Abstract

Never before has it been so important to investigate the way in which televised historical

drama recreates and represents the past, for, as Robert Rosenstone (2003) acknowledges,

“the increasing presence of the visual media in modern culture and the vast increase in

TV channels seems to ensure that most people now get their knowledge of the past, once

school is over, from the visual media” (p. 10). Therefore, this research uses the popular

PBS Masterpiece Theatre program Downton Abbey as a case study to examine the

form conclusions concerning the relationship between the encoding and decoding of

Downton Abbey, in particular, as well as the larger implications these findings have for

televised historical drama and society’s collective memory, in general. Ultimately, this

essay argues that through its precision of post-Edwardian detail, Downton Abbey attempts

to construct a veil of accuracy behind which the series’ narrative is theoretically able to

operate freely and without rigid constraint by history’s “hard and fast rules” (Fellowes,

2012a, p. 60). The findings also reveal an incongruity between this philosophy of

encoding and the subsequent decoding process of Downton Abbey’s audience members.

Finally, this study offers two potential functions historical drama may serve in

contemporary society: as either a catalyst for historical inquiry or as a purveyor of

RUNNING HEAD: FACT THROUGH FICTION

I would like to express my very great appreciation to Professor William Stanwood of the

Boston College Communication Department not only for his role as faculty advisor on

this project, but also, and perhaps more importantly, for his unfaltering support, constant

encouragement, and unwavering confidence in my abilities. I am indebted to you,

Professor Stanwood, for you have played an indispensible role in my education. Your

guidance and instruction over the past year has led me to produce a final product that I

Project is only one of the many gifts with which you have provided me since our meeting

three years ago. I cannot express my gratitude for your support as a teacher, a mentor,

and a great friend. This project, and much of what I have achieved while at Boston

College, is in large part because of you – thank you.

Finally, I wish to offer my special thanks to Professor Lindsay Hogan of the Boston

College Communication Department for her willingness to act as the second, independent

reviewer on this project. It is an honor to have such an accomplished scholar and fellow

my sincerest gratitude.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .......................................................................................................... I

DEDICATION ........................................................................................................................ II

LIST OF TABLES ................................................................................................................... V

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has long privileged the written word” (Rosenstone, 1995c, p. 43). Today, most of

Western culture, so accustomed to scholarly historical texts as the sole source of

historical information, attempts to assess the accuracy of visual media’s presentation of

historical content using the same framework that has long been applied to historical

established methods of judging the written word are no longer adequate when applied to

the visual media’s new and unique modes of historical representation (2012, para. 17).

Scholars at the forefront of this discussion have acknowledged, therefore, the call

for a new system of judgment specific to the visual media that can sufficiently capture the

breadth and depth of historical fiction on film – as Rosenstone writes, “Historical film

constitute as historical in the twenty-first century. Cultural critics, from citizen bloggers

to history and film scholars, acknowledge that society can no longer privilege the written

word as absolute truth or superior to all other modes of historical recording; instead, they

have recently begun to argue that “all historical writing is interpretation, […] [in which]

everyone has an angle and an opinion” (Cornick, 2011b, para. 4). Instead of delivering

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shaping” (Burgoyne, 1997, p. 5). When viewed in this way, it becomes clear that no

method of historical representation, whether oral or written or visual, can be wholly

accurate, and history itself becomes less about the transmission and memorization of

facts and more about the “transmission of attitudes and abilities” (Hunter, 2013, para. 5)

Historical fiction as genre. By redefining history for the postmodern world,

cultural critics make oral, written, and visual representations of the past all equal and

legitimate ways of doing history – each with their own “rules of representation”

(Rosenstone, 1995b, p. 3). When it comes to television shows, for example, the

inevitable fact that “characters are condensed, events are simplified, and scenes are

University of Saint Andrews, recognizes, “dramatic license and a strong point of view are

essential for [historical] films to work as art” (1997, p. 5). In fact, The Guardian’s James

Forrester suggests that “judging historical fiction is not as simple as ‘accurate = good’

and ‘inaccurate = bad,’” especially when it comes to the visual media – to put it bluntly,

“in creating good historical fiction, it is essential to tell lies” (2010, para. 6).

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“has a primary duty to engage the audience with a compelling narrative whilst not

distorting the historical truth” (Susan Deeks as quoted in Hudson, n.d., para. 12). As long

as the setting is historically accurate, effectively establishing “a framework in which a

historical drama can work” (Cornick, 2011b, para. 4), televised representations of history

historical dramas focus neither on cataloging historical data, at one end of the spectrum,

nor on entertaining and producing a profit, at the other, but rather, the “intent, content,

and form” of this genre are instead interested in “understanding the legacy of the past”

through both historical and fictional means (Rosenstone, 1995b, p. 4).

This dual nature of the historical fiction genre, understood in the context of a

and which are not” considering the power of the media, both past and present, to shape

audiences’ views of history (2010, para. 3)?

Visual media’s influence on historical understanding. From theatrical

performances to film to television, the visual media, what Hayden White (1988) refers to

as historiophoty: “the representation of history and our thought about it in visual images

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(Bell & Gray, 2007; Edgerton, 2000; Hanke, 2000; Rosenthal, 1999), defined as “both the

product and process in which members of the public at large obtain definitions of the

symbolic universe from watching and talking about the media” (Rosenthal, 1999, p. 28).

When visual media intersect with historical content, explains Gary Edgerton

(p. 9-10). This inextricable link between factual history and historical fiction, what

Edgerton (2000) refers to as professional history and popular history, is key to

understanding historical fiction’s impact on an audience’s historical knowledge. In a

study conducted by Deborah Prentice, Richard Gerrig, and Daniel Bailis (1997) at Yale

University, the researchers found that “the impact of a fictional story on real-world

professional history, the popular history presented by visual media is more convincing to

audience members, thus, sometimes, allowing fiction and not fact to prevail in the

public’s collective memory.

