Housemaid¿s tryst with Randy Major: Racy plotline mirrors real life scandal at stately home on Astini News
Last updated at 2:10 AM on 18th September 2011
It is set to be one of Downton Abbey's most scandalous relationships to date.
A beautiful and flirtatious young housemaid falls for a dashing Army officer dubbed 'the Randy Major'.
The illicit liaison, which straddles the class divide, is one of the racy new plotlines designed to keep the show's ten million fans hooked when the second series starts tonight at 9pm on ITV1.
Class divide: Downton's Amy Nuttall and Daniel Pirrie
It may sound far-fetched, but the affair is based on a real-life scandal at Highclere Castle, the stately home where Downton Abbey is filmed.
In the new series, set in 1916, Downton has become a convalescence home for officers wounded in the First World War. Ethel Parks, a new addition to the below-stairs staff, played by Amy Nuttall, is attracted instantly to dashing Major Bryant, one of the house's new charges.
Bryant, played by Daniel Pirrie, loses no time in making his intentions known when he is directed to his private bedroom by Downton's footman Thomas, who is now an Army corporal.
Asked if he minds the stairs, the Major replies: 'It depends on what you find at the top.'
The exchange is heard by a passing Ethel, who tells one of her fellow servants: 'He is handsome. It will be nice to have the house full of men.'
War veteran: Sir George Paynter had a relationship with a nurse
When she is chastised and told in no uncertain terms that officers are off-limits, Ethel replies: 'Speak for yourself.'
In another risque scene, Ethel is seen tucking a blanket around Major Bryant while he is seated in the garden.
He tells her: 'I may need some more tucking very soon.'
She replies: 'No one tucks better than I do.'
The pair then plan a date to a cinema in York.
The couple's relationship, which begins to take off in episode three, echoes a partnership that scandalised Highclere Castle when it too became a hospital in the Great War.
Almina, the fifth Countess of Carnarvon, who was the war-time mistress of Highclere and who took personal charge of the hospital, was forced to sack one of her own 'pretty auburn-haired' nurses after she was found 'in flagrante delicto' with the future Brigadier-General Sir George Paynter, a patient at the time.
The Countess told the young nurse that her behaviour was inappropriate because it could have put a strain on the patient's heart and killed him.
Downton viewers will have to wait to see what the future holds for Parks and Major Bryant. But a trailer for the new series, which includes a specially orchestrated version of U2's With Or Without You, has a fleeting shot of an unidentified couple being interrupted while they make love.
It appears to be a direct reference to the wartime incident at Highclere.
Julian Fellowes, Downton Abbey's Oscar-winning writer, who is a close friend of the current Earl and Countess of Carnarvon, has admitted that events in Highclere's past have influenced the drama.
Downton's new wartime role sees the relationship between the Crawley family and their servants being stretched to breaking point.
The Crawleys resent having to give up their living quarters to the injured patients, while the servants begrudge the extra duties that they are expected to perform.
No offers: Actor Hugh Bonneville
Given his impressive CV, one might expect Hugh Bonneville, who plays the Earl of Grantham in Downton Abbey, to be swamped with offers of work.
Oddly, that doesn't appear to be the case, with the 47-year-old actor informing his followers on Twitter: 'Two job offers withdrawn today...'
Why he should be spurned is a mystery, and neither Hugh nor his agent seem prepared to elaborate on which parts have eluded him. If that wasn't disheartening enough, in the same tweet the family man goes on to speak of a 'divorce'.
Thankfully, it is not his own - Bonneville is happily married to artist Lulu Evans – but between his computer and printer.
Bonneville, who previously starred in the hit film Notting Hill, light-heartedly blamed the printer for the domestic strife.
