Downton Abbey: Season 1

April 1912. News arrives that threatens Downton Abbey's future: Lord Grantham's (Robert Crawley) cousin, James Crawley, heir presumptive to the earldom, and his son, Patrick, have died in the disaster. Meanwhile, Robert hires his former batman, John Bates, as his valet, though the Downton staff object owing to his having a limp they think impedes his ability to work. The family receives a visit from the impoverished (but entitled) Duke of Crowborough. The family thought he wanted to marry Robert

September 1912. Matthew Crawley and his mother, Isobel, move into Crawley House in Downton village. When they visit Downton Abbey, Robert's mother, Dowager Countess Violet Crawley, and Lady Mary are standoffish. The families experience some culture clash owing to their differing backgrounds. Isobel, a trained nurse, occupies herself with the local hospital. Meanwhile, Downton butler Carson has kept his past as music-hall performer secret. His former partner, Charles Grigg, threatens to expose hi

March 1913. Evelyn Napier, son of a peer, visits the family with a dashing Turkish diplomat, Mr Kemal Pamuk, who is in London for the Albanian independence negotiations. Mary is smitten with Pamuk, as is Thomas. Mr Pamuk sneaks uninvited into Mary's room and seduces her, but he dies in her bed. To avert a scandal, Mary is forced to get Anna and her mother to help move Pamuk's body back to his room. Cora is horrified by Mary's behaviour but promises not to tell Robert. Unknown to anyone, kitchen

May 1913. A travelling fair arrives in the neighbouring village. Anna falls ill and stays in bed, visited by Mr Bates who brings her a dinner tray with a flower. Mrs Hughes, the housekeeper, is reunited with a former suitor, who proposes, though she later declines. Molesley suffers from an allergic reaction to the toxic plant rue, which Violet correctly diagnoses after Isobel assumed it was erysipelas. Carson fears there is a thief at Downton after checking the stock of the wine cellar. The youn

August 1913. Bates discovers Thomas taking wine from the cellar. Worried he will be reported, Thomas attempts to frame Bates for stealing one of Lord Grantham's antique snuffboxes, but his plan is thwarted. Anna tells Bates that she loves him but he says they cannot be together. A letter from Robert's sister, Lady Rosamund Painswick, reveals that rumours are circulating in London about Lady Mary and the "handsome Turk", Pamuk. Daisy finds it increasingly difficult to contain what she witnessed w

May 1914. Gossip about Lady Mary and Pamuk intensifies, reaching Carson and Violet. Violet confronts Cora who admits the truth. Edith finds a suitor in the much-older Sir Anthony Strallan. Bates reveals to Carson that he was once a drunkard and was imprisoned for theft; Carson is unwilling to release him, suspecting there is more to the story. Sybil has Branson take her to Ripon under false pretenses so she can attend the by-election count. She is injured during a brawl but Branson and Matthew,

July–August 1914. Tensions abound following the assassination of the Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria. The family returns from London after Sybil's debutante ball, but Mary stays with Lady Rosamund Painswick in Eaton Square for a few weeks. Cora's surprise pregnancy jeopardises Matthew's position as Robert's heir if a boy is born. Evelyn Napier tells Mary that Edith originated the rumours about her and Pamuk. O'Brien informs Carson that when Bates was a soldier, he was imprisoned for theft, t