Starring: Hugh Bonneville, Jim Carter, Laura Carmichael, Brendan Coyle
Genres: Drama
Episode #1.7 - S1-E7
Factual error: Mrs. Patmore has cataract surgery, which corrects her vision. Cataract surgery was performed in those days, but intraocular lenses did not exist until 1949, so the surgery simply removed the lens of the eye without replacement, leaving the patient with unfocused vision. As a result, the person had to wear thick "coke bottle" glasses to see.
Episode #4.4 - S4-E4
Character mistake: When everyone is preparing to go in to dinner, Robert is wearing an adjustable bow tie. It's bad enough he's wearing black tie to dinner when he has guests, as his mother points out, but Robert, the Earl of Grantham, absolutely would not be seen wearing an adjustable tie with a stand up shirt collar, even among only his immediate family. (00:35:15)
Trivia: We see everyone at Brancaster Castle in Northumberland for the grouse shooting season. Brancaster Castle's real name is Alnwick Castle, which has been used as Hogwarts in the Harry Potter films.
Question: Lord Sinderby has a painting of Jesus in his library. Would a Jewish leader decorate his rooms with a crucified Jesus? I really don't know, so thanks for an answer from wiser ones.
Answer: Lord Sinderby purchased the house, furnished and appointed, from someone else, complete with staff that come with the home (some of whom aren't happy to be working for a Jewish family). He bought the title, as well. If the artwork featuring Jesus is valuable, he might keep it. Also interesting, his ancestors Anglicized their name, though he is proudly Jewish.
Michael Albert