley family (plus Carson the butler) and other aristocrats versus the Yorkshire accent of Downton's servants and townsfolk.
At Duneagle Castle in Scotland, the RP of the MacClare family versus the Highland accents of their servants.
Right for the Wrong Reasons: In Season 4, Thomas accuses one of the nannies of mistreating the children just because he takes a dislike to her. Of course, Cora should go up to hear her side of the story at precisely the moment that she's telling baby Sybil to "shut up, you filthy little half-breed" because she's keeping her blue-blooded cousin awake.
The Rival: Isobel Crawley to Violet Crawley. This seems less so during Season 3, as they seem fonder of each other and even decide to get a car home together. Even less so when Isobel nurses Violet back to health in Season 4.
The Roaring '20s: The setting for Season 3 and all of Season 4.
Romantic False Lead: Lavinia, Matthew's fiancée.
Romanticism Versus Enlightenment: A recurring theme is the polarisation of the household between the more modern members who want to embrace change (notably Matthew, Sybil and Edith upstairs; Gwen, Thomas and Branson downstairs), those who would rather leave it the way it is/return to the past (Robert and Violet upstairs; Carson downstairs), and those happy to compromise (particularly Cora, Mrs Hughes and Mrs Patmore). Things start to reach a head in Season 3, as Matthew and Robert are now co-owners of the estate and have wildly different ideas about how to run it.
Romantic Rain: When Lady Mary is being escorted by her suitor Henry Talbot to her aunt's place where she is staying in London, it starts raining and they end up sharing a kiss under a roof. Lampshaded by her brother-in-law who says it was romantic.
Rule of Three: Used In-Universe. After the sinking of the Titanic and the death of the Turkish gentleman, Daisy is certain that something else is bound to happen. It takes two years, but sure enough... Maybe people should listen to Daisy more often. Cruelly averted in Season 3, though, when tragedies come in four.
Runaway Groom: Sir Anthony, albeit for selfless reasons.
Running Gag: Beginning with Season 3, the Abbey's more or less always in need of some extra cash.
Screw the Money, I Have Rules!:
Branson turns down Robert's offer of a bribe to abandon Sybil.
Ethel refuses to give her baby to Major Bryant's wealthy parents, as she believes it's better for him to grow up with a poor but loving mother. This is later averted in a redux of the same situation.
Matthew refuses Reggie Swire's inheritance claiming that it would be "taking money under false pretenses" as Reggie didn't know the truth of him and Lavinia. Of course, after two episodes he's given a convenient excuse for accepting.
Screw the Rules, I Have Connections!:
Jane has no shame in asking Robert to influence a prestigious grammar school to award her son a place.
A running theme throughout the show is how this changes over time the Crowley's and by extention the entire aristocratic upper class have less and less connections as time goes on. At the start Robert is a member of the House of Lords with a Conservative government in power several close friends and family members as high ranking members of said government. This allows for them to use their influence (and brag about it) to among other things get William transfered to an officers only hospital and for Robert to find out what happened to Mrs. Patmore nephew. But by the final season the Blue Bloods literally had the upcoming generation die off in World War I, a new Liberal government has taken over and greater economic oppurtunties in cities for lower class people mean less people to work tenant farms or in service so many older families die off or go bankrupt.
Scullery Maid: Daisy. Also Ivy, when she gets there.
Second Episode Introduction: We don't meet Matthew and Isobel until the very last minute of the first episode, where they have a single very short scene.
Secret Keeper:
Several, regarding the Kemal Pamuk affair, but someone spills the beans.
Mrs Patmore regarding Mrs Hughes' cancer scare.
Mrs Hughes keeps Anna's secret about being raped. (Though she eventually lets it out to Mary, to explain why Bates needs to stay home rather than accompany Robert to New York. Mary keeps it thereafter.)
Rosamund regarding Edith's pregnancy at first, although more people find out or figure it out on their own later.
Secret Other Family: The Season 5 Christmas special reveals that Lord Sinderby has a mistress and love child somewhere off on the side. Rose's quick thinking after Sinderby's Secret Other Family shows up at a party finally endears her to her father-in-law.
Self-Made Man:
Cora's father was this as part of his backstory.
Matthew and Richard Carlisle. Lampshaded by Carlisle himself when he explains to Mary that he sees no shame in not being from "old money".
Separated by a Common Language: From the Season 4 Christmas special, when Martha and Harold Levinson cross the pond to visit their Crawley in-laws:
Martha: Well, the gang's all here!
Violet: Is that American for "hello"?
Martha: Harold, I don't believe you've met Tom, Sybil's husband.
Tom: It seems strange we never met when she was here to introduce us.
Harold: Well, I'm glad to know you now.
Violet: How curious these phrases are!
Serious Business: Oh no! We may have to sell our enormous castle and move into a slightly smaller mansion! Branson lampshades this, pointing out that even the smaller mansion is a "fairy palace" by most peoples' standards.
Shell-Shocked Veteran: Lang, the footman.
Shipper on Deck:
Carson, Cora, Robert, The Dowager Countess, Rosamund (although perhaps in part out of guilt for shooting it down the first time), possibly Branson, even Isobel and Anna, even Lavinia, at the end of her life... at this point, is there anyone who doesn't ship Mary/Matthew? Apparently so, for Martha Levinson isn't fond of them to begin with, but it grows on her.
Maybe Edith. Sir Richard.
Mary, for her part, ships Anna/Bates rather blatantly.
Isobel for Sybil/Branson in S2. Matthew jumps on board in S3. (And they do need the support).
Cruelly subverted/deconstructed with O'Brien in Season 3. After discovering that Jimmy not only suspects that Thomas has a crush on him, but is revolted and a whisper away from reporting him to Carson, she starts encouraging Thomas that Jimmy feels the same way. This hearsay evidence is enough to convince Thomas to sneak into Jimmy's room half-undressed and kiss him as he sleeps.
Branson for Mary/Henry in season 6, to Mary's annoyance.
Shipping Torpedo:
Daisy is not fond of anyone Alfred flirts with.
In Season 2, everyone towards Tom and Sybil, and Violet and Rosamund towards Matthew and Lavinia.
Mary effectively and intentionally ruins the engagement between Edith and Bertie Pelham by revealing that Marigold is Edith's daughter.
Ship Tease: If Carson cheerfully singing "She Stole My Heart Away" whilst polishing silver after Mrs Hughes is declared cancer-free — while that lady looks on biting her lip and beaming like a giddy schoolgirl — isn't this, then nothing is. And then in the Season 4 Christmas Special Carson and Hughes holding hands on the beach.
Shirtless Scene:
Branson gets a partial one in Season 1 and then a full one in the Season 3 Christmas Special.
Jimmy has one, just when Thomas happens to stumble upon him undressing.
Shock Value Relationship: Though Rose does genuinely care for Jack Ross, she also plans on marrying him explicitly because she "want(s) to see mummy's face crumble when she finds out." Ironically, she actually does get to see "mummy's face crumble" when she marries a very nice (and aristocratic, if recently so) Jewish boy whom she genuinely loves and who loves her back.
Shot at Dawn: The fate of Mrs Patmore's nephew, for cowardice.
