What became of Downton’s Mr Branson?

Where are they now? As the final series of Downton Abbey gets under way, viewers are already beginning to wonder what became of the characters once the filming had finished . . .

MR BRANSON

The former chauffeur, who married Lady Sybil before she tragically passed away, left Downton Abbey at the end of the fifth series.

‘I had always dreamed of starting my own record label, and it seemed like the perfect time,’ he reminisces. ‘Luckily, we had a huge success with Tubular Bells, and from there I diversified into all sorts of other businesses, from fizzy drinks to hot- air balloons and from mobile phones to airlines.’

his first impulse on leaving Downton had been to grow a beard, invest in a more striking pair of teeth, and shed the stuffy clothing that his position as the son- in- law of an earl had once demanded.

‘At heart, I’m a casual, opennecked kind of guy,’ he confesses, on the phone from Necker, his Caribbean getaway. ‘But frankly I never felt comfortable wearing jeans and a sleeveless T-shirt to a formal dinner at the Abbey.’

MRS PATMORE

HAVING successfully negotiated the physical side of the marriage contract between Mrs hughes and Mr Carson, Mrs Patmore set her heart on becoming an international sex therapist once her work at Downton Abbey had come to an end.

Patmore Marital Advisory Clinics — slogan ‘Pat More, More, More!’ — were soon to be found on high Streets all over the world. But the woman behind it always preferred to remain ‘above the fray’, as she put it. ‘I prefer an early night with my hot-water bottle, some pork scratchings and a mug of cocoa.’

MR MOLESLEY

Though he had been dreading the end of Downton Abbey, the melancholic footman Mr Molesley later expressed his regret that it hadn’t come sooner.

‘For too long, I was employed simply to sigh and brood and shine shoes while life passed me by. But at least it gave me time to develop a radical new political philosophy, more in tune with the demands of modern life.’

In 1931, Mr Molesley dropped the middle syllable from his surname and formed the New Party, which a year later became The British union of Fascists.

‘The moment Downton Abbey ended, I seemed to come out of my shell,’ he recalled in his biography, My Life. ‘In the old days, I quietly kowtowed to the rich and powerful, but suddenly I had a chance to shake my fist and, at the top of my voice, tell them what I really thought!’

his distinctive party uniform — a black shirt, buttoned at the top — was, he later admitted, a nod to the clothes he had been required to wear during his service at Downton. oswald Mosley’s later career suffered from his association with the future german chancellor. ‘oddly enough, I first served Mr hitler when he attended one of Lord grantham’s balls. You can spot him briefly in series two, episode four, when he enters in a shiny new pair of lederhosen and compliments the Countess fulsomely in her ballgown. ‘he is also briefly taken in by the police in series five, episode three, as a suspect in the unfortunate murder of the objectionable valet, Mr green, but is never charged.’

MR AND MRS BATES

AFTER the cameras had departed in the spring of 1925, Mr and Mrs Bates decided to leave Downton Abbey in search of a fresh start. ‘What’s the point of it all, if we’re not being filmed?’ said Mr Bates.

They set sail for America with their new baby, Norman, keen to put all their terrible tragedies behind them.

‘ It’s a dream come true, Mr Bates!’ exclaimed Anna, as she and her husband cut the ribbon at the opening of their new project, a motel on a side- road just off a highway.

All went well for their first few years, as Bates Motel went from strength to strength. But the death of Mr Bates — as a consequence of wounds sustained while enjoying a shower — came as a terrible blow to Anna. however, young Norman proved equal to the dayto-day management of the motel.

Since then, Bates Motel has had its ups and downs, but today it rates an impressive two stars on the TripAdvisor website.

‘ Don’t listen to the critics. Norman is a wonderfully attentive host,’ reads a report from a guest signing himself simply ‘ N. B.’. ‘ A stay at Bates Motel is definitely something to do before you die.’

When I spoke to Norman Bates on the telephone yesterday, he seemed pleased with the way things were going. ‘Mother is in fine form. She’s getting on, these days, but she just loves to sit in the window of her bedroom, directing operations, don’t you, mother?! I said, don’t you, mother?’