As an added caveat, Sian Nicholas (2007) argues that historical fiction presented

through visual media must “engage with the audience’s existing understanding of the

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(1995a) expands on this idea by suggesting that if the “visual ‘look,’ […] tone and

atmosphere” of the production are consistent with “the overall data and meanings of what

[audiences] already know of the past,” the historical fiction serves to “add to [audiences’]

understanding” of that period (p. 10-11).

was as widespread as it is today, bards presented history orally by recounting “classic

epics” (Rosenstone, 1995a, p. 11). In the fifth century, the golden age of Greek tragedy,

all of which “are based on history or myth,” theatrical performance began to supplement

the oral historical tradition (Musburger, 1985, p. 93). Over a century later in the 1500s,

Western culture began to receive its history lessons from playwrights such as William

performances served to influence the majority of audience members’ understanding of

the historical past.

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The invention of film in 1895 served to perpetuate this ancient trend of historical

education through visual media. Movie pioneers Auguste and Louis Lumière honed this

new technology to “record actualities,” making these French brothers the official

founders of documentary filmmaking with shorts such as Exiting the Factory (1895),

subsequent years and with increased understanding of the new medium, directors began

to incorporate narrative storytelling into their representations of the past, thus bringing

historical fiction to the silver screen. The beginnings of feature length motion pictures,

such as D.W. Griffith’s Birth of a Nation (1915), which “restaged pageants from the Civil

War” (Rosenthal, 1999, p. 1), Cecil B. DeMille’s The Ten Commandments (1923) and

aesthetically significant” (National Film Preservation Board, 1997), lend support to

Rosenstone’s assertion that “the historical film has been making its impact on [audiences]

for many years now,” especially on audiences’ sense of the past (1995a, p. 1).

The power of motion pictures today is no different than their silent predecessors

of the late 1800s and early 1900s, save for that, in the late twentieth century, filmmakers

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(Rosenstone, 1995a, p. 1). Gary Gutting of The New York Times puts it plainly when he

writes, “movies are the source of what we know – or what we think we know – about

history,” listing Steven Spielberg’s recent film Lincoln (2012) as an example of a motion

picture that has been “recommended as a source of knowledge […] with ‘instructional

Television is no different than the visual media that precede it, especially when

one considers that early television programming “drew from the legacies of theatre [and]

motion pictures” (Musburger, 1985, p. 100). In fact, since the 1960s, television has set a

precedent for the being the primary outlet of “social and cultural” information, for “some

of the most important events of the past century took place before television cameras”

(O’Connor, 1988, p. 1203). When it comes to historical fiction, television, the first visual

electronic media to bring history directly into the domestic sphere, has, once again,

reformatted the principal means by which audiences receive historical information – John

E. O’Connor, pioneer of research regarding film and history, makes reference to early

historical fiction programs such as Roots (1976) and Holocaust (1978) that, despite

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Today, the medium is even more pervasive, as “history on television is now big

business” for both commercial and public networks as well as corporate and independent

producers (Edgerton, 2000, p. 7), effectively “populariz[ing] knowledge for mass

audiences” (Bell & Gray, 2007, p. 128). Since the rise of “longer format programs,” such

broadcast networks within the twenty-first century’s multi-channel landscape. Drawing

upon substantial budgets, complex serial narratives, and historical settings, these

networks have received “strong Nielsen ratings for historical dramas” such as Deadwood

(2004), The Tudors (2007), Mad Men (2007), and Downton Abbey (2010) (Toplin, 1988,

p. 1210).

fictional, but whose historical setting is intrinsic to the story and meaning of the work”

(p. 2). The ease of accessibility of these popular programs contributes to television’s

surpassing the motion picture as the “primary way children and adults form their

understanding of the past, […] transform[ing] the way millions of viewers think about

historical figures and events” (Edgerton, 2000, p. 7). In this way, as Robert Hanke of the

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consider when looking to uncover historiophoty’s current influence on audience’s

understanding of the past.

In an effort to begin the next stage of research into the realm of historical fiction

period programs may or may not play in audiences’ perceptions of the past. Therefore,

the overarching question driving this project is: What historical understanding do

audiences take away from televised historical fiction programs?

Kathy Kemper of The Huffington Post is one of many recent journalists who have

people watch historical fiction, either in the form of a movie or a television show, they

watch to be entertained and do not necessarily expect or desire a history lesson (Philips,

2013, para. 8). What many audience members fail to realize, however, is that historical

films “are the source of much of what we know – or what we think we know – about

history” (Gutting, 2012, para. 1), for in “our media-dominated, digitally enhanced era”

FACT THROUGH FICTION

Having already defined history, in all of its recorded forms, as more of an “act of

the imagination” than a catalogue of absolute truths (Jones, 2012, para. 6), it becomes

imperative to question to what extent society can rely on historical records –especially

those of filmed historical fiction for which “historical accuracy is not of primary

distinguishing fact from fiction” (Bordo, 2012, para. 17), a reality that has the potential to

invoke serious consequences on “the public’s view of the past” (1983, p. xxxiii).

Presently, scholars like O’Connor worry that audiences, after viewing historical fiction,

believe that “they have actually absorbed and understood the history” (O’Connor, 1983,

p. xxxvii), thus contributing to Western culture’s loss of a “collective sense of what really

nation’s historical consciousness” (O’Connor, 1983, p. xxxvi).

This research focused primarily within the context of the media influence

paradigm through its examination of media messages in relation to viewers’ experiences.

More specifically, the study utilized Stuart Hall’s reception analysis approach, “an

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2000, p. 15). In other words, a viewer’s decoding of historical fiction is intrinsically tied

to his or her personal and cultural experiences, not least of which is that individual’s

“background experiences, knowledge, and interests brought to the image” (Werner, 2004,

p. 2) – a phenomenon that, as previously mentioned, was demonstrated by Prentice et al.

to its message (p. 419).

What Prentice et al.’s findings suggest about the decoding process is that “the

acceptance of information is the default” for audience members, and, as a result,

individuals are likely to only reject information if they are “able to process it carefully”

and find that it conflicts with what they already know, or think they know, to be

argue that the decoding of historical fiction is a process in which individuals “learn what

they know about the past from engaging with media” and not from any other historical

sources (Stoddard & Marcus, 2010, p. 84). Support for this position is grounded in

studies such as those conducted by Andrew Butler, Franklin Zaromb, Keith Lyle, and

Henry Roediger (2009), who found that their participants were “more likely to cite

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2010, p. 84), and Alan Marcus (2005), who discovered that “students tend to refer to

examples from Hollywood films as fact even when they recognize the inaccuracies that

are commonplace in these films” (Alan Marcus as quoted in Stoddard & Marcus, 2010, p.