Shout-Out:
Matthew remarks "I am the cat that walks by himself, and all places are alike to me" — a reference to one of Rudyard Kipling's Just So Stories.
In the first Christmas special Mary compares herself and Matthew to Tess Durbeyfield and Angel Clare.
Mrs Hughes makes a parallel between Ethel's story and The Scarlet Letter. Violet doesn't get the reference but says it sounds "most unsuitable" (trust the Dowager Countess not to know anything about American literature!).
In Season 5 Tom and Sybbie play a game of Poohsticks. This is a particularly nice piece of Shown Their Work, as the story that introduced the game was indeed published in 1924 when the episode is set, but Winnie the Pooh hadn't yet been given a name beyond Teddy Bear so they don't actually call it that.
Shown Their Work/Truth in Television:
There was in fact a real Earl of Grantham. The title was created in 1698, but became extinct upon the Earl's death in 1754, because he had no surviving male heirs. Ironically, this also averts the trope of did not do the research, for the press pack states that the First Earl of Grantham (in the show) became earl in 1772, eighteen years later.
Though it's played for laughs, acting was seen by many at the time to be just as disreputable a profession as Carson believes it to be.
It may seem to views like an a** Pull to have Lavinia die of the Spanish flu rather than Cora, especially when the latter was initially responding worse to it. However, part of what made the 1918 flu unique was that, unlike other strains, most of the deaths were from teenagers and young adults with healthy immune systems.
Edith's plans to move to Detroit might sound like a bad case of This example contains a YMMV entry. It should be moved to the YMMV tab.Critical Research Failure - why would an earl's daughter ever want to move to a place whose name is synonymous with urban decay and high crime? But in fact, back in the 1920s, Detroit was one of America's most beautiful and affluent cities, known as "the Paris of the Midwest". So in fact it would be a perfect place for Edith to live a comfortable life and probably not be tracked down.
Sibling Rivalry: Between Mary and Edith. Culminates most viciously in the end of Season 1 when Mary learns that Edith ruined her reputation by informing the Turkish ambassador of the circumstances of Mr Pamuk's death, and ruins Edith's prospect of a good and happy marriage in revenge.
Single Woman Seeks Good Man
Slap-Slap-Kiss: Matthew and Mary, holy crap.
Sleeping Single: Averted by Robert and Cora, despite the fact that "really smart people sleep in separate rooms". Technically Robert's bedroom is his dressing room, essentially a very large walk-in wardrobe adjoining the marital bedroom that also happens to have a small bed in it. This was actually a fairly common practice for aristocracy and royalty at the time, so husbands who had stayed up late playing cards, travelling, or working wouldn't wake their wives by coming to bed late. In Season 3, Cora refuses her bed to Robert because she blames him for Sybil’s death. This is one of the few occations where Robert's own bed gets some use.
Slipping a Mickey: Larry Grey does this to Tom at one dinner early in Season 3; he is roundly condemned for it by everyone, especially his father.
Slut-Shaming: Premarital sex was just short of a crime. For women.
Lady Mary's unfortunate dalliance with the Turk wasn't just unlucky, but very nearly a social disaster, and not merely because he died.
From the second season, housemaid Ethel loves a man in uniform, and when caught with one is sacked without notice and without references. The gentleman has to put his trousers back on. Pregnancy leaves her destitute and him... mildly inconvenienced when people try to rub his nose in it.
By the third season, Ethel has become a prostitute. It goes as well for her as you might imagine when she asks for help. Her son's grandparents are divided: the grandmother is sympathetic and caring, the grandfather heaps her with recrimination and hatred. When Mrs Crawley takes her in as a maid (and later cook), her cook has nothing but contempt for her and eventually leaves Mrs Crawley's service over it. Lady Violet doesn't care for it either, and eventually helps Mrs Crawley get her a position in London, away from the village and its gossip.
Cousin Rose's mother even calls her a slut in the Season 3 Christmas special for wearing a dress in the latest fashion. Lady Violet, of all people, defends her ("Dear me, that's not a word you often hear among the heather"). Amusingly, she then says she has no place to criticise when in her youth she had once worn the latest fashions of the 1860s and '70s:
Violet: Oh, my dear, in my day I wore the crinoline, the bustle, and the leg-of-mutton sleeves; I am not in a strong position to criticise.
Lady Edith in Season 4 is called out by Aunt Rosamund for spending the night with Gregson. Rosamund eventually helps Edith give birth to a child discreetly in Switzerland.
Small Reference Pools: The writers were wise making the sinking of the RMS Titanic as the starting event for the series considering it is the one historical event at the time that is widely known with the general English-speaking public that would logically make such a big impact on the nobility.
Smug Snake: Thomas.
Snow Means Love: The moment when Matthew finally pops the question to Mary (at the end of the Season 2 Christmas special) provides the image on this trope's page.
Someone to Remember Him By:
Gender Swapped with Baby Sybil. It's the mother who dies in this case.
When Matthew is killed in an accident right after the birth of his son we’re even treated to a shot of an unsuspecting Mary holding their baby in the hospital right afterwards to close out the episode.
Though Michael Gregson's fate was unknown when Edith had their baby in Season 4, the confirmation of his death in the following season puts Edith in the same boat.
Something Only They Would Say: Patrick.
Spirited Young Lady: Mary and Sybil.
Spiritual Successor: To Upstairs Downstairs and Gosford Park. Julian Fellowes, who created both Downton and Gosford, This example contains a TRIVIA entry. It should be moved to the TRIVIA tab.says so himself.
Spot of Tea:
Lady Violet: Nanny always said sweet tea is the thing for frayed nerves. Don’t know why it has to be sweet, I couldn’t tell you.
It's just the ticket for when the handsome stranger's sudden death has upset the ladies.
Your estranged wife suddenly appears to ruin any sliver of happiness you might have had. Have some tea.
Sorry, you'll never walk again. Tea?
Mary points this out when she first discovers Sybil and Branson's relationship and says, "What do you think would happen, you'd marry the chauffeur and you'd invite us over for tea?"
Spousal Privilege: Anna is forced onto the sidelines at Bates' trial.
Star-Crossed Lovers: The chauffeur Tom Branson and Lady Sybil. Subverted in that they elope in Season 2.
Stigmatic Pregnancy Euphemism: Edith's pregnancy is covered up with the pretext of going on a long trip to Switzerland with Rosamund.
The Stoic: Bates. Except when he cries alone in his room. So a This example contains a YMMV entry. It should be moved to the YMMV tab.Stoic Woobie, really.
Straight Gay: Thomas.
Strange Minds Think Alike: In the pilot, both Daisy and Robert think its pointless to install electricity in the kitchen.
Succession Crisis: Two of the Earl's heirs die on the Titanic.
Suffrage and Political Liberation: Lady Sybil is a suffragist and socialist. She tries to help women and takes part in a socialist rally. She bonds with Tom Branson, an Irish chauffeur employed at Downton, who is very active politically, too; he's a socialist and fights for the liberation of the Irish. He had a cousin killed in the Easter Rebellion (an armed insurrection in Ireland during Easter Week in April 1916; launched by Irish republicans to end British rule in Ireland and establish an independent Irish Republic while the United Kingdom was heavily engaged in the First World War). There's also a moment where he and Sybil spar over it when she doesn't understand why Tom has such a strong dislike of the English government and military. She views the issue from the English side of things, and even though she's a rebelling daughter, she still grew up among aristocracy.
