Garrison keillor. Funding for charlie rose was provided by the following. Additional funding provided by these funders. And by bloomberg, a provider of Multimedia Services worldwide. From our captioning sponsored by Rose Communications from our studios in new york city, this is charlie rose. Rose british period dramas have long held a special fascination for American Television audiences, upstairs, downstairs, pride and prejudice have been released to widespread attention and praise, Downton Abbey anybody the most successful and the latest, oscarwinning prize winner julian fellows already won six emmys and legions on fans on both sides of the pond. It is back on pbs in january and here is a teaser for the third season. From war and peace Downton Abbey still stands. No one must know. I am warning you. Rose joining me now, four of the stars, hugh bonneville, plays lord granderson familiar. Elizabeth mcgovern. Lady grantham. Jim carter plays the butler and joanne greg plays anna, the head house made, i am proud to have all of you here. Let me start and go around and tell me where you left your character and what to expect this year. The end of season 2. Robert was relieved that the war and the spanish flu had deserted at long last and maybe he would get his home back in the way he wanted. We open season three having discovering robert has made a catastrophic Financial Investment and so down o downton peril. Rose it is about 19th 20. 1920. Yes. The whole of season three takes around 18 months. Rose okay. And at the end, of season 2, anna has just had her life almost in complete tatters as he is sentenced to the death sentence and gets a reprieve at the end of season 2 so anna starts season three much more positive because at least she has a goal now, she has something to work toward, she is trying to find evidence and try to clear mr. Bates name and free herman. So yes, it is a more positive start for anna in season three. Yes. And for carson, is stuffy old traditionalist he s all he wants to do is get two footmen in attendance at the dining table, he wants to get the staff levels back up to normal and have things go back to the way they were. Rose yes. Grantham. Rolls with the pumps and tried tries to make contain her even keel despite all of the crap her english family dump upon her. laughter. she does represent a certain class of american women at that time, who moved to english. Are you surprised at the success of this . When you first read, did you think, oh, man i have to get in here because this is going to be great. I certainly felt, man who knows whether any project is going to it was a proper page turner by the end of the first episode, one that had been introduced to whatever it is 18 characters, very vividly and i think that fascination that i had upon reading it got translated on the screen and they want to know what happens next to those characters. Rose laid against the canvas of society. Absolutely, well. And what is going on in the world. Well, thats right. You dont feel it quite so much in the first season the outside world but that really invades in the second season, with the war years, and the effect of the spanish flu, and this third season we are about to show here in the u. S. Is much more about the family and the house again, the world of Downton Abbey we have grown to love to see, the machinations and how all of that plays out. It wouldnt be enough just to have the lady, you need the upstairs and downstairs. You need the yin and the yang. They mirror each other and affect each other, the lives of the downstairs people intertwined with the people upstairs. And you needed that contrast, i think. Somebody has to polish the silver. Absolutely. That is very effective. He think also the success is the beginning of recognizable history, i mean my mother was born in 1919, my dad was born in 1908. Rose mine too about then. So we see telephones and see the things we take for granted now, the telephones, cars, electricity creeping into society so it is not removed this the way the jane austen historical dramas are which are bustles and bonnets. This is the beginning of our recognized history now and i think that adds to the immediacy of the way. Rose were you born with that voice or acquire it . It was misspent youth. It just happened. Rose because i want to go auto tune that. Is it as some say just ve good, well acted soap . Yes. You say that as if that is a negative. No, no. I would say, yes. By definition, soap operas is Episodic Television involving characters. In that respect it is, yes, whereas a drama is often a single strand story. Rose but it is much more heavily produced and has a whole range of characters. I think if you lay too much burden on the show to be historically anything, relevant or completely 100 percent accurate, although every effort is made to be as accurate as possible, it doesnt withstand that, because it is meant to be an entertaining drama first and foremost, we want people to enjoy it, so i think we all hold up our heads with pride, you know, at that. Look at all of the awards you clearly should. Rose anything about this that would make you want to live in that period . Not as a house maid. Rose thats why i and not really. I mean, i think it is a lovely world to visit from our luxurious position, 21st century but not a world i embrace and a social structure i recognize but i think as a glimpse of a history, all beat it in our terms a fictional history it is a lovely place to visit but a lot easier for those upstairs than down. Rose i tell me about the mechanics, you say 11 hours of television and shot since months to create 11 hours of television. Thats right. Rose you began on january 6th with two hours. Well, yes. It takes all of that time to actually put the pieces together but once it is edited and so on rose two and a half hours. But six months to shoot it. Historical dramas, you have horses and characters and wigs and complicated cross stiewments, julian fellows writes big dinner Party Seasons with ten speaking characters. Rose right. The food has to be replaced between each take and the candles have to be moved so they are not this the shot, it is a juggernaut of an affair to manipulate, so it is, you know, we work 11 days out of 14, and from 8 00 oclock to the