84).

more attentive to messages that reflect real-life, this team of researchers hypothesized

that “as the perceived realism of television increases, so does the audience’s motivation

to learn its content” (Rubin, 1979 as quoted in Perry et al., 1992, p. 197). The findings of

this study demonstrate audiences’ tendency to “regard historically-based drama as more

likely than fiction to teach them useful historical details or meaningful lessons about life,

Toplin writes that, despite isolated studies such as that of Perry et al., there is a

“dearth of literature” on the connection between historical film and its ability to influence

audiences’ historical understanding (1988, p. 1212) – something that scholars such as

Toplin (1988), O’Connor (1988), and Rosenstone (1995a) attribute to the “absence of any

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“consensus on how to evaluate the contribution of the historical film to historical

understanding” (Rosenstone, 1995a, p. 1).

Researchers have not yet found a way to systematically think about “what

constitutes good filmed history,” specifically “what methods of visual interpretation

widely divergent grounds,” everything from “accuracy of detail, [to] the use of original

document, [to the] appropriateness of music, [to] the looks or apparent auditability of an

actor to play someone” (p. 12).

Although not agreed upon across the academic community, C. Vann Woodward

(1967) presents a model for assessing good historical fiction that appears to successfully

Toplin, 1998, p. 1225). The fact that Woodward’s definition is merely one among many

contested descriptions of good historical fiction, however, points to the necessity of a

method “to judge the ways in which, through invention, film summarizes vast amounts of

data or symbolizes complexities” (Rosenstone, 1995a, p. 9). The emergence of such a

method would provide an answer to one of the field’s prevailing questions: “How should

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Weinstein’s Approach to Historical Fiction. Paul B. Weinstein, professor of

history and popular culture at the University of Akron’s Wayne College, recognizes “the

power of the mass media to shape perception and to affect interpretation of the past” and

has, therefore, developed a set of “tools to examine film from a critical perspective,” the

(II) History; (III) Behavior; and (IV) Agenda, Values, and Effects, each of which enables

the researcher to view “what is being communicated, to whom, in what fashion, and why

the subject was selected” (Weinstein, 2001, p. 42). Each section includes a series of

questions the answers to which allow the researcher to conduct a methodical analysis of

the text and “arrive at an enhanced version of historical truth” (Weinstein, 2001, p. 42).

texts,” providing “questions [researchers] should ask and points [they] should observe as

[they] examine a film text” (2001, p. 42).

regarding the Setting, Details, and Design category are:

1. Are locations, costumes, and sets accurate?

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4. Has the filmmaker included details that enhance the historical

category are:

Behavior category are:

1. Do the character speak and act as people in their time, situation and

class did?

1. What values underlie the film?

2. What does the filmmaker do to influence feelings and emotions?

3. What sort of heroic and villainous icons are presented and supported in

the film?

4. What messages did the filmmaker wish to convey?

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5. Does the film succeed in producing the desired effect? (Weinstein,

2001, p. 43)

Although not a formal or widely acknowledged methodology, Weinstein’s

approach and comprehensive rubric provides a systematic way to think about and analyze

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This study began with the acquisition of secondary research pertaining to the

research question. Using the Biltmore College University Libraries’ Holmes One Search,

were found. These resources were made available through Library webpage searches that

utilized keywords and phrases that were, once again, of relevance to the research topic.

These search-terms included combinations and variations of: history; popular history;

within Biltmore College University Libraries’ collection of Databases and E-Journals,

specifically those of Communication Abstract, Communication and Mass Media

Complete, Academic OneFile, ProQuest, and JSTOR. The secondary research yielded by

this investigation of databases and e-journals was a series of studies and articles

published in credible peer-reviewed journals. Once this dual process of secondary

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selection of a contemporary televised historical drama that would serve as a case study

for the completion of the intended primary research.

Based on the secondary research collected, PBS Masterpiece Theatre’s Downton

the key traits of the historical fiction genre: the characteristic tension between the

competing goals of historical truth and fictional storytelling. For example, the show’s

creator, Julian Fellowes, believes the program to be “pretty accurate” (Julian Fellowes as

quoted in The Telegraph, 2011, para. 2), and, at the same time, those who work on the

series acknowledge that Downton Abbey is “a fictional world” (Hugh Bonneville as

that of Victorian Britain right down to the tiniest detail, he would have created a show for

the History Channel rather than for the ITV drama slot” (2012, para. 4). Instead,

Downton Abbey utilizes the medium of television, with its “open-endedness” and

“unlimited time to develop any character,” to temper historical truth with emotional

storytelling (Fellowes, 2012b, p. 7).

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Despite the series’ apparent success, however, in navigating the boundary between the

factual and the fictional, Downton Abbey is “being picked apart, studied and lambasted –

not for its content or weak plot, but for its minute and often overlooked historical

accuracies,” such as the medical ailments depicted by the series and the linguistic

demonstrates the series’ qualifications for detailed consideration as a case study in this

research.

Using Downton Abbey as a case study, this research proceeded to investigate

whether or not the historical fiction genre on television has a “serious function to perform

in society” (Rosenthal, 1999, p. xv), and, furthermore, as The Guardian’s Jonathan Jones

historical accuracy of the series due to the subjective nature of accuracy; rather, content

was analyzed in an effort to understand the ways in which Downton Abbey and, more

generally, televised historical drama, convey historical information and how viewers

subsequently assess and understand that information.

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movements” and those “whose central plot and characters are fictional, but whose

historical setting is intrinsic to the story and meaning of the work” (p. 2). While

Downton Abbey as a series may fall into Rosenstone’s latter classification of historical

drama, individual episodes align themselves with both categories – the plots of some

episodes within each season were consulted in order to categorize episodes into two

broad categories: (1) event-driven episodes: those episodes in which main plotlines

revolve around or are influenced by a definitive historical event or occurrence; and (2)

domestic episodes: those episodes that do not include a major historical milestone, but

rather provide a look into history through everyday, domestic storylines. To facilitate the

Season One was found to have three event-drive episodes and four domestic episodes;

Season Two was found to have five event-driven episodes and three domestic episodes;

and Season Three was found to have one event-driven episode and seven domestic

episodes.