The Suffragette:
Lady Sybil is a politically active young woman, liberal and radical in her opinions. She's a socialist at heart and supports woman's suffrage. She also cares on a personal level. She befriends housemaid Gwen Dawson who is determined not to follow the prescribed path for women of her social status and strives to make a better life for herself. Lady Sybil helps her.
After WWI, Lady Edith finds out she's a worthy person, too, and finds her cause. She takes an interest in writing about her support for women's suffrage and other political issues to a newspaper.
Gwen Dawson, now Mrs Harding, reappears in season 6. It is revealed that she has made a successful career in government alongside her husband John, and helps to support young women from similarly disadvantaged backgrounds to progress their careers. John is named as a trustee at a woman's college for middle-class girls who want to do other jobs aside from service.
Suicide, Not Murder: The resolution to the mystery of Vera Bates's death.
Sunday Evening Drama Series: In both the U.K. and in the U.S., interestingly enough.
Suspiciously Similar Substitute:
An ambitious redhead that doesn't want to stay in service but go out and make it big. Where have we heard that before, Ethel? Although there are some differences: Gwen's ambition ran only to the much more realistic goal of becoming a secretary; Ethel wants to be a movie star. And Gwen actually works toward her goals (with some help from Lady Sybil), while Ethel seems to think she should just be handed them. In turn, the ends for each of their characters are also very different.
After Sybil's death, Rose seems set to take her place as the upstairs "modern girl", although, in true M*A*S*H fashion, there are clear differences between their characters (Sybil was an idealistic reformer and Rose is a party girl).
After William is killed in World War I, Season 3 brings us Alfred: tall, fair-haired, awkward, and a potential love interest for Daisy.
It takes a while to determine who fits this role most closely, but by the end of Series 4, it appears that Charles Blake is turning out to be this regarding Matthew. He and Mary start out with an initially hostile relationship, then share a sweeter moment or two, and by the end of the season wants to marry her. Sound familiar?
Sarah Bunting has strong opinions, particularly where politics and class are concerned, likes helping people, and is attracted to Tom, much like the late Sybil.

Quit Your Whining: Violet (amiably... for her) says something to this effect to a recently jilted Edith who's worrying what to do with her life.
Rags to Riches: Matthew and Branson each, via the means described under the trope below. On a lesser scale, in Season 3 Robert has bankrupted the estate and there are plans to downsize (they would still appear rich and classy by modern standards, but to them it might as well be poverty), until Matthew comes into (another) inheritance and catapults them back to wealth. (At this point begins Matthew's — and later Branson's — ongoing campaign to modernise the estate and turn it into a profitable, modern agricultural enterprise. It works.)
Rags to Royalty: Branson, after he marries Lady Sybil. It starts out as the opposite, with his wife being "cast down" by the match, but when he's forced to flee his native Ireland and Sybil dies in childbirth, the family take pity on him and his daughter and take them in.
Rape as Drama: Anna, in a way that will break your heart.
Reaction Shot: So many great ones.
Real Life Writes the Plot:
Isobel Crawley went to France in series 2 because Penelope Wilton was busy starring in A Delicate Balance at the Almeida Theatre.
During series 3, Dan Stevens revealed that he wanted to leave the show, putting Fellowes in the quite awkward position of having to write Matthew out after he and Mary were married. Ultimately the only way out was to kill him.
Charles Edwards wasn't able to commit to the show once Fellowes decided to make Gregson a more prominent character, hence the awkward storyline where his status is up in the air for a couple years before Fellowes finally decided to just kill him off.
Samantha Bond was busy doing stage work during filming of Series 3, hence Rosamund's mysterious absence from Mary and Edith's weddings.
Rear Window Witness: Daisy.
Rebellious Princess: Though she's not quite royalty, Lady Sybil is a rebel who is interested in politics, supports women having the vote, wears trousers, consorts with servants and in Season 2 goes so far as to — shudder — actually get a job as a nurse, not to mention marrying the socialist Irish chauffeur, which her father has a hard time coming to terms with.
Replacement Goldfish: Primarily for Mary and Tom:
Following Matthew's death, Mary gets two new love interests, Anthony Gillingham and Charles Blake. And by the time the Season 5 special rolls around, with Gillingham essentially out of the picture, Henry Talbot shows up as a replacement for a replacement.
Less successful in the case of Tom: first comes Edna, a maid who at first seems to admire him but then starts guilt-tripping him and eventually attempts a Baby Trap. Later, Sarah Bunting appears to be a clear replacement, with character traits quite similar to the late Sybil, but turns out too extreme and rude.
Rescue Romance: Played with after Sybil's rescue. Mary assumes that Sybil has a crush on Matthew, but it's Branson who's interested in Sybil.
Reset Button: Edith at the beginning of Season 3.
Revenge: Lady Mary and Lady Edith just seem to chase each other in an endless circle of one-upmanship that increases in cruelty at every new level.
Rich b***h: Mary and Edith, usually to each other.
Rich in Dollars, Poor in Sense: Robert fits this trope, as it is revealed in Season 3 that his poor management of Downton has bankrupted the estate, and it is the former solicitor Matthew (with an unexpected windfall) and chauffeur/sheep farmer’s nephew Branson who reorder the running of the estate to bail it out.
Riches to Rags:
Sybil undergoes this by marrying Branson, although it's an unusual variation in that it's her choice and she welcomes her new lifestyle and claims that she is happy to be “just Mrs Branson”. (This is a very weird occurrence also in that it is synonymous with Branson’s Rags to Royalty rise.)
This looks like it is going to happen when Robert loses Cora’s fortune and it looks like they’re going to lose Downton — they wouldn’t be reduced to anything like 'rags', but they would have to suffer a major reduction in their standard of living. Luckily, this is averted at the last minute.
Rich Language, Poor Language:
The RP of the Crawley family (plus Carson the butler) and other aristocrats versus the Yorkshire accent of Downton's servants and townsfolk.
At Duneagle Castle in Scotland, the RP of the MacClare family versus the Highland accents of their servants.
Right for the Wrong Reasons: In Season 4, Thomas accuses one of the nannies of mistreating the children just because he takes a dislike to her. Of course, Cora should go up to hear her side of the story at precisely the moment that she's telling baby Sybil to "shut up, you filthy little half-breed" because she's keeping her blue-blooded cousin awake.
The Rival: Isobel Crawley to Violet Crawley. This seems less so during Season 3, as they seem fonder of each other and even decide to get a car home together. Even less so when Isobel nurses Violet back to health in Season 4.
The Roaring '20s: The setting for Season 3 and all of Season 4.
Romantic False Lead: Lavinia, Matthew's fiancée.
Romanticism Versus Enlightenment: A recurring theme is the polarisation of the household between the more modern members who want to embrace change (notably Matthew, Sybil and Edith upstairs; Gwen, Thomas and Branson downstairs), those who would rather leave it the way it is/return to the past (Robert and Violet upstairs; Carson downstairs), and those happy to compromise (particularly Cora, Mrs Hughes and Mrs Patmore). Things start to reach a head in Season 3, as Matthew and Robert are now co-owners of the estate and have wildly different ideas about how to run it.
