Downton Abbey Episode Guide

Downton Abbey Season 1

1912: The Titanic sinks and the heirs to Downton Abbey sink with it. Everyone gets busy finding an heir to Lord Grantham. British law says the heir must be male and Lord Grantham has three daughters: Mary, Sybil and Edith. The oldest daughter, Lady Mary was set to marry a distant cousin aboard the Titanic and continue the line but he’s gone now. A distant heir is found, long lost cousin Matthew Crawley, but he’s just a middle class lawyer! Matthew and his mother Isobel arrive at Downton and antics ensue. Matthew and Mary exchange barbs, but something romantic is brewing underneath it all. Sybil becomes political. The first season also delves into the lives of the staff downstairs: our loyal butler Carson, nasty O’Brien, evil footman Thomas Barrow, Mister Bates and the sharp tongued Mrs Patmore.

Full episode guide for Downton Abbey Season 1 Episode 1
A telegram arrives and we learn the Titanic is sunk. A Duke arrives to court Lady Mary, but he’s more of a man’s man. Mister Bates arrives to work as Lord Grantham’s butler, Anna is smitten.

Full episode guide for Downton Abbey Season 1 Episode 2
Matthew Crawley and his mother Isobel arrive. Countess Violet and Isobel lock horns. A marriage plot is hatched. Mary compares Matthew to a sea monster. Carson’s interesting past is revealed.

Full episode guide for Downton Abbey Season 1 Episode 3
A mysterious typewriter appears. Edith flirts with Matthew. Mary beds a handsome Turk with deadly consequence. Bates tortures himself with a medieval leg brace.

Full episode guide for Downton Abbey Season 1 Episode 4
Socialist chauffeur Tom Branson arrives to Downton. Sybil wears pants. Mrs Hughes has a past. Countess Violet dislikes modern swivel chairs. Longing glances are exchanged between Bates and Anna.

Full episode guide for Downton Abbey Season 1 Episode 5
Edith sets her sights on old Anthony Strallan. Lady Mary’s virtue is compromised. Sybil takes Gwen to a job interview but they end up in the mud. The annual Flower show has a new winner.

Full episode guide for Downton Abbey Season 1 Episode 6
Lady Sybil is trampled at a rowdy political rally. O’Brien and Thomas scheme. A Turkish scandal brews. Matthew and Mary share a kiss and a marriage proposal. Mrs Patmore has cataracts! Countess Violet is exceedingly witty.

Full episode guide for Downton Abbey Season 1 Episode 7
Lady Cora slips on a bar of soap. Gwen becomes a secretary. Edith sent a tell all letter to the Turkish Ambassador. Mary foils Edith’s marriage proposal. Matthew and Mary break up. World War I begins.

Downton Abbey Season 2

1916: World War I is in full swing with Matthew and Thomas Barrow fighting in the French trenches, later joined by footman William. Downton Abbey becomes a convalescent home and hospital of sorts for wounded soldiers. Isobel and Lady Crawley butt heads. Sybil trains to become a nurse and falls in love with Branson. Lady Edith looks after soldiers. Lady Mary is courted by the loathsome newspaper mogul, Richard Carlisle. Matthew finds a new fiancé, Lavinia Swire. Matthew is gravely injured and can’t walk. Romance brews between Anna and Bates, but Bates is accused of murder.

Full episode guide for Downton Abbey Season 2 Episode 1
Matthew visits Downton with his new fiancé Lavinia Swire. Sybil trains to be a nurse. Thomas Barrow gets his thumb shot off. Branson confesses his love to Sybil.

Full episode guide for Downton Abbey Season 2 Episode 2
Molesley makes a play for Anna. Lady Edith drives a tractor and kisses a farmer. Newspaper tycoon Richard Carlisle comes for dinner and proposes to Lady Mary.

Full episode guide for Downton Abbey Season 2 Episode 3
Downton Abbey turns into a war hospital. Isis has free reign. William goes off to war but proposes to Daisy first. Bates works at a local pub.

Full episode guide for Downton Abbey Season 2 Episode 4
Cora and Isobel clash over the alpha position at the hospital. Matthew and William go missing on the front. Ethel the maid gets pregnant by a soldier.

Full episode guide for Downton Abbey Season 2 Episode 5
Matthew and William are seriously injured and return to Downton Abbey. Lavinia stands by Matthew. And so does Mary. William marries Daisy before he dies.

Full episode guide for Downton Abbey Season 2 Episode 6
A bandaged man claims to be the heir to Downton. Sybil and Branson plan to elope. Daisy gets a widow’s pension. Sir Carlisle is jealous of Mary’s attention to Matthew.

Full episode guide for Downton Abbey Season 2 Episode 7
The war is over. Matthew’s legs are tingling. Lord Grantham kisses a maid. Bates may be implicated in the murder of his poisoned ex wife.

Full episode guide for Downton Abbey Season 2 Episode 8
The Spanish flu invades Downton Abbey. Matthew and Mary kiss. Lavinia dies before her wedding. Matthew can walk again. Anna and Bates get married.