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Instances where Fellowes’s, Bruce’s and, subsequently, Downton Abbey’s

attention to historical detail shines through in the six selected episodes include: (1) In

episode 1.1: the installation of electricity in the main rooms of the house, the servants

ironing the Crawleys’ newspapers – something Fellowes admits is “cliché in a way

into a decanter though gauze; (2) in episode 1.7: the installation of a telephone in both the

main hall and servants’ hall, the reference to The Lady as a magazine to advertise for a

new lady’s maid – a characteristic move by Fellowes in that it “makes reference to things

that people would have known about at the time” (Fellowes, 2013, p. 4); (3) in episode

2.7: dialogue concerning the food shortages and rationing that followed the First World

gramophone at Downton Abbey – what Fellowes believes to be “a symbol of the period”

(2013, p. 432); (5) in episode 3.3: the post-war servant shortages reported in the

newspapers, the strict social hierarchy not only between classes but also within the

servants’ hall – as denoted by Carson’s line, “Daisy [the kitchen maid] will not sit down

[to eat with the rest of the servants]. She eats with Mrs. Patmore [the cook] in the

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women eating with the men in the breakfast room, and, finally, the distinction between

types of utensils as seen in this exchange between Alfred Nugent (the footman) and

Carson:

CARSON: Go on then.

CARSON: Shall I tell you?

ALFRED: All right.

[Carson picks up the spoon.]

CARSON: A bullion spoon.

ALFRED: But I thought soupspoons were the same as tablespoons.

Downton Abbey’s producers reveal their close adherence to the historical details that

characterize the series’ narrative and mise-en-scène.

History. Each of the six selected Downton Abbey episodes as well as the

supplementary, producer-generated materials were considered in the context of

Weinstein’s History category and the three questions it dictates: (1) Is the history

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assessing the extent to which the producer-encoded content makes reference to a specific

historical time or place or incorporates and accurately explains major historical events or

milestones.

Grounding themselves in a solid historical context, four out of the six episodes

contain overlay text at their openings that reads “1919”.

The specificity of these dates is not only meant to notify Downton Abbey’s

audience as to each episode’s historical period, but the presence of a designated time

period simultaneously allows for the incorporation of notable historical events into the

episodes’ narrative and dialogue, which, as Julian Fellowes writes, helps to “give the

of Grantham) opens his morning newspaper to reveal “a picture of the familiar four-

funneled liner, Titanic” (Fellowes, 2012a, p. 12). Fellowes explains his reasoning

behind choosing this “iconic disaster” to open the series as:

There are very few people who’ve never heard of the Titanic and most of

us have a fairly accurate idea of when it took place, which is before the

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because the script contains one word, Titanic, or indeed from the moment

Robert opens the newspaper and they see those familiar four funnels. You

don’t have to spend lots of time explaining. This one incident tells them

what they need to know. (Fellowes, 2012a, p. 12)

346). Set in July 1914, episode 1.7 uses dialogue to make periodic references to

historical events – for example, early on in the episode there exists this exchange between

Robert and Mrs. Hughes (the housekeeper):

ROBERT: Any local news?

MRS HUGHES: The main topic here is the murder of the Austrian

Archduke. (Neame et al., 2011a)

CARSON: Because of the Archduke’s death?

ROBERT: The Austrians won’t get what they want from Serbia. And

now Russia’s starting to rumble… (Neame et al. 2011a)

Finally, this series of references throughout episode 1.7 concludes with an

announcement by Robert at Downton Abbey’s garden party; Robert asks for silence

before declaring, “I very much regret to announce… that we are at war with Germany”

(Neame et al., 2011a).

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While episodes 1.1 (through Titanic’s sinking) and 1.7 (through the murder of the

Austrian Archduke and the declaration of the First World War) incorporate historical

events about which Downton Abbey’s producers assume their audience is more or less

well-versed, episodes 2.7 and 2.8, both set in 1919, deal with the Spanish ‘flu epidemic of

‘flu, allowing the producers of the series to demonstrate the nature of the disease to

unaware audience members, something about which Fellowes comments, “I always like

when I feel we’re telling them [the audience] something they didn’t know” (2013, p.

435).

In regard to the episodes selected from Season Three, episode 3.3 does not

American and English women’s suffrage movements and to the Irish Revolution. The

references of episode 3.4 are structured in a way similar to those regarding the Spanish

‘flu in episode 2.7 and serve to situate the episode in a general historical time period. In

keeping with Fellowes’s narrative “style of Downton Abbey” (2012a, p. 346) events such

as Tennessee’s ratification of the nineteenth amendment (which extended the right of

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War of Independence) are briefly referenced through dialogue and position the episode

between 1919 and 1920.

Behavior. Each of the six selected Downton Abbey episodes as well as the

supplementary, producer-generated materials were considered in the context of

study, however, resulted in the recognition for the need to expand upon Weinstein’s two

guiding questions in the Behavior category in order to provide a more inclusive and

robust framework within which to evaluate the behavior of Downton Abbey’s characters,

both individually and within their relationships with other characters. Therefore, this lens

ultimately concerned itself with the period appropriateness and accuracy of characters’

depending on the gender, class, age/generational, sexual, national, and situational

dynamics between the characters.

Overall, the behavior projected by Downton Abbey’s cast of characters across the

six considered episodes is aptly summarized by Downton Abbey’s historical advisor,

Alistair Bruce, when he says in “Downton Abbey: A House in History,” “The family did

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bond within the house” (Alistair Bruce as quoted in Neame et al., 2011c). Out of the two

facets of this “bond” within Downton Abbey (one facet being the compassion felt by the

Crawley family for their staff and the other being the compassion felt by the staff for the

Crawley family), the narrative of each analyzed episode involves instances of the

17) – making it important to note that, as mentioned in “Downton Abbey: Behind the

Drama” (2013b), “someone with such an injury would rarely have been employed in

service in a house; so it’s of huge importance that Bates is given this chance [to be

Robert’s valet and to work at Downton Abbey].” The narrative explains the unusualness

of Bates’ employment through the fact that “Bates was Robert’s servant when they were

to physically handle the work of a valet, is stopped by Robert:

[The chauffeur shuts the door and gets in, as does Bates. The car is

moving off, when – ]

ROBERT: Wait!

[The car stops. Robert runs forward, opening Bates’ door and pulling the

case off the valet’s lap.]

after Bates. The chauffer drives off.]

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ROBERT: Get back inside [Bates]. And we’ll say no more about it.

