logo
Downton Abbey: How Accurate Is It?
History Hit

480,417 views

7,045 likes

Victorian expert reviews the beloved Downton Abbey series for its historical accuracy.

Matthew Crawley serves in the First World War, Robert Crawley's heir dies on the Titanic, Lady Grantham gets the Spanish flu, Violet Crawley (Maggie Smith) clings to the class system, Lady Mary is sympathetic to the gay footman Thomas Barrow, and Lady Edith learns about the suffragettes.

How many historical events did they get right, and what's just good storytelling? Join Dr Tania Shew as she does a deep dive of Downton Abbey.

0:00 Introduction

2:05 Sinking of the Titanic

4:14 House of Lords inquiry

4:49 Class dynamics of the disaster

6:02 Arrival of electricity

7:47 Cost and technological changes

9:10 Class divisions and the weekend

12:18 Servants and aristocratic relations

14:12 Dollar princesses and marriage

16:34 Suffrage movement and militancy

18:00 Politics and working-class causes

19:02 Great Labour Unrest and canvassing

22:29 Fashion and women's rights

24:41 Homosexuality in Edwardian Britain

27:01 First World War and aristocracy

29:09 Grief and Spanish flu

32:44 White feather movement

37:24 Jazz and post-war economy

#DowntonAbbey #Victorian #Edwardian

You can now become a History Hit member right here on YouTube! Join for access to a new exclusive documentary every week, and access to over 160+ of our documentaries presented by world-renowned historians like Dan Snow, Eleanor Janega, Tristan Hughes, Mary Beard, Matt Lewis and more.

Get an exclusive release every week by signing up here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCZwU2G-KVl-P-O-B35chZOQ/join

History Hit is part of Little Dot Studios, a Certified B Corp™