Ever since the events of Downton Abbey began in 1912, the characters haven't been able to stop talking about how quickly the world around them is changing. Paradoxically, the constant repetition of this idea has made the show — and the movies — feel comfortingly, and sometimes annoyingly, static.

Sure, a lot has happened over six seasons and two movies: a world war, an epidemic, inventions, revolutions, births, deaths, marriages, scandals and an awful lot of servant turnover. But the class constraints and gender roles of the era are still largely in effect. The winds of progress sure do take their sweet time, and so does the creator and screenwriter Julian Fellowes , who's clearly reluctant to say