[Bates takes his case and goes. Robert looks at the butler.]

ROBERT (CONT’D): It wasn’t right, Carson. I just didn’t think it was

right. (Neame et al., 2011a)

eyesight; Robert declares, “On Doctor Clarkson’s recommendation, I’m sending you up

to London to see an eye specialist at Moorfields, Anna Smith [the head housemaid] will

go with you and you’ll stay with my sister Lady Rosamund Painswick, in Eaton Square”

(Neame et al., 2011a). Episode 1.7’s second instance involves Lady Sybil aiding Gwen

Dawson (a housemaid) to secure a secretarial position with a telephone company; the

SYBIL: Gwen’s in there with Mr. Bromidge [the telephone company

owner]. She’s being interviewed.

ROBERT: I cannot use my library because one of the housemaids is in

there applying for another job?

SYBIL: That’s about the size of it. (Neame et al., 2011a)

Episode 2.7 also includes equally unusual acts by the Crawley family toward their

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about the family than the family knew about the servants” to the point that “most

employers would hardly know the names [of their servants],” the relationships between

the Crawley family and their staff often stray from this description (Fellowes, 2012a, p.

35) – for example the relationship that exists between Robert and Jane Moorsum (a

JANE: Yes, Freddie. He’s doing very well.

ROBERT: I wrote to the headmaster of Ripon Grammar. I said to look

out for him [Freddie].

JANE: That’s – that’s so kind, m’lord. (Neame et al., 2012a)

And later in the episode, after Jane has submitted her resignation to leave Downton

Abbey:

ROBERT: It’s not for you. It’s for Freddie. Let me give him a start in

life.

JANE: I’m not sure…

ROBERT: It would make me very happy. (Neame et al., 2012a)

Episode 2.7 includes another storyline that is marked by similar familiarity and

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stage directions state: “A four-poster bed has been turned down. The lamps are on. A fire

is burning” (Fellowes, 2013, p. 476).

Instances of this nature continue throughout the other three selected episodes

(episodes 2.8, 3.3, and 3.4): in episode 2.8, Thomas Barrow (first footman / underbutler)

worst thing for a servant” (2012a, p. 19), for “once you were perceived as a thief you

would not work again” (2012a, p. 260); in episode 3.3, after discovering that Mrs.

Hughes might be ill, Cora informs Mrs. Hughes: “I don’t want you to have any concerns

about where you’ll go or who’ll look after you, because the answer is here, and we will”

(Fellowes et al., 2013a); and in episode 3.4, a storyline from episode 3.3 is further

two groups that inhabit Downton Abbey (the compassion felt by the staff for the Crawley

family); episodes 1.1 and 3.3 offer two examples. In episode 1.1, Carson and Mrs.

Hughes discuss the episode’s driving question of who will be the next male heir to inherit

the Downton Abbey estate:

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Robert and Cora both have a point in their disagreement about sending Matthew home”

(2013, p. 364).

The manner by which Fellowes creates the narrative storylines and characters for

Downton Abbey was another consideration under the Agenda, Values, and Effects

that what seems the most fictional [in Downton Abbey] is in fact based entirely in truth”

(Fellowes et al., 2013b); therefore, Fellowes’s inspiration for the series includes a wide

range of sources. Among these points of inspiration are: (1) historical facts – for

example, the social history recorded in Gail MacColl and Carol McD. Wallace’s

nonfiction book To Marry an English Lord, which served as “part of the inspiration for

mother” (Fellowes, 2013, p. 58) or originated “from a story in our own family”

(Fellowes, 2012a, p. 396); (4) secondhand stories – other times, Fellowes will comment

that a scene, situation, character, or line of dialogue “came from a real story I heard at a

dinner party in Derbyshire,” for example, as he did when referencing Lady Sybil and

Branson’s elopement in episode 2.7 (Fellowes, 2013, p. 410); and (5) the Internet – in the

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Although equipped with a variety of methods by which to gather historical

information and narrative inspiration, Fellowes does note occasions during which he

“cheats” historical accuracy (Fellowes, 2013, p. 154); however, he attests that, “if I cheat,

then someone [a Downton Abbey character] must make a point of it” through dialogue

situation that would have been regarded as “strange” and “an almost daring, and extreme

measure” (Fellowes, 2013, p. 406), making it necessary, in Fellowes’s mind, to include

Violet’s line: “No doubt you will regard this as rather unorthodox. My pushing into a

man’s bedroom, uninvited” (Neame et al., 2012a).

content. Although this research intended to consider average Downton Abbey viewers

and their interpretations of the series in terms of Weinstein’s four categories of: (I)

Setting, Details, and Design; (II) History; (III) Behavior; and (IV) Agenda, Values, and

Effects, it was discovered over the course of the study that this material was unavailable.

Although there exist a variety of Downton Abbey fan forums and discussion boards, the

FACT THROUGH FICTION

of content that, for example, makes predictions about future episodes or seasons, poses or

responds to Downton Abbey trivia questions, or provides background information about

the series’ actors and actresses. In light of the fact that relevant commentary written by

average Downton Abbey viewers was unavailable, this study chose to recognize the

decoded content that was ultimately evaluated by this study consists of two published

articles from peer-reviewed journal articles, 15 published articles from contemporary

news sources,

and two messages posted to online discussion boards.

Setting, details, and design. Each element of audience-created content was

considered in the context of Weinstein’s Setting, Details, and Design category and the

experience? (Weinstein, 2001, p. 43). Evaluated from a decoding perspective, this lens

concerned itself with instances in which Downton Abbey’s audience commented upon

the small historical details and distinctions included in both the series’ narrative and

mise-en-scène in terms of whether or not these elements are perceived to evoke an

accurate historical atmosphere.

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On the one hand, audience members appear to appreciate the “documentary aspect

to the drama” of Downton Abbey, citing the series’ immersive “verisimilitude” (Fenton,

2012, para. 13):

We want the food to look like period food, and the kitchen and servants’

footmen, serving dinner) have been resurrected for our amusement.

(Fenton, 2012, para. 13)

Amongst the historical details that Downton Abbey has succeeded in portraying,

viewers mention elements that range from the series’ “fastidious attention to the fashions

and rituals of the time” (Dina Copelman as quoted in WETA, 2010, para. 5) to the

2013). It was subsequently mentioned that this attention to detail serves to “capture the

feeling of the great country house in action, the high standards and ritualistic lifestyle that

were supported by a large and (usually) dedicated residential staff, no matter what crisis

was going on” (Musson, 2012, para. 21).