Romantic Rain: When Lady Mary is being escorted by her suitor Henry Talbot to her aunt's place where she is staying in London, it starts raining and they end up sharing a kiss under a roof. Lampshaded by her brother-in-law who says it was romantic.
Rule of Three: Used In-Universe. After the sinking of the Titanic and the death of the Turkish gentleman, Daisy is certain that something else is bound to happen. It takes two years, but sure enough... Maybe people should listen to Daisy more often. Cruelly averted in Season 3, though, when tragedies come in four.
Runaway Groom: Sir Anthony, albeit for selfless reasons.
Running Gag: Beginning with Season 3, the Abbey's more or less always in need of some extra cash.
Screw the Money, I Have Rules!:
Branson turns down Robert's offer of a bribe to abandon Sybil.
Ethel refuses to give her baby to Major Bryant's wealthy parents, as she believes it's better for him to grow up with a poor but loving mother. This is later averted in a redux of the same situation.
Matthew refuses Reggie Swire's inheritance claiming that it would be "taking money under false pretenses" as Reggie didn't know the truth of him and Lavinia. Of course, after two episodes he's given a convenient excuse for accepting.
Screw the Rules, I Have Connections!:
Jane has no shame in asking Robert to influence a prestigious grammar school to award her son a place.
A running theme throughout the show is how this changes over time the Crowley's and by extention the entire aristocratic upper class have less and less connections as time goes on. At the start Robert is a member of the House of Lords with a Conservative government in power several close friends and family members as high ranking members of said government. This allows for them to use their influence (and brag about it) to among other things get William transfered to an officers only hospital and for Robert to find out what happened to Mrs. Patmore nephew. But by the final season the Blue Bloods literally had the upcoming generation die off in World War I, a new Liberal government has taken over and greater economic oppurtunties in cities for lower class people mean less people to work tenant farms or in service so many older families die off or go bankrupt.
Scullery Maid: Daisy. Also Ivy, when she gets there.
Second Episode Introduction: We don't meet Matthew and Isobel until the very last minute of the first episode, where they have a single very short scene.
Secret Keeper:
Several, regarding the Kemal Pamuk affair, but someone spills the beans.
Mrs Patmore regarding Mrs Hughes' cancer scare.
Mrs Hughes keeps Anna's secret about being raped. (Though she eventually lets it out to Mary, to explain why Bates needs to stay home rather than accompany Robert to New York. Mary keeps it thereafter.)
Rosamund regarding Edith's pregnancy at first, although more people find out or figure it out on their own later.
Secret Other Family: The Season 5 Christmas special reveals that Lord Sinderby has a mistress and love child somewhere off on the side. Rose's quick thinking after Sinderby's Secret Other Family shows up at a party finally endears her to her father-in-law.
Self-Made Man:
Cora's father was this as part of his backstory.
Matthew and Richard Carlisle. Lampshaded by Carlisle himself when he explains to Mary that he sees no shame in not being from "old money".
Separated by a Common Language: From the Season 4 Christmas special, when Martha and Harold Levinson cross the pond to visit their Crawley in-laws:
Martha: Well, the gang's all here!
Violet: Is that American for "hello"?
Martha: Harold, I don't believe you've met Tom, Sybil's husband.
Tom: It seems strange we never met when she was here to introduce us.
Harold: Well, I'm glad to know you now.
Violet: How curious these phrases are!
Serious Business: Oh no! We may have to sell our enormous castle and move into a slightly smaller mansion! Branson lampshades this, pointing out that even the smaller mansion is a "fairy palace" by most peoples' standards.
Shell-Shocked Veteran: Lang, the footman.
Shipper on Deck:
Carson, Cora, Robert, The Dowager Countess, Rosamund (although perhaps in part out of guilt for shooting it down the first time), possibly Branson, even Isobel and Anna, even Lavinia, at the end of her life... at this point, is there anyone who doesn't ship Mary/Matthew? Apparently so, for Martha Levinson isn't fond of them to begin with, but it grows on her.
Maybe Edith. Sir Richard.
Mary, for her part, ships Anna/Bates rather blatantly.
Isobel for Sybil/Branson in S2. Matthew jumps on board in S3. (And they do need the support).
Cruelly subverted/deconstructed with O'Brien in Season 3. After discovering that Jimmy not only suspects that Thomas has a crush on him, but is revolted and a whisper away from reporting him to Carson, she starts encouraging Thomas that Jimmy feels the same way. This hearsay evidence is enough to convince Thomas to sneak into Jimmy's room half-undressed and kiss him as he sleeps.
Branson for Mary/Henry in season 6, to Mary's annoyance.
Shipping Torpedo:
Daisy is not fond of anyone Alfred flirts with.
In Season 2, everyone towards Tom and Sybil, and Violet and Rosamund towards Matthew and Lavinia.
Mary effectively and intentionally ruins the engagement between Edith and Bertie Pelham by revealing that Marigold is Edith's daughter.
Ship Tease: If Carson cheerfully singing "She Stole My Heart Away" whilst polishing silver after Mrs Hughes is declared cancer-free — while that lady looks on biting her lip and beaming like a giddy schoolgirl — isn't this, then nothing is. And then in the Season 4 Christmas Special Carson and Hughes holding hands on the beach.
Shirtless Scene:
Branson gets a partial one in Season 1 and then a full one in the Season 3 Christmas Special.
Jimmy has one, just when Thomas happens to stumble upon him undressing.
Shock Value Relationship: Though Rose does genuinely care for Jack Ross, she also plans on marrying him explicitly because she "want(s) to see mummy's face crumble when she finds out." Ironically, she actually does get to see "mummy's face crumble" when she marries a very nice (and aristocratic, if recently so) Jewish boy whom she genuinely loves and who loves her back.
Shot at Dawn: The fate of Mrs Patmore's nephew, for cowardice.
Shout-Out:
Matthew remarks "I am the cat that walks by himself, and all places are alike to me" — a reference to one of Rudyard Kipling's Just So Stories.
In the first Christmas special Mary compares herself and Matthew to Tess Durbeyfield and Angel Clare.
Mrs Hughes makes a parallel between Ethel's story and The Scarlet Letter. Violet doesn't get the reference but says it sounds "most unsuitable" (trust the Dowager Countess not to know anything about American literature!).
In Season 5 Tom and Sybbie play a game of Poohsticks. This is a particularly nice piece of Shown Their Work, as the story that introduced the game was indeed published in 1924 when the episode is set, but Winnie the Pooh hadn't yet been given a name beyond Teddy Bear so they don't actually call it that.
Shown Their Work/Truth in Television:
There was in fact a real Earl of Grantham. The title was created in 1698, but became extinct upon the Earl's death in 1754, because he had no surviving male heirs. Ironically, this also averts the trope of did not do the research, for the press pack states that the First Earl of Grantham (in the show) became earl in 1772, eighteen years later.
Though it's played for laughs, acting was seen by many at the time to be just as disreputable a profession as Carson believes it to be.
