"Downton" creator Julian Fellowes says that, when crafting the world of "Downton," he wanted to avoid portraying the world at that time as wonderful for the aristocrats and terrible for the lower classes, a view he believes oversimplifies things. "For me, the contention that everything was horrible for everyone except a few unpleasant aristocrats is as untrue as saying everything was marvelous for absolutely everyone," he said. "The truth, as always, lies somewhere between the two.... I think that that sense of ordinary, non-heroic characters nevertheless being decent people who are trying to do their best is the central philosophy of 'Downton.'"
Nick Briggs/PBS/AP