At the same time, however, audiences members acknowledge that “on blogs and

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example of which is neurologist Orly Avitzur’s Neurology Today article (2013), which

grades Downton Abbey’s “neurological injuries and ailments” on a scale ranging from A

to F depending on how accurately the series depicts each medical condition. While some

viewers believe that the “medical information imparted by the plot seems to be correct”

Another detail that seems to bother viewers is the series’ setting – James Fenton

(2012) of The New York Review of Books writes, “the story is set in North Yorkshire, but

filmed in the south of England, and nothing we see on screen reminds one at all of the

north” (para. 14). Furthermore, other fans have noted the “historical inaccuracies and

errors that have cropped up in the series, […] the majority [of which] have appeared in

road. Viewers even claim to have spotted a modern street sign in the

background and a piece of music which was featured in one episode had

not yet been written at the time the series is set. (The Telegraph, 2011,

para. 4)

The number of servants that make up the staff of Downton Abbey marks an

FACT THROUGH FICTION

narrative, and jobs that would have been filled by several people were condensed”

(Musson, 2012, para 3), while others have commented: “My only quibble would be that

surely a house of the size that this one [Downton Abbey] is made to look onscreen would

have many more staff than it appears to have?” (as quoted in Richards, 2010, para. 14),

of Weinstein’s History category and the three questions it dictates: (1) Is the history

accurate? (2) Are events presented realistically? and (3) Is the chronology correct?

(Weinstein, 2001, p. 42). Evaluated from a decoding perspective, this lens concerned

itself with instances in which Downton Abbey’s audience commented upon the historical

accuracy or realism of the series’ references to specific historical times and places or to

magazine Dana Huntley (2012) calls it, “getting the real picture” of post-Edwardian life

in aristocratic homes (para. 4). On the one hand, there are those like Huntley who believe

that “in most respects, [viewers] are” (2012, para. 5) – for example, Dina Copelman,

British history professor at George Mason University, ascribes that “the show gets

significant historical events right” (Dina Copelman as quoted in WETA, 2010, para. 6);

FACT THROUGH FICTION

hand, however, are those viewers, such as historian Jennifer Newby, who believes the

series “is completely wrong and infuriating to watch” (Jennifer Newby as quoted in The

Huffington Post, 2011, para. 1).

This frustration, in part, has been attributed to both “the absence of particular

Downton Abbey does provide “a few references to specific events” (Dina Copelman as

quoted in WETA, 2010, para. 9), those historical events are often “presented as a

personal story [for members of the Crawley family or staff] rather than a social and

political crisis” (Dina Copelman as quoted in WETA, 2013, para. 4) – for example, in

Season Two, Robert’s “foolish investment strategy” that leaves the financial fate of

Behavior. Each element of audience-created content was considered in the

context of Weinstein’s Behavior category and the two questions it dictates: (1) Do the

characters speak and act as people in their time, situation, and class did? and (2) Are

gender relationships accurately rendered? (Weinstein, 2001, p. 43). Once again,

however, the emergent design of this study resulted in the recognition for the need to

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interpretation of the behavior of Downton Abbey’s characters, both individually and

within their relationships with other characters. Therefore, this lens, when considered

from a decoding perspective, ultimately concerned itself with instances in which

Downton Abbey’s audience commented upon the period appropriateness and accuracy of

depending on the gender, class, age/generational, sexual, national, and situational

dynamics between the characters.

In terms of the ways in which Downton Abbey’s characters speak, both as

individuals and while in conversation with one another, The Telegraph (2011) identifies

that “fierce debates have raged online over whether particular words and phrases have

Spotting linguistic anachronisms in Julian Fellowes’ Downton Abbey is as

easy as shooting grouse in a barrel. ‘I couldn’t care less,’ Lord Grantham

says. Thomas complains that ‘our lot always gets shafted.’ Cousin

Matthew announces he has been on a steep learning curve, a phrase that

would have gotten a blank reception even in the [1960s]. […] The

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Yet others “have insisted that such expressions would have been used at the time” (The

Telegraph, 2011, para. 7).

It is the way in which Downton Abbey’s characters act, however, especially in

relation to one another, that has garnered the greatest public response. Specifically,

it appears to be the overall relationship between the Crawley family and the Downton

Abbey servants that has received the most attention.

Jeremy Musson (2012) identifies that the “presses’ main criticism of the accuracy

of Downton Abbey is that the show presents the two classes of people – the servants and

the served – as too interconnected and friendly,” admitting that “Fellowes does portray

2012, para. 2), claiming that the “idealized romance at the heart of Downton Abbey is the

symbiotic, interdependent bond between master and servant” (Chocano, 2012, para. 11).

The Crawley family has been identified by viewers as “never lapsing into the most

offensive kind of upper-class drawl one would expect of them,” in fact “great care has

been taken to keep them pleasant and approachable, even when the things they say are

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The one element that does not ring true [in Downton Abbey] is the easy

interaction and conversation between the upstairs world of the family and

their peers and the downstairs world of the hired help. That just didn’t

happen (or at least not on such a scale). Most of the family wouldn’t have

(Huntley, 2012, para. 5)

Audience members seem to identify Robert (the Earl of Grantham) as the member

of the Crawley family that most embodies this heightened level of compassion for the

members of Downton Abbey’s staff. Carina Chocano’s New York Times article gives

perhaps the most robust description of Robert’s audience-perceived characterization;

ludicrous as the Earl of Grantham ever graced the screen? Supermodels

playing rocket scientists in Nicolas Cage movies put less strain on my

credulity. It’s not just that the earl takes his role as steward of the British

class system seriously; it’s that he’s positively messianic in his flock-

tending. His noblesse is all about oblige. In fact, save for an

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powerfully contradictory text. The series’ inherent contradictions present themselves

through inconsistencies and tensions that characterize not only the producers’ historical

intentions for the program, but also the audience’s interpretations of the program’s

projected history – interpretations that range from dominant (full acceptance of the