Downton Abbey Christmas Special 2011

Full Episode guide for Downton Abbey Christmas Special 2011
Countess Violet gets a nutcracker for Christmas. Edith and Anthony Strallan are smitten. A fortune hunter is after Rosamund’s money. Sybil is pregnant. Bates is sentenced to hang. Isis goes missing! Sir Richard is jealous because Mary and Matthew can’t keep their eyes off each other. A fight ensues. The servants ball is a wild success. Matthew proposes to Mary.

Downton Abbey Christmas Special Quotes
Downton Abbey Christmas Special Preview

Downton Abbey Season 3

1920: The war is over, but new troubles are brewing on the Downton Abbey estate. Lord Grantham’s bad investments leave Downton Abbey near bankruptcy. Luckily, Matthew inherits a large sum of money from Lavinia’s father and saves Downton from ruin. Downton survives while other great houses are financially crippled after the war. Cora’s mother Martha Levinson arrives in American style at Downton. All systems are go for Matthew and Mary’s wedding. Edith is jilted at the altar but becomes a newspaper columnist. Bates is in prison for the murder of his ex wife. The arrival of new staff downstairs creates awkward love triangles. Thomas tries to kiss Jimmy with bad results. Sybil’s death casts a gloomy pall over Downton Abbey.

Full episode guide for Downton Abbey Season 3 Episode 1
Downton is broke because the Canadian railway went belly up. A tall footman arrives. Anna stands by her man. Sybil and Branson visit from Ireland. Matthew and Mary get married.

Full episode guide for Downton Abbey Season 3 Episode 2
Matthew and Mary are blissed out after their honeymoon. Violet and Mary scheme to get Martha’s money. Mrs Hughes has a lump in her breast. Ethel is a prostitute.

Full episode guide for Downton Abbey Season 3 Episode 3
Thomas turns on O’Brien. Robert threatens to sell Downton Abbey. Matthew inherits some cash. Mrs Hughes doesn’t have cancer. Lady Edith is jilted at the altar.

Full episode guide for Downton Abbey Season 3 Episode 4
Ethel gives her son to his grandparents. Mary can’t get pregnant. Bates is a dangerous prisoner. Branson is on the run from the law in Ireland. Another new footman arrives. And an electric toaster.

Full episode guide for Downton Abbey Season 3 Episode 5
Thomas is too friendly with new footman Jimmy. Lady Edith becomes a newspaper columnist. Isobel offers Ethel a job. Lady Sybil dies during childbirth.

Full episode guide for Downton Abbey Season 3 Episode 6
Downton mourns Sybil. Lord Grantham loses his bedroom privileges. Baby Sybil will be catholic. O’Brien is up to no good.

Full episode guide for Downton Abbey Season 3 Episode 7
Bates comes home from prison. Edith lunches with Michael Gregson, the newspaper editor. Ethel leaves town. Tom lays a kiss on Jimmy.

Full episode guide for Downton Abbey Season 3 Episode 8
Tom regrets the kiss. Mary has a secret operation to resolve her infertility. Jazzy Lady Rose arrives at Downton Abbey. Matthew tries to modernize Downton Abbey.

Downton Abbey Christmas Special 2012

Full episode guide for Downton Abbey Season 3 Christmas Special 2012
The family makes a pilgrimage to Duneagle, Scotland. Michael Gregson happens to be in Scotland at the same time. The Flintshires are getting divorced, what scandal. Mr Molesley gets drunk at the ball. The new maid makes a move on Branson. The fair comes to Thursk and all the staff attend. Jimmy gets mugged. Mrs. Patmore has a suitor. Mary gives birth to a son. Matthew dies in a car accident.

Downton Abbey Christmas Special 2012 Quotes
Downton Abbey Christmas Special 2012 Bonus Photos

Downton Abbey Season 4

1922: Six months after Matthew’s death. Lady Mary is still deep in mourning for Matthew as Downton Abbey faces a future without him. Lady Mary has a wealth of suitors showing up at Downton Abbey. The Jazz age begins to impact Downton Abbey’s fashion and values. Handsome black bandleader Jack Ross and Lady Rose spend time together. Jazzy Martha Levinson is back on the scene with her son. Both Branson and Carson face figures from their pasts. Modernization continues at Downton with the arrival of pigs, an alternate way to make money. Edith is alone and pregnant. Anna is raped and Bates is implicated in another murder.

Full episode guide for Downton Abbey Season 4 Episode 1
Lady Mary is miserable. O’Brien sneaks off to India. Edna returns. The new nanny calls baby Sybil an evil crossbreed. Michael Gregson plans to become German. An electric beater arrives in the kitchen.

Full episode guide for Downton Abbey Season 4 Episode 2
A life changing package arrives for Mary. Bates helps out unemployed Molesley. Lady Rose impersonates a maid and breaks a heart. Carson’s romantic past is revealed. Mary takes a major role in estate management.