morning to 7 00 oclock at night for six months and the crew every minute of that, we get time off. Yes, it is hard work but plate and with all of the upstairs, sort of the high clear castle which is an hour and 20 minutes outside of london. Rose the upstairs. But the downstairs of the castle has been so modernized it is unusable so we shoot the downstairs in studios, in london. Rose yes. What do you like most about your character . I think her strength. Yes. And she is not that post madonna modern definition of feminine strength. He is kind of an older definition of feminine strength and i think it is quite refreshing to take another look at that, even though it doesnt feel as though cora is calling the shots i think in many ways he is. Rose strong women werent born yesterday they have been here for a long time. Yeah. Rose and she is manipulative . I think she works the family to what she feels is their best result. Rose lord grantham seems like a nice guy. Is he a nice guy . I hike him. I dont know that i would have a huge amount of conversation with him after the first half an hour at a dinner party. I mean because i think he is slightly out of touch. We see that a bit more in season three, that i think what i do admire about him is he tries to see the good in people, he has a liberal inclinations even if a conservative way by birth. Rose he wants to be fair. He tries to be fair but he also makes rash decisions. He loses his own sense of direction, you know, from time to time, in season 2, and he has made mistakes in season 3, so that is true of all of the characters just when you think you have them failed, you understand them, julian just twists it a bit so you see a different sort of light through the prism, really, i am fond of him but not street wise although he has been to war and seen life in that sense, and he is really not been much beyond the gentle mens clubs of london in terms of being in touch with what is happening on the street but in terms of the worlds downturn, that is his destiny and thats his life and thats what he cares about. Rose and most of the season will be about trying to keep Downton Abbey. It is, it is a big thrust for a storyline and for him to be dragged by the nose into the 1920s, he is really revealing his true colors that he feels that things shouldnt and have to change. He wants it to go back to the way it was before the war, and the character of matthew crawley, his heir, one of his tasks in this though is to try to drag robert, now that matthew is the heir to see the changes to the task of matthew or the task of matthew as played by dan stevens is really to try to make robert realize that change has got to happen with the estate. Rose there is a new world there. Yeah. Ah, ah, ah. Oh dear, i am afraid the war has made old women of us. Oh. I wouldnt say that, but then i always keep out of the sun. Rose when you look at all of these characters and each year there is the introduction of a new character, so your mother shows up. Played by sthir maclaine. And what, Shirley Maclaine. And what role does she play . Well, i think you learn a lot about where cora comes from, which is vastly different from the lineage that robert has enjoyed. Rose right. And you need only take one look at Shirley Maclaine and the whole story is told, that is the whew at this, beauty of her. So right there you have a complete contrast of cultures, america, young, brash, outspoken, direct, and england which is everything that is quite the opposite of that in many ways. And what is the relationship here . Women, anna. It is a working relationship, isnt it . Yes. You are a good worker, i respect you for that, and i just want, i want i want a perfect show put on every day and somebody i can rely on for this. Rose this is a pretty good job. Yes, absolutely. You cant get married which is possibly a downfall, the butters will dont get married as do housekeepers that could be a downfall and i am sleepily dependent on lord grantham to look after me in my old age so that would be very nice. And i am sure he will if he has the resources. I think so. You rely on his benevolence. I wouldnt want to come back as a butler. It is shocking what little time they had to themselves. Rose the butters will. Any of them downstairs. Half a day every two weeks. Rose a half a day. Every two weeks. Rose you are on all the other times. You are on all the other time. Rose and basically, it wasnt like an eighthour day. No, no. Absolutely, because the house had to be in perfect running order every minute of the day, there were things that arent seen on screen because it would be boring but a butler or understood butler, say, would be on duty in the hall all afternoon in case somebody calls, i mean you are standing in the doorway for the door to knock. But you said carson is in denial because he thinks that as long as everything is done properly that is the answer to everything. Those what he hangs on to, the rock he hangs on to, if you do it well and with style and this is a great show we put on, and that covers everything, and everything must be bent to fit with that, really. Im sorry, i wont. Then you will have to do it, mr. Carson. I am not dressing a shove sthoafer. He is not a chauffeur now. You dont have to dress him, just see he has everything he needs. I am not often at one with mr. Barrow but, no. Then alfred must do it. Alfred, he wouldnt want to know what to do besides collecting shoes out of the door. Well he will have to learn. There is an interesting parallel obviously between carson running downstairs and then robert being emotionally in charge upstairs, you know, both have the killing any, diagnosis anthe estate in their hearts and bones and fascinated by an image that carsons utter loyalty to the estate over everything else, it is fascinating. Rose take a look at this clip. You find out from your lawyer that things dont look good, period. Are you really telling me all of the money is gone . Im afraid so, the lions share of coras fortune. I wont give in. I have sacrificed too much to downton to give in now, i refuse to be the failure, the earl that dropped the torch and let the plame go out. Rose and. I forgot the line but he said it there. Yeah, catastrophic investment in canadian railways what can i tell you. How much