Downton Abbey - Christmas Special

This was a good episode of the period drama, with a very dramatic cliffhanger.

This episode dealt mainly with tying up the storylines from the end of the last series. Set a year later it had many continuity elements. For instance, Lord Grantham's opposition to the modernisation of Downton is reversed after he learns of the financial state of their hosts, the MacClare's estate. In turn, he comes to accept Matthew, which adds a lot to the sadness of the tragedy at the end of the episode. Within this as well was his relationship with Cora, which had suffered after the death of their daughter Sybil in the last series and it was good to see that Sybil was still making an impact among the family and staff.

Tom Branson had a good bit of development with him trying to deal with still grieving over Sybil and trying to find a balance between the old and the new him. The use of the guest character Edna Braithwaite was effective in getting him to find his balance because of her questioning of his change in character from the stubborn political-minded working class figure to being the husband of a lady and running the estate of Downton.

Other continuity aspects included Thomas and Jimmy resolving their differences after Thomas took a beating for Jimmy, Bates and Anna being able to enjoy time as a married couple and the ending of Edith's courtship with Michael Gregson. In contrast, it was also good to see the guest characters of Hugh and Susan MacClare, being a good bit of development, along with seeing a more fun side to the staff as they were able to have some free time while the family were away.

Along with these continuity elements were some new bits setting up for the next season including the MacClare's daughter Rose being entrusted into Cora's care and the birth of Mary and Matthew's first child, which had seemed unlikely in the past. This very much added to the tragic nature of the final scenes as Matthew was killed in a car crash on the way back from meeting his son. It was done in a very quick and swift way and work well to great a big surprise for the audience.

All the main cast gave good performances, while guest stars MyAnna Buring, Peter Egan and Phoebe Nicholls also held their own and added a lot to support the other characters.