Downton Abbey: The most memorable moments from the hit costume drama

It's been a decade since we first met the Crawley family...
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Downton Abbey was closer in spirit to a soap opera than a staid Sunday night period drama

Over the course of six series and a smattering of festive specials, the inhabitants of the Abbey faced everything from secret pregnancies and upstairs-downstairs romance to a Spanish flu epidemic and a murder trial.

Was it slightly unbelievable that one family of aristocrats and their dependants would have such a tumultuous time of it? Yes. Did viewers lap up every scandal and cliffhanger ending? Also yes.

As the series marks its 10th anniversary - and with reports of a second spin-off film emerging - look back at some of the most memorable and shocking moments from the much-loved series.

Mr Pamuk’s scandalous death, series one

The Downton drama stepped up a gear in series one with the arrival of Turkish diplomat Kemal Pamuk, played by Divergent star Theo James.

The Crawley family’s guest of honour managed to catch the eyes of both Lady Mary (Michelle Dockery) and footman Thomas (Rob James-Collier), blackmailing the latter to lead him to Mary’s room in the dead of night before - wait for it - dying of a heart attack in her bed.

The ensuing cover-up operation, master-minded by Mary, her mother Lady Cora (Elizabeth McGovern) and lady’s maid Anna (Joanne Froggatt) was both nail-bitingly tense and darkly funny, but went spectacularly off the rails when kitchen maid Daisy spotted her betters attempting to hide the body.

Lady Mary and Matthew Crawley finally get together, series two

After two seasons of will they, won’t they and the death of one fiancee (RIP Lavinia, who sadly succumbed to the aforementioned Spanish flu epidemic), Matthew Crawley (Dan Stevens) and Lady Mary’s proposal scene could bring even the coldest-hearted of viewers to tears.

After Mary confessed her scandalous history with Pamuk to Matthew at the servants’ ball, their romance appeared to be in jeopardy - until he got down on one knee in a flurry of snow and offered her a ring.

“You’ve lived your life and I’ve lived mine,” he said. “And now it’s time we lived them together.”

Matthew’s shock death, series three

Fellowes allowed Mary and Matthew just one series of wedded bliss before dealing the couple - and millions of over-invested viewers - the cruellest of blows exactly one year later.

The 2012 Christmas special saw Mary give birth to a longed-for son and heir. The couple’s joy at becoming new parents was brutally short-lived, however, as Matthew’s journey back from the hospital proved fatal when his car spun out of control.

The tragic deus ex machina was designed to write off Stevens’ character after the star decided he was ready to move on from the show that made him a household name. It certainly proved a talking point, with viewers alternately tearing up and shouting at the screen in frustration

​Lady Edith is left at the altar, series three

​Poor Lady Edith (Laura Carmichael) couldn't seem to catch a break in the first few series of Downton. As the curtains opened on the show, we learned that she was in love with Canadian cousin Patrick Crawley, who then proceeded to get engaged to Mary - before embarking on an ill-fated voyage to America on a little-known ship called the Titanic. Then she takes a shine to Matthew, who is much more keen on Mary (can you see a pattern emerging?)

She eventually finds love with the elderly Sir Anthony Strallan, but their romance isn't exactly drama-free. They split up after Mary manipulates him into believing that Edith doesn't really have feelings for him, then reconcile only for Strallan to leave her at the altar, claiming that he is "too old" and will only tie Edith down. A fair point, perhaps, but couldn't he have had this revelation before the Crawleys started sending out wedding invitations?

‘What is a weekend?’ series one

Every day is a weekend when you’re a sharp-tongued aristocrat! Maggie Smith’s Dowager Countess set the tone for six series of acerbic one-liners and witty put downs in Downton’s very first episode, when she seemed genuinely affronted as Matthew admitted that he had got a new job and would only be able to spend time on the estate on Saturdays and Sundays.

Sybil and Branson's upstairs-downstairs love story, series one and two

The youngest Crawley daughter's romance with her Irish chauffeur was - for a short time, at least - one of Downton's most charming love stories.

The couple bond over their left-wing politics (which are surprisingly liberal, in Sybil's case) and after a series of secret rendez-vous at political meetings, end up confessing their feelings for one another. After gaining Lord Grantham (Hugh Bonneville)'s grudging approval, they marry and head to Branson's home country to live in domestic bliss.

So far, so good, but this being Downton Abbey, things didn't stay that way for long. Sybil's first pregnancy ended in disaster as she died from eclampsia shortly after giving birth to a baby girl, leaving Branson an unhappy widower.

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