It may seem to views like an a** Pull to have Lavinia die of the Spanish flu rather than Cora, especially when the latter was initially responding worse to it. However, part of what made the 1918 flu unique was that, unlike other strains, most of the deaths were from teenagers and young adults with healthy immune systems.
Edith's plans to move to Detroit might sound like a bad case of This example contains a YMMV entry. It should be moved to the YMMV tab.Critical Research Failure - why would an earl's daughter ever want to move to a place whose name is synonymous with urban decay and high crime? But in fact, back in the 1920s, Detroit was one of America's most beautiful and affluent cities, known as "the Paris of the Midwest". So in fact it would be a perfect place for Edith to live a comfortable life and probably not be tracked down.
Sibling Rivalry: Between Mary and Edith. Culminates most viciously in the end of Season 1 when Mary learns that Edith ruined her reputation by informing the Turkish ambassador of the circumstances of Mr Pamuk's death, and ruins Edith's prospect of a good and happy marriage in revenge.
Single Woman Seeks Good Man
Slap-Slap-Kiss: Matthew and Mary, holy crap.
Sleeping Single: Averted by Robert and Cora, despite the fact that "really smart people sleep in separate rooms". Technically Robert's bedroom is his dressing room, essentially a very large walk-in wardrobe adjoining the marital bedroom that also happens to have a small bed in it. This was actually a fairly common practice for aristocracy and royalty at the time, so husbands who had stayed up late playing cards, travelling, or working wouldn't wake their wives by coming to bed late. In Season 3, Cora refuses her bed to Robert because she blames him for Sybil’s death. This is one of the few occations where Robert's own bed gets some use.
Slipping a Mickey: Larry Grey does this to Tom at one dinner early in Season 3; he is roundly condemned for it by everyone, especially his father.
Slut-Shaming: Premarital sex was just short of a crime. For women.
Lady Mary's unfortunate dalliance with the Turk wasn't just unlucky, but very nearly a social disaster, and not merely because he died.
From the second season, housemaid Ethel loves a man in uniform, and when caught with one is sacked without notice and without references. The gentleman has to put his trousers back on. Pregnancy leaves her destitute and him... mildly inconvenienced when people try to rub his nose in it.
By the third season, Ethel has become a prostitute. It goes as well for her as you might imagine when she asks for help. Her son's grandparents are divided: the grandmother is sympathetic and caring, the grandfather heaps her with recrimination and hatred. When Mrs Crawley takes her in as a maid (and later cook), her cook has nothing but contempt for her and eventually leaves Mrs Crawley's service over it. Lady Violet doesn't care for it either, and eventually helps Mrs Crawley get her a position in London, away from the village and its gossip.
Cousin Rose's mother even calls her a slut in the Season 3 Christmas special for wearing a dress in the latest fashion. Lady Violet, of all people, defends her ("Dear me, that's not a word you often hear among the heather"). Amusingly, she then says she has no place to criticise when in her youth she had once worn the latest fashions of the 1860s and '70s:
Violet: Oh, my dear, in my day I wore the crinoline, the bustle, and the leg-of-mutton sleeves; I am not in a strong position to criticise.
Lady Edith in Season 4 is called out by Aunt Rosamund for spending the night with Gregson. Rosamund eventually helps Edith give birth to a child discreetly in Switzerland.
Small Reference Pools: The writers were wise making the sinking of the RMS Titanic as the starting event for the series considering it is the one historical event at the time that is widely known with the general English-speaking public that would logically make such a big impact on the nobility.
Smug Snake: Thomas.
Snow Means Love: The moment when Matthew finally pops the question to Mary (at the end of the Season 2 Christmas special) provides the image on this trope's page.
Someone to Remember Him By:
Gender Swapped with Baby Sybil. It's the mother who dies in this case.
When Matthew is killed in an accident right after the birth of his son we’re even treated to a shot of an unsuspecting Mary holding their baby in the hospital right afterwards to close out the episode.
Though Michael Gregson's fate was unknown when Edith had their baby in Season 4, the confirmation of his death in the following season puts Edith in the same boat.
Something Only They Would Say: Patrick.
Spirited Young Lady: Mary and Sybil.
Spiritual Successor: To Upstairs Downstairs and Gosford Park. Julian Fellowes, who created both Downton and Gosford, This example contains a TRIVIA entry. It should be moved to the TRIVIA tab.says so himself.
Spot of Tea:
Lady Violet: Nanny always said sweet tea is the thing for frayed nerves. Don’t know why it has to be sweet, I couldn’t tell you.
It's just the ticket for when the handsome stranger's sudden death has upset the ladies.
Your estranged wife suddenly appears to ruin any sliver of happiness you might have had. Have some tea.
Sorry, you'll never walk again. Tea?
Mary points this out when she first discovers Sybil and Branson's relationship and says, "What do you think would happen, you'd marry the chauffeur and you'd invite us over for tea?"
Spousal Privilege: Anna is forced onto the sidelines at Bates' trial.
Star-Crossed Lovers: The chauffeur Tom Branson and Lady Sybil. Subverted in that they elope in Season 2.
Stigmatic Pregnancy Euphemism: Edith's pregnancy is covered up with the pretext of going on a long trip to Switzerland with Rosamund.
The Stoic: Bates. Except when he cries alone in his room. So a This example contains a YMMV entry. It should be moved to the YMMV tab.Stoic Woobie, really.
Straight Gay: Thomas.
Strange Minds Think Alike: In the pilot, both Daisy and Robert think its pointless to install electricity in the kitchen.
Succession Crisis: Two of the Earl's heirs die on the Titanic.
Suffrage and Political Liberation: Lady Sybil is a suffragist and socialist. She tries to help women and takes part in a socialist rally. She bonds with Tom Branson, an Irish chauffeur employed at Downton, who is very active politically, too; he's a socialist and fights for the liberation of the Irish. He had a cousin killed in the Easter Rebellion (an armed insurrection in Ireland during Easter Week in April 1916; launched by Irish republicans to end British rule in Ireland and establish an independent Irish Republic while the United Kingdom was heavily engaged in the First World War). There's also a moment where he and Sybil spar over it when she doesn't understand why Tom has such a strong dislike of the English government and military. She views the issue from the English side of things, and even though she's a rebelling daughter, she still grew up among aristocracy.
The Suffragette:
Lady Sybil is a politically active young woman, liberal and radical in her opinions. She's a socialist at heart and supports woman's suffrage. She also cares on a personal level. She befriends housemaid Gwen Dawson who is determined not to follow the prescribed path for women of her social status and strives to make a better life for herself. Lady Sybil helps her.
After WWI, Lady Edith finds out she's a worthy person, too, and finds her cause. She takes an interest in writing about her support for women's suffrage and other political issues to a newspaper.
Gwen Dawson, now Mrs Harding, reappears in season 6. It is revealed that she has made a successful career in government alongside her husband John, and helps to support young women from similarly disadvantaged backgrounds to progress their careers. John is named as a trustee at a woman's college for middle-class girls who want to do other jobs aside from service.
Suicide, Not Murder: The resolution to the mystery of Vera Bates's death.
Sunday Evening Drama Series: In both the U.K. and in the U.S., interestingly enough.