episodes this year. Ah you do it slightly differently over here, i think it is probably nine in the uk. But 4 00 here, 5 00 here. And. Rose do they compress it. They present it in longer in longer form here, it may be 45 minutes there and an hour here. Yes. Rose any other differences . I mean what we will see now, beginning in january, has already been seen . That is correct. And how many countries is it only seen in britain or other places simultaneously . Or just the first run and then it can be seen by whoever wants to see it after . Yes, i believe it has been sold to 100 and something countries for syndication, but it has been shown in the uk first, followed very quickly in new zealand and in scandinavia and so on but every country has a different release pattern. I was just cycling in cambodia and the temples of angkor what. Which is not an image you want to draw on with a crash helmet. And there is a hoard of Chinese Tourists passing and one stopped and said, mr. Carson wow. You loved it. Absolutely. Rose that is great. It really is. When you look at this series of things, are the characters changing or the events changing . Both. The series too was dominated by world events, world war i, the massive cages in society, as reflected through Downton Abbey. It is much more back inside the house, the relationship between the characters, and the characters are changing and evolving and they have, to because you get bored with them otherwise, and i think that is also, people love different characters, they invest in them and then those characters are changing and evolving all the time. Rose take a look at this, this is where cora tells i do not, she needs a new footman here it is. Remember this . I dont see why not, but ask his lordship. There you are. Ask him now. Ask me what. She needs a footman. Alfred nugent, will se a good worker, i think it sounds perfect. Robert . Whatever you say, my dear i have to go off to london tomorrow, i will be catching the early train. That is very sudden. Do you want me to open the house . No, i will come straight back. What are you going for . It is nothing to bother you with. Hmm. Hmm. Rose i thought you were referring to the way he said nothing to bother you with. Dont worry your pretty little ahead. Dont worry your pretty little head. But dont worry your little pretty head. Yes. Precisely. Rose and waynt to do one more just to give a sense of this. This is where carson talks about the importance of style. While entertaining. Here it is. This is manager you wanted. I think we will manage well tonight in difficult circumstances. His lordships and his banks. This evening was a success. The odd thing is, i think it was. But for me, everyone is sprawled on the floor eating like beaters at the break, that is not a party. It is a droughting. Where is the style, mrs. Hughes where is the show . Perhaps people are tired of style and show. Well, in my opinion, to misquote dr. Johnson, if you are tired of style, you are tired of life. laughter. rose well said, sir. Now you can define style anyway you want to, you are tired of style you are tired of life, quite right. Rose do you live in london . I do. How long . 20 years now. Rose oh, really . I assume because of a relationship brought you there or yes. A few english girls Downton Abbey. 20th and rose so the two of you have lived in london and rose and you think of yourself as english now . No, i dont. I think of myself as an american who is living there. Rose quality of life is different . I think it is different, yes. You love the rain, come on, be honest. You love the rain. Rose do you love cricket . I love cricket, which we wont try to explain in series three. Yes, my sport. Rose your sport, oh. I. Oh, i love it. Rose we sit at this table and interviewed pinter. He loves cricket. I run a cricket club and the last game of the season is against Harold Pinter and his team is named the gay at this, which, gate at this, which they are not, he would sit there on the balcony spouting forth, you know,. How was he as a player . He loved the game, he didnt play anymore, but he just and if he had a good game and won he would have a drink and stand up and recite poetry. You dont get that in america, do you. Rose and the capacity to bring so many lines back to memory at an instant. I mean the idea of memorizing all of that, or is it something they know, some secret that they know or does it go with kind of intelligence harold have and you have. It goes with you know, if you learn it early, it never goes away, you start the first line and it comes back, doesnt it. You think all english people spout poetry. Rose hitchens was the same way and could recite things. The ghish have a very rigid form of education. A poem of week. Yes, i forgotten most of them but certainly as actors if you do a lot of theatre there is a certain muscle in your brain. Rose yes. I am fascinated by that. It is a muscle so you know how to inhabit lines. Well you know how to recall them because they leave a deep memory trace it is extraordinary i havent done theatre for a while and the memory trace on tv and others in television is so much faster because you move faster through the process and it is not a repeated pattern every day. Rose but we thought of you as a man of the theatre. Well, may be, i dont think you can shake that off and thats where i grew up and cut my teeth and, you know, will return to, but that muscle has gone flabby, i tell you. Rose this is another where anna visits her husband, mr. Bates, in jail. So what have you got . What use could i have in here . To be honest i am not sure about my cell mate. Ah. Just remember what my mother used to say. Never make an enemy. Now, do you think you can get it before my next visit. I dont see what can come of it. Probably nothing. And my next idea will probably lead to nothing and the next and the next. But oneday, something will occur and we will follow it out and the cage will crumble. Do you ever doubt . For just one minute . I wouldnt blame you. No. I dont doubt that there is something here. Rose lines, arent they. Yeah, i wish i had written them. Rose the lines are it is a notion of i assume you are an actor and some playwright or some script writer gives Academy Lines and you want to go and give them a big hug.