Elizabeth's Downton affair - ‘LOVE KEEPS ME HERE'

Lady Crawley has worked her charms on the American actress – and her husband’s hooked too!

- Judy Kean

After 12 years, six series and now two movies, you might think Elizabeth McGovern would have come to some conclusion about why Downton Abbey has been one of the most successful TV shows of all time.

But the US actress, who stars as Lady Cora Crawley in the British drama, is still at a loss to explain why viewers love the goings-on on the Downton estate so much.

“People have asked me over the years why the show has succeeded and I have no idea,” she admits. “I don’t understand it and we never expected it. Being so successful was the last thing on anybody’s mind. But I am just grateful.”

When probed further about why 120 million people worldwide have watched the show since it started in 2010, she ponders, “I suppose people connect to it for different reasons. I think it comes down to good stories, but I also think people enjoy escaping to a different period of time. It is nice to forget where you are for a couple of hours.”

Viewers get the chance to escape with the Crawleys and their staff for a couple more hours when the second movie based on the TV series, Downton Abbey: A New Era, is released here on April 28.

Slipping back into the glamorous gowns and portraying the Countess of Grantham once again was not difficult, says Elizabeth, 60, thanks to great writing from Julian Fellowes and the camaraderie among the cast.