Suspiciously Similar Substitute:
An ambitious redhead that doesn't want to stay in service but go out and make it big. Where have we heard that before, Ethel? Although there are some differences: Gwen's ambition ran only to the much more realistic goal of becoming a secretary; Ethel wants to be a movie star. And Gwen actually works toward her goals (with some help from Lady Sybil), while Ethel seems to think she should just be handed them. In turn, the ends for each of their characters are also very different.
After Sybil's death, Rose seems set to take her place as the upstairs "modern girl", although, in true M*A*S*H fashion, there are clear differences between their characters (Sybil was an idealistic reformer and Rose is a party girl).
After William is killed in World War I, Season 3 brings us Alfred: tall, fair-haired, awkward, and a potential love interest for Daisy.
It takes a while to determine who fits this role most closely, but by the end of Series 4, it appears that Charles Blake is turning out to be this regarding Matthew. He and Mary start out with an initially hostile relationship, then share a sweeter moment or two, and by the end of the season wants to marry her. Sound familiar?
Sarah Bunting has strong opinions, particularly where politics and class are concerned, likes helping people, and is attracted to Tom, much like the late Sybil.

Quit Your Whining: Violet (amiably... for her) says something to this effect to a recently jilted Edith who's worrying what to do with her life.
Rags to Riches: Matthew and Branson each, via the means described under the trope below. On a lesser scale, in Season 3 Robert has bankrupted the estate and there are plans to downsize (they would still appear rich and classy by modern standards, but to them it might as well be poverty), until Matthew comes into (another) inheritance and catapults them back to wealth. (At this point begins Matthew's — and later Branson's — ongoing campaign to modernise the estate and turn it into a profitable, modern agricultural enterprise. It works.)
Rags to Royalty: Branson, after he marries Lady Sybil. It starts out as the opposite, with his wife being "cast down" by the match, but when he's forced to flee his native Ireland and Sybil dies in childbirth, the family take pity on him and his daughter and take them in.
Rape as Drama: Anna, in a way that will break your heart.
Reaction Shot: So many great ones.
Real Life Writes the Plot:
Isobel Crawley went to France in series 2 because Penelope Wilton was busy starring in A Delicate Balance at the Almeida Theatre.
During series 3, Dan Stevens revealed that he wanted to leave the show, putting Fellowes in the quite awkward position of having to write Matthew out after he and Mary were married. Ultimately the only way out was to kill him.
Charles Edwards wasn't able to commit to the show once Fellowes decided to make Gregson a more prominent character, hence the awkward storyline where his status is up in the air for a couple years before Fellowes finally decided to just kill him off.
Samantha Bond was busy doing stage work during filming of Series 3, hence Rosamund's mysterious absence from Mary and Edith's weddings.
Rear Window Witness: Daisy.
Rebellious Princess: Though she's not quite royalty, Lady Sybil is a rebel who is interested in politics, supports women having the vote, wears trousers, consorts with servants and in Season 2 goes so far as to — shudder — actually get a job as a nurse, not to mention marrying the socialist Irish chauffeur, which her father has a hard time coming to terms with.
Replacement Goldfish: Primarily for Mary and Tom:
Following Matthew's death, Mary gets two new love interests, Anthony Gillingham and Charles Blake. And by the time the Season 5 special rolls around, with Gillingham essentially out of the picture, Henry Talbot shows up as a replacement for a replacement.
Less successful in the case of Tom: first comes Edna, a maid who at first seems to admire him but then starts guilt-tripping him and eventually attempts a Baby Trap. Later, Sarah Bunting appears to be a clear replacement, with character traits quite similar to the late Sybil, but turns out too extreme and rude.
Rescue Romance: Played with after Sybil's rescue. Mary assumes that Sybil has a crush on Matthew, but it's Branson who's interested in Sybil.
Reset Button: Edith at the beginning of Season 3.
Revenge: Lady Mary and Lady Edith just seem to chase each other in an endless circle of one-upmanship that increases in cruelty at every new level.
Rich b***h: Mary and Edith, usually to each other.
Rich in Dollars, Poor in Sense: Robert fits this trope, as it is revealed in Season 3 that his poor management of Downton has bankrupted the estate, and it is the former solicitor Matthew (with an unexpected windfall) and chauffeur/sheep farmer’s nephew Branson who reorder the running of the estate to bail it out.
Riches to Rags:
Sybil undergoes this by marrying Branson, although it's an unusual variation in that it's her choice and she welcomes her new lifestyle and claims that she is happy to be “just Mrs Branson”. (This is a very weird occurrence also in that it is synonymous with Branson’s Rags to Royalty rise.)
This looks like it is going to happen when Robert loses Cora’s fortune and it looks like they’re going to lose Downton — they wouldn’t be reduced to anything like 'rags', but they would have to suffer a major reduction in their standard of living. Luckily, this is averted at the last minute.
Rich Language, Poor Language:
The RP of the Crawley family (plus Carson the butler) and other aristocrats versus the Yorkshire accent of Downton's servants and townsfolk.
At Duneagle Castle in Scotland, the RP of the MacClare family versus the Highland accents of their servants.
Right for the Wrong Reasons: In Season 4, Thomas accuses one of the nannies of mistreating the children just because he takes a dislike to her. Of course, Cora should go up to hear her side of the story at precisely the moment that she's telling baby Sybil to "shut up, you filthy little half-breed" because she's keeping her blue-blooded cousin awake.
The Rival: Isobel Crawley to Violet Crawley. This seems less so during Season 3, as they seem fonder of each other and even decide to get a car home together. Even less so when Isobel nurses Violet back to health in Season 4.
The Roaring '20s: The setting for Season 3 and all of Season 4.
Romantic False Lead: Lavinia, Matthew's fiancée.
Romanticism Versus Enlightenment: A recurring theme is the polarisation of the household between the more modern members who want to embrace change (notably Matthew, Sybil and Edith upstairs; Gwen, Thomas and Branson downstairs), those who would rather leave it the way it is/return to the past (Robert and Violet upstairs; Carson downstairs), and those happy to compromise (particularly Cora, Mrs Hughes and Mrs Patmore). Things start to reach a head in Season 3, as Matthew and Robert are now co-owners of the estate and have wildly different ideas about how to run it.
Romantic Rain: When Lady Mary is being escorted by her suitor Henry Talbot to her aunt's place where she is staying in London, it starts raining and they end up sharing a kiss under a roof. Lampshaded by her brother-in-law who says it was romantic.
Rule of Three: Used In-Universe. After the sinking of the Titanic and the death of the Turkish gentleman, Daisy is certain that something else is bound to happen. It takes two years, but sure enough... Maybe people should listen to Daisy more often. Cruelly averted in Season 3, though, when tragedies come in four.
Runaway Groom: Sir Anthony, albeit for selfless reasons.
Running Gag: Beginning with Season 3, the Abbey's more or less always in need of some extra cash.
Screw the Money, I Have Rules!:
Branson turns down Robert's offer of a bribe to abandon Sybil.
Ethel refuses to give her baby to Major Bryant's wealthy parents, as she believes it's better for him to grow up with a poor but loving mother. This is later averted in a redux of the same situation.