The results of this study reveal the area in which Downton Abbey was found to be

most successful in fulfilling Woodward’s definition of historical fiction – both in its

commitment to accurately encoding historical content that conveys a “sure feeling of the

period” and in its audience’s decoding of the series as a program possessing “a deep and

precise sense of time and place” (C. Vann Woodward as quoted in Toplin, 1998, p. 1225)

2012b), which, in turn, resulted in viewers’ dominant to negotiated decoding of the series

grounded in their expressed appreciation for the “documentary aspect” of the drama

(Fenton, 2012, para. 13). However, although the findings suggest Downton Abbey’s strict

adherence to period details serves to exemplify successful historical fiction, as this study

has chosen to define it, the question remains, as scholar Katherine Byrne (2013) writes,

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Answering Byrne’s inquiry requires that this research next identify the areas in

which Downton Abbey was found to be least successful in relaying historical content and

satisfying Woodward’s description of historical fiction. In terms of audience-decoding,

the findings suggest that the Behavior category, which assessed the period

“respect for the history” for which historical fiction calls (C. Vann Woodward as quoted

in Toplin, 1998, p. 1225). The analysis of audience-created content revealed audience-

decoding of Weinstein’s Behavior component to be mainly oppositional, meaning

viewers most often rejected the producers’ portrayal of the compassionate and familiar

relationships between the Crawley family and their servants on the grounds that the

Downton Abbey’s projected history as being “unrealistic” (metro.co.uk, 2012, para. 2),

“idealized” (Chocano, 2012, para. 11), and “totally wrong” (Jennifer Newby as quoted in

The Huffington Post, 2011, para. 4). Even instances in which the series attempts to

exhibit the “great inequality” (Fellowes, 2012a, p. 35) of the post-Edwardian period were

interpreted by audience members as “highly romanticized and largely implausible”

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Additionally, viewers expressed disappointment at the manner in which Downton

Abbey executes the History category; an analysis of these findings established that

audiences identify the Crawley family as more or less “isolated” from the major historical

events that are occurring in the world around them, and, when major events are

the accuracy of small period details (the Settings, Details, and Design aspect of the series)

over that of broader historical patterns (as denoted through the Behavior and History

categories) – point to one of the main contradictions at the heart of both Downton Abbey

and, more generally, historical drama. This dichotomy, which is central to an

investigation of the ways in which historical fiction is both encoded and decoded, raises

encoding historical drama, “which [historical] liberties are acceptable to take [ones

pertaining to small details or larger themes], and which are not?” (Jones, 2010, para. 3).

The results of this study offer a potential answer to these questions. The findings

indicate that Downton Abbey producers may rely upon the Setting, Details, and Design

category’s extremely factual details to ensure the audience’s “subconscious is satisfied

FACT THROUGH FICTION

historical “cheats” (Fellowes, 2013, p. 154) – and the History category– namely,

Downton Abbey’s admitted narrative tendency to simply reference historical events

“without usually having anyone of historical significance come to the house [Downton

Abbey]” (Fellowes, 2012a, p. 346). In this way, Downton Abbey, through its precision of

audience members, while appreciative of the series’ attention to detail, are, for the most

part, unconvinced by Downton Abbey’s projected image of truth, for they show

themselves as capable of distinguishing between the series’ strength at depicting period

details and weaknesses at constructing representative characters and relationships or

Underlying the discussion above is a second contradiction brought forth by the

results of this study: the disparity between Downton Abbey’s encoding, which producers’

maintain is “pretty accurate” (Juliann Fellowes as quoted in The Telegraph, 2011, para.

2), and audiences’ oppositional decoding that serves to question and sometimes even

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conflicting perspectives between the intentionality and type of history that is encoded into

Downton Abbey versus the audience’s perceptions and expectations for the historical

content of the series.

To review, this study’s analysis of producer-encoded content found that the types

accounts about which Julian Fellowes has written, “what seems the most fictional is in

fact based entirely in truth” (Fellowes et al., 2013b). The encoding of Downton Abbey,

therefore, can be said to rely upon “the specific and the particular” to convey historical

accuracy (Cornick, 2011b, para. 4); in other words, through its use of individualized

stories and accounts, the series projects an ideology that argues, for example,

[…] If there is even one example of […] one happy Edwardian servant

who is well-trained by their employer, then that establishes an [accurate]

framework in which historical drama can work. (emphasis added, Cornick,

2011b, para. 4)

The historical messages presented by Downton Abbey are further complicated by

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if its primary goal is simply to emotionally entertain viewers. A continuation of the

analysis of producer-encoded content reveals Julian Fellowes’ desire to, on the one hand,

write Downton Abbey out of “an emotional, rather than historical curiosity” (Fellowes &

Sturgis, 2012, p. 6), focusing primarily on the “community of a great house” (Fellowes,

narrative and human interest drama complete with character development outweighs

attempts at historical accuracy regarding character behavior and relationships (Fellowes,

2012a, p. 12). Yet, on the other hand, the results also illustrate Fellowes’ competing,

dual desire to promote Downton Abbey as being expert on all things post-Edwardian with

the mission, by way of the series’ historical advisor, “correct the common [historical]

inconclusive whether historical content is a primary or secondary concern – as well as the

series’ reliance on “specific and particular” historical stories as fodder for its historical

content may not impede the program’s ability to conform to Woodward’s loose definition

of historical fiction, these methods do appear to come in direct opposition with what this

study has identified as the audience’s historical expectations for the program, which are

FACT THROUGH FICTION

outlined by Woodward (Cornick, 2011b, para. 4) – hence viewers’ oppositional decoding

of the series.

It is important to note that the expectations that inform the audience’s decoding

process are formed not only by Downton Abbey’s weekly episodes, but also by Downton

“educating, enlightening, and entertaining” the American people (Miller, 2000, p. 86).

For many viewers, PBS has long been considered a “purveyor of ‘quality’ within […] a

television ‘wasteland’” (West & Laird, 2011, p. 307-308), and Masterpiece Theatre, in

particular, has tended to attract an audience with a “high degree of cultural [and]

educational capital” (Miller, 2000, p. 178).

educational television program, audience members engage with Downton Abbey

expecting the series will allow “sweeping historical themes to remain sacred” whilst still

maintaining precision of detail (Barton, 2001, p. 9), in addition they assume that the

series, in order to fulfill PBS’s educational mission, will focus not on what may have

been truthful for “one happy Edwardian servant” (emphasis added, Cornick, 2011b, para.

