So what has kept all these great names coming back for a fourth series? The cast do seem to have fun, with Smith said by her peers to be a whizz at their on-set battles of Bananagrams, a Scrabble-like game. But surely the happy surprise that is their all-conquering success in America cannot be underestimated. The toughest TV market in the world has embraced Downton with a total lack of the domestic hand-wringing over whether the servants are a bit too happy, or if it all moves rather faster that the period dramas we’re used to. Indeed, the main complaint stateside is that they must wait until January for the new series to hit their screens. The lure, according to Downton’s in-house American, Elizabeth McGovern, who plays Lady Grantham, is the “basic decency” to most of the characters. Certainly, in comparison with the cast of Breaking Bad, for instance, even Thomas looks rather cuddly.