Matthew refuses Reggie Swire's inheritance claiming that it would be "taking money under false pretenses" as Reggie didn't know the truth of him and Lavinia. Of course, after two episodes he's given a convenient excuse for accepting.
Screw the Rules, I Have Connections!:
Jane has no shame in asking Robert to influence a prestigious grammar school to award her son a place.
A running theme throughout the show is how this changes over time the Crowley's and by extention the entire aristocratic upper class have less and less connections as time goes on. At the start Robert is a member of the House of Lords with a Conservative government in power several close friends and family members as high ranking members of said government. This allows for them to use their influence (and brag about it) to among other things get William transfered to an officers only hospital and for Robert to find out what happened to Mrs. Patmore nephew. But by the final season the Blue Bloods literally had the upcoming generation die off in World War I, a new Liberal government has taken over and greater economic oppurtunties in cities for lower class people mean less people to work tenant farms or in service so many older families die off or go bankrupt.
Scullery Maid: Daisy. Also Ivy, when she gets there.
Second Episode Introduction: We don't meet Matthew and Isobel until the very last minute of the first episode, where they have a single very short scene.
Secret Keeper:
Several, regarding the Kemal Pamuk affair, but someone spills the beans.
Mrs Patmore regarding Mrs Hughes' cancer scare.
Mrs Hughes keeps Anna's secret about being raped. (Though she eventually lets it out to Mary, to explain why Bates needs to stay home rather than accompany Robert to New York. Mary keeps it thereafter.)
Rosamund regarding Edith's pregnancy at first, although more people find out or figure it out on their own later.
Secret Other Family: The Season 5 Christmas special reveals that Lord Sinderby has a mistress and love child somewhere off on the side. Rose's quick thinking after Sinderby's Secret Other Family shows up at a party finally endears her to her father-in-law.
Self-Made Man:
Cora's father was this as part of his backstory.
Matthew and Richard Carlisle. Lampshaded by Carlisle himself when he explains to Mary that he sees no shame in not being from "old money".
Separated by a Common Language: From the Season 4 Christmas special, when Martha and Harold Levinson cross the pond to visit their Crawley in-laws:
Martha: Well, the gang's all here!
Violet: Is that American for "hello"?
Martha: Harold, I don't believe you've met Tom, Sybil's husband.
Tom: It seems strange we never met when she was here to introduce us.
Harold: Well, I'm glad to know you now.
Violet: How curious these phrases are!
Serious Business: Oh no! We may have to sell our enormous castle and move into a slightly smaller mansion! Branson lampshades this, pointing out that even the smaller mansion is a "fairy palace" by most peoples' standards.
Shell-Shocked Veteran: Lang, the footman.
Shipper on Deck:
Carson, Cora, Robert, The Dowager Countess, Rosamund (although perhaps in part out of guilt for shooting it down the first time), possibly Branson, even Isobel and Anna, even Lavinia, at the end of her life... at this point, is there anyone who doesn't ship Mary/Matthew? Apparently so, for Martha Levinson isn't fond of them to begin with, but it grows on her.
Maybe Edith. Sir Richard.
Mary, for her part, ships Anna/Bates rather blatantly.
Isobel for Sybil/Branson in S2. Matthew jumps on board in S3. (And they do need the support).
Cruelly subverted/deconstructed with O'Brien in Season 3. After discovering that Jimmy not only suspects that Thomas has a crush on him, but is revolted and a whisper away from reporting him to Carson, she starts encouraging Thomas that Jimmy feels the same way. This hearsay evidence is enough to convince Thomas to sneak into Jimmy's room half-undressed and kiss him as he sleeps.
Branson for Mary/Henry in season 6, to Mary's annoyance.
Shipping Torpedo:
Daisy is not fond of anyone Alfred flirts with.
In Season 2, everyone towards Tom and Sybil, and Violet and Rosamund towards Matthew and Lavinia.
Mary effectively and intentionally ruins the engagement between Edith and Bertie Pelham by revealing that Marigold is Edith's daughter.
Ship Tease: If Carson cheerfully singing "She Stole My Heart Away" whilst polishing silver after Mrs Hughes is declared cancer-free — while that lady looks on biting her lip and beaming like a giddy schoolgirl — isn't this, then nothing is. And then in the Season 4 Christmas Special Carson and Hughes holding hands on the beach.
Shirtless Scene:
Branson gets a partial one in Season 1 and then a full one in the Season 3 Christmas Special.
Jimmy has one, just when Thomas happens to stumble upon him undressing.
Shock Value Relationship: Though Rose does genuinely care for Jack Ross, she also plans on marrying him explicitly because she "want(s) to see mummy's face crumble when she finds out." Ironically, she actually does get to see "mummy's face crumble" when she marries a very nice (and aristocratic, if recently so) Jewish boy whom she genuinely loves and who loves her back.
Shot at Dawn: The fate of Mrs Patmore's nephew, for cowardice.
Shout-Out:
Matthew remarks "I am the cat that walks by himself, and all places are alike to me" — a reference to one of Rudyard Kipling's Just So Stories.
In the first Christmas special Mary compares herself and Matthew to Tess Durbeyfield and Angel Clare.
Mrs Hughes makes a parallel between Ethel's story and The Scarlet Letter. Violet doesn't get the reference but says it sounds "most unsuitable" (trust the Dowager Countess not to know anything about American literature!).
In Season 5 Tom and Sybbie play a game of Poohsticks. This is a particularly nice piece of Shown Their Work, as the story that introduced the game was indeed published in 1924 when the episode is set, but Winnie the Pooh hadn't yet been given a name beyond Teddy Bear so they don't actually call it that.
Shown Their Work/Truth in Television:
There was in fact a real Earl of Grantham. The title was created in 1698, but became extinct upon the Earl's death in 1754, because he had no surviving male heirs. Ironically, this also averts the trope of did not do the research, for the press pack states that the First Earl of Grantham (in the show) became earl in 1772, eighteen years later.
Though it's played for laughs, acting was seen by many at the time to be just as disreputable a profession as Carson believes it to be.
It may seem to views like an a** Pull to have Lavinia die of the Spanish flu rather than Cora, especially when the latter was initially responding worse to it. However, part of what made the 1918 flu unique was that, unlike other strains, most of the deaths were from teenagers and young adults with healthy immune systems.
Edith's plans to move to Detroit might sound like a bad case of This example contains a YMMV entry. It should be moved to the YMMV tab.Critical Research Failure - why would an earl's daughter ever want to move to a place whose name is synonymous with urban decay and high crime? But in fact, back in the 1920s, Detroit was one of America's most beautiful and affluent cities, known as "the Paris of the Midwest". So in fact it would be a perfect place for Edith to live a comfortable life and probably not be tracked down.
Sibling Rivalry: Between Mary and Edith. Culminates most viciously in the end of Season 1 when Mary learns that Edith ruined her reputation by informing the Turkish ambassador of the circumstances of Mr Pamuk's death, and ruins Edith's prospect of a good and happy marriage in revenge.
Single Woman Seeks Good Man
Slap-Slap-Kiss: Matthew and Mary, holy crap.