FACT THROUGH FICTION

that Downton Abbey is, in some regards, “informed by a respect for history, a sure feeling

of the period, and a deep and precise sense of place and time” may not be enough for

audience members who engage with the series expecting explicitly factual and

educational content, thus rendering the encoding and decoding of Downton Abbey

Ironically, it may be that viewers’ expectation for a history lesson, as previously

described, is the very thing that prevents them from receiving one. As has been

discussed, the results of this study indicate that Downton Abbey’s audience members are

more likely to accept and internalize the series’ historical content if it complies with what

they understand to be the “real” post-Edwardian period and, if it does not, the series’

structured might be inhibiting them from learning from some of the truthful, “specific and

particular” historical instances that are encoded into the series (Cornick, 2011b, para. 4).

These findings are consistent with those of Sian Nicholas (2007) in her analysis of the

ITV historical drama Foyle’s War; Nicholas argues “to be convincing, the screen image

needs to look like the [audiences’] imaged past” (emphasis added, McElroy & Williams,

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In terms of PBS Masterpiece Theatre, these results may not have been considered

problematic in light of the fact that, upon its founding, the Masterpiece series was

considered to be “Grand Television” for an “older, cultural elite” (West & Laird, 2011, p.

306) in possession of “several advanced degrees” (Finkle, 1999, p. 74). This educated

understanding of the period to distinguish between the factual and the fictional (Miller,

2000, p. 178). PBS in the 1980s and 1990s, however, saw a large drop in ratings,

especially in regard to Masterpiece Theatre’s viewership (Knox, 2012, p. 32-33), so, in

an effort to improve its standing, the series attempted to redefine itself in order to “attract

a variety of taste groups” and “satisfy viewers across all age groups whose expectations

2011) and “hook[ing] in a new generation of viewer” (metro.co.uk, 2012, para. 7). Last

year, Downton Abbey broke records when it became “the highest-rated PBS drama of all

time with 24 million views” (Muther, 2014, p. 60), indicating that Downton Abbey has

made historical drama “familiar and accessible to wide sections of the population, not

only the culturally literate middle class” for which Masterpiece Theatre was initially

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This democratization of PBS Masterpiece Theatre’s, and in particular Downton

Abbey’s, viewership presents issues concerning audiences’ internalization of media

content in light of the fact that, as both this study and that of Nicholas (2007) have

shown, in order to be decoded as accurate, historical drama must “engage with audience’s

Williams, 2011, p. 89). In a situation, such as that of Downton Abbey, in which it is not

surprising, as history and film scholar John E. O’Connor (1983) remarks, “to find the

unemployed auto worker watching the same Masterpiece Theatre episode as a Park

Avenue lady of leisure or a prep school coed,” it can no longer be assumed that historical

fiction viewers are equipped with the background information necessary to engage with

possible that certain viewers’ understanding of accurate and inaccurate history is arbitrary

and uninformed. Consequently, the history lesson that Downton Abbey’s audience

receives is one that conforms not to a realistic portrayal of the past, but rather to viewers’

preconceived ideas of the series’ historical period, thereby reaffirming any historical

misconceptions audience members may possess, for any information presented by the

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Design category, but far less successful at displaying accuracy in the Behavior category’s

characters and relationships and the History category’s references to historical

milestones, indicating a desire on the part of producers to “create [a] reality vivid and

convincing enough [to] carry authority” and thereby conceal the inaccuracies inherent in

reflects the specific experiences of real-life individuals. Producers also display a duality

in their intentions for Downton Abbey as a program in that they attempt to be both

“faithful to the documentary record” and narratively engaging enough that they “reach as

wide an audience as possible” (Kemper, 2013, para. 1). The results demonstrate,

however, that audience members are profoundly influenced by the educational mission of

These two major findings led this study to conclude that audiences’ background

knowledge of the historical period being represented on television is essential to their

decoding of the series and, hence, to their acceptance or rejection of the historical

information being presented; these findings are consistent with past research that

suggests: “To be taken seriously, the historical film must not violate the overall data and

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historical drama may serve. The first possibility is historical drama’s potential to act as a

catalyst to inspire viewers “to investigate the fact behind the fiction” (Cornick, 2011a,

para. 2), thereby highlighting the critical role modern historical institutions play in

bridging the gap between historiophoty and historiography, for, as Gary Gutting of The

accurate or even which aspects of its interpretation are plausible. To learn

this, we need to put the movie in dialogue with the work of historians. […]

we need to make our own connection with the historians’ work. It’s not

nearly enough just to go see the movie. (Gutting, 2012, para. 10-11)

The second potential function of historical drama within society stems from this

rendering the accuracy of historical content merely a tool by which series’ contemporary

influences are meant to be disguised (Barton, 2001, p. 9).

This research, which serves to confirm Rosenstone’s (1988) assertions that we

“live in a world deluged with images, one in which people increasingly receive their

ideas about the past from motion pictures and television” and that “today, the chief

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these findings validate the crucial importance of studying televised historical drama as a

legitimate source of historical content that profoundly influences society’s collective

understanding of the past – thereby further increasing the demand for a formal and

standardized definition of and methodology for assessing the historical fiction genre on

about the past (Rosenstone, 2003, p. 14); this would help to align producer intentions and

audience expectations in the future and reduce the identified disparity between encoding

and decoding.

The second major implication of this research is a call for media literacy training.

In today’s media-saturated world, increasingly democratized television audiences are

large) to be more thoughtful viewers of historical films and television” (O’Connor, 1988,

p. 1207).

Finally, it is important to call attention to the fact that this study is not without its

limitations. First, inherent in the nature of reception analysis is that fact that texts are

polysemic, meaning they are “fundamentally ambiguous and can be interpreted in many

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through this analysis (Baran & Davis, 2012, p. 257). Second, in terms of the producer-

encoded content that was evaluated by this research, it is important to point out that, only

one example of a televised historical drama was considered, and, although every effort

was taken to assure that the sample of episodes selected for analysis was random and

postings from academics, writers, journalists, and critics, all of which may be considered

constituting some form of a cultural elite – this may have influenced the nature of the

audience-decoded findings and the extent to which they are representative of average

viewers’ decoding practices. Finally, the results may have benefited and been made more

reliable from the use of more than a single coder.

would benefit from further scholarship and investigation.

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