Was rape too much for TV’s genteel Downton?

I’VE always been a fan of Downton abbey. all the hullabaloo over the rape scene went over my head.

The vital point is that Mrs Hughes (Phyllis Logan) has promised anna she won’t breathe a word to anyone.

contrary to what happened in those days and still does now in so many cases, rape must always be reported.

as for suggestions it was gratuitous violence, the flashing between the opera singing and the screams were staged beautifully to mask anything ‘gratuitous’.

Well done, Joanne Froggatt, for her acting, and well done Julian Fellowes for writing it so tastefully. The trauma of rape cannot be understated, but scenes of brutality shown daily on news bulletins are equally upsetting.

Mrs JUDITH MacBETH, Reading, Berks. I DON’T know what all the fuss is about over the most recent episode of Downton Abbey. I’ve seen much worse in other TV programmes and there has been no outcry. For the most part, Downton storylines are genteel. We don’t want violent scenes. Carry on Downton.

Mrs B. PENDLEBURY, Mickleover, Derbys. aS a 73-year-old male TV viewer, I’ve been an enthusiastic follower of Downton. I’m sure that events such as the rape of anna happened in real-life aristocratic households, but why do we need to be subjected to a harrowing storyline of pain and misunderstanding? One Downton viewer fewer from now on.

PETER CLARE, Halifax. TV REVIEWER Christopher Stevens wrote that Mrs Bates was shown being raped and beaten senseless (Mail). Other than an attempted kiss being spurned, I didn’t see any other brutality. It was all inferred.

JAMES HENDERSON, address supplied. aT THE stroke of a pen, Julian Fellowes has lost me as a happy viewer of Downton. I’m fully in tune with Lady carnarvon when she says: ‘I prefer to watch nice things on a Sunday night.’

D. BATES, Huntingdon, Cambs. ON DOWNTON Abbey, we’ve caught glimpses of life in the trenches, with one episode opening at the Battle of the Somme, and had the 2012 Christmas Special end with the shock death of the character Matthew.

No one has complained about war, crime and death being used as entertainment: it has taken an invisible rape scene to make people upset (Mail).

I can’t see how this depiction can be described as obscene and irresponsible — we saw nothing graphic.

Sexual violence isn’t recognised or covered by TV shows enough because people don’t want to believe it happens, and the show has highlighted this very delicately. EMILIE LAMPLOUGH,

Trowbridge, Wilts.