Sleeping Single: Averted by Robert and Cora, despite the fact that "really smart people sleep in separate rooms". Technically Robert's bedroom is his dressing room, essentially a very large walk-in wardrobe adjoining the marital bedroom that also happens to have a small bed in it. This was actually a fairly common practice for aristocracy and royalty at the time, so husbands who had stayed up late playing cards, travelling, or working wouldn't wake their wives by coming to bed late. In Season 3, Cora refuses her bed to Robert because she blames him for Sybil’s death. This is one of the few occations where Robert's own bed gets some use.
Slipping a Mickey: Larry Grey does this to Tom at one dinner early in Season 3; he is roundly condemned for it by everyone, especially his father.
Slut-Shaming: Premarital sex was just short of a crime. For women.
Lady Mary's unfortunate dalliance with the Turk wasn't just unlucky, but very nearly a social disaster, and not merely because he died.
From the second season, housemaid Ethel loves a man in uniform, and when caught with one is sacked without notice and without references. The gentleman has to put his trousers back on. Pregnancy leaves her destitute and him... mildly inconvenienced when people try to rub his nose in it.
By the third season, Ethel has become a prostitute. It goes as well for her as you might imagine when she asks for help. Her son's grandparents are divided: the grandmother is sympathetic and caring, the grandfather heaps her with recrimination and hatred. When Mrs Crawley takes her in as a maid (and later cook), her cook has nothing but contempt for her and eventually leaves Mrs Crawley's service over it. Lady Violet doesn't care for it either, and eventually helps Mrs Crawley get her a position in London, away from the village and its gossip.
Cousin Rose's mother even calls her a slut in the Season 3 Christmas special for wearing a dress in the latest fashion. Lady Violet, of all people, defends her ("Dear me, that's not a word you often hear among the heather"). Amusingly, she then says she has no place to criticise when in her youth she had once worn the latest fashions of the 1860s and '70s:
Violet: Oh, my dear, in my day I wore the crinoline, the bustle, and the leg-of-mutton sleeves; I am not in a strong position to criticise.
Lady Edith in Season 4 is called out by Aunt Rosamund for spending the night with Gregson. Rosamund eventually helps Edith give birth to a child discreetly in Switzerland.
Small Reference Pools: The writers were wise making the sinking of the RMS Titanic as the starting event for the series considering it is the one historical event at the time that is widely known with the general English-speaking public that would logically make such a big impact on the nobility.
Smug Snake: Thomas.
Snow Means Love: The moment when Matthew finally pops the question to Mary (at the end of the Season 2 Christmas special) provides the image on this trope's page.
Someone to Remember Him By:
Gender Swapped with Baby Sybil. It's the mother who dies in this case.
When Matthew is killed in an accident right after the birth of his son we’re even treated to a shot of an unsuspecting Mary holding their baby in the hospital right afterwards to close out the episode.
Though Michael Gregson's fate was unknown when Edith had their baby in Season 4, the confirmation of his death in the following season puts Edith in the same boat.
Something Only They Would Say: Patrick.
Spirited Young Lady: Mary and Sybil.
Spiritual Successor: To Upstairs Downstairs and Gosford Park. Julian Fellowes, who created both Downton and Gosford, This example contains a TRIVIA entry. It should be moved to the TRIVIA tab.says so himself.
Spot of Tea:
Lady Violet: Nanny always said sweet tea is the thing for frayed nerves. Don’t know why it has to be sweet, I couldn’t tell you.
It's just the ticket for when the handsome stranger's sudden death has upset the ladies.
Your estranged wife suddenly appears to ruin any sliver of happiness you might have had. Have some tea.
Sorry, you'll never walk again. Tea?
Mary points this out when she first discovers Sybil and Branson's relationship and says, "What do you think would happen, you'd marry the chauffeur and you'd invite us over for tea?"
Spousal Privilege: Anna is forced onto the sidelines at Bates' trial.
Star-Crossed Lovers: The chauffeur Tom Branson and Lady Sybil. Subverted in that they elope in Season 2.
Stigmatic Pregnancy Euphemism: Edith's pregnancy is covered up with the pretext of going on a long trip to Switzerland with Rosamund.
The Stoic: Bates. Except when he cries alone in his room. So a This example contains a YMMV entry. It should be moved to the YMMV tab.Stoic Woobie, really.
Straight Gay: Thomas.
Strange Minds Think Alike: In the pilot, both Daisy and Robert think its pointless to install electricity in the kitchen.
Succession Crisis: Two of the Earl's heirs die on the Titanic.
Suffrage and Political Liberation: Lady Sybil is a suffragist and socialist. She tries to help women and takes part in a socialist rally. She bonds with Tom Branson, an Irish chauffeur employed at Downton, who is very active politically, too; he's a socialist and fights for the liberation of the Irish. He had a cousin killed in the Easter Rebellion (an armed insurrection in Ireland during Easter Week in April 1916; launched by Irish republicans to end British rule in Ireland and establish an independent Irish Republic while the United Kingdom was heavily engaged in the First World War). There's also a moment where he and Sybil spar over it when she doesn't understand why Tom has such a strong dislike of the English government and military. She views the issue from the English side of things, and even though she's a rebelling daughter, she still grew up among aristocracy.
The Suffragette:
Lady Sybil is a politically active young woman, liberal and radical in her opinions. She's a socialist at heart and supports woman's suffrage. She also cares on a personal level. She befriends housemaid Gwen Dawson who is determined not to follow the prescribed path for women of her social status and strives to make a better life for herself. Lady Sybil helps her.
After WWI, Lady Edith finds out she's a worthy person, too, and finds her cause. She takes an interest in writing about her support for women's suffrage and other political issues to a newspaper.
Gwen Dawson, now Mrs Harding, reappears in season 6. It is revealed that she has made a successful career in government alongside her husband John, and helps to support young women from similarly disadvantaged backgrounds to progress their careers. John is named as a trustee at a woman's college for middle-class girls who want to do other jobs aside from service.
Suicide, Not Murder: The resolution to the mystery of Vera Bates's death.
Sunday Evening Drama Series: In both the U.K. and in the U.S., interestingly enough.
Suspiciously Similar Substitute:
An ambitious redhead that doesn't want to stay in service but go out and make it big. Where have we heard that before, Ethel? Although there are some differences: Gwen's ambition ran only to the much more realistic goal of becoming a secretary; Ethel wants to be a movie star. And Gwen actually works toward her goals (with some help from Lady Sybil), while Ethel seems to think she should just be handed them. In turn, the ends for each of their characters are also very different.
After Sybil's death, Rose seems set to take her place as the upstairs "modern girl", although, in true M*A*S*H fashion, there are clear differences between their characters (Sybil was an idealistic reformer and Rose is a party girl).
After William is killed in World War I, Season 3 brings us Alfred: tall, fair-haired, awkward, and a potential love interest for Daisy.
It takes a while to determine who fits this role most closely, but by the end of Series 4, it appears that Charles Blake is turning out to be this regarding Matthew. He and Mary start out with an initially hostile relationship, then share a sweeter moment or two, and by the end of the season wants to marry her. Sound familiar?
Sarah Bunting has strong opinions, particularly where politics and class are concerned, likes helping people, and is attracted to Tom, much like the late Sybil.