Full episode guide for Downton Abbey Season 4 Episode 3
It’s a big party weekend at Downton. Single Lord Gillingham arrives. Opera singer Dame Nellie also arrives. And Sampson, the card sharp and cheat. Molesley helps out downstairs. Anna is raped.

Full episode guide for Downton Abbey Season 4 Episode 4
Anna is shaken. Bates knows something happened. Isobel emerges from grief to help Dr Clarkson. Tom Gillingham proposes to Mary. Edith spends the night with Michael.

Full episode guide for Downton Abbey Season 4 Episode 5
Alfred goes to cooking school. Bates knows Anna was raped. New maid Baxter arrives with an electric sewing machine. Michael Gregson vanishes.

Full episode guide for Downton Abbey Season 4 Episode 6
Alfred leaves for good. Molesley returns to Downton. Charles Blake arrives at Downton. Edith is pregnant. Rose plans a surprise party for Robert and invites black bandleader Jack Ross.

Full episode guide for Downton Abbey Season 4 Episode 7
Lady Mary and Charles Blake save the pigs from thirst. Michael is still missing but Edith decides to keep the baby. Countess Violet is seriously ill. Bates is onto Mr Green.

Full episode guide for Downton Abbey Season 4 Episode 8
Robert is in America bailing out Cora’s cousin. Mary has three suitors. Sarah Bunting reappears. Isobel has a new suitor. Rose and Jack get engaged. Edith goes on a trip with her aunt.

Downton Abbey Christmas Special 2013

Full episode guide for Downton Abbey Season Finale Christmas Special 2013
Everyone is in London for Lady Rose’s debutante ball. Martha Levinson returns with her son. Sampson causes more trouble. The Prince of Wales shows up at Rose’s ball. Edith returns from Geneva. Mrs Hughes and Carson hold hands at the seaside. Daisy is courted by an American. Mary goes on a date with Charles Blake.

Downton Abbey Season 5

1924: A Labour government is elected in England. We’re well into the roaring twenties, post war, pre-war period on Downton Abbey. Little does Downton know, the worst is yet to come, foreshadowed by Michael Gregson’s disappearance at the hands of Nazi thugs. The local war memorial features prominently in this season, especially with Mrs Patmore. The police are still hunting down whoever murdered the valet Mr. Green. Russian refugees arrive this season, creating some intriguing plot details where Countess Violet is concerned. Lady Rose heads toward marriage. The drama continues with Edith’s secret baby Marigold. Lady Mary remains single but takes Tony Gillingham for a secret marriage test drive. Jimmy leaves Downton and Molesley is the only footman. There’s more modernization on the way with a housing development at Downton Abbey. Revolutionary schoolteacher Sarah Bunting comes and goes, finally wearing out her welcome at Downton family gatherings. Isis has cancer.

Full episode guide for Downton Abbey Season 5 Episode 1
A Labour government is elected. A 34 year anniversary party for Lady Cora and Robert is organized by the young ones. Isobel has a suitor. Jimmy is caught in bed with a visitor to Downton. Mr Molesley dyes his hair.

Full episode guide for Downton Abbey Season 5 Episode 2
Jimmy leaves Downton. Lady Rose feels sorry for the displaced Russian aristocrats. A wireless (radio) comes to the Downton. Baxter has a criminal past. Lady Mary sneaks off with Tony Gillingham.

Full episode guide for Downton Abbey Season 5 Episode 3
There’s drama down at the Drewes. Lady Rose helps the Russians. Mary and Tony wake up together. Mrs Patmore is crushed by a letter. Lady Cora has an admirer. The police visit Downton again.

Full episode guide for Downton Abbey Season 5 Episode 4
Thomas looks like an unwell vampire. Prince Kuragin is still burning a flame for Countess Violet. Lord Merton proposes to Isobel. Lady Mary breaks up with Tony Gillingham.

Full episode guide for Downton Abbey Season 5 Episode 5
A nudist colony opens in Essex. Ms Bunting leaves town. Scotland Yard visits Downton again. Lady Rose meets a helpful fellow. Mabel Lane Fox is back on the scene.

Full episode guide for Downton Abbey Season 5 Episode 6
A deadly telegram arrives for Lady Edith. Mrs Patmore buys a cottage. Countess Violet has a new maid. Downton Abbey hosts a horse race. Bates finds a secret contraceptive device. Isis is listless.

Full episode guide for Downton Abbey Season 5 Episode 7
Edith leaves Downton with Marigold. Daisy fears the working class will be held down forever. Branson talks about going to Boston. Isobel announces her marriage at dinner.

Full episode guide for Downton Abbey Season 5 Episode 8
Rose gets married. Marigold moves into the main house. The village unveils the war memorial, Mrs Patmore is chuffed. Prince Kuragin has an indecent proposal for Countess Violet. Anna is arrested for murder.

Full episode guide for Downton Abbey Season 5 CHRISTMAS SPECIAL
Things finally move forward between Carson and Mrs Hughes. Lord Sinderby comes down off his high horse. Someone catches Lady Mary’s eye. Anna gets out of jail, sort of. Lord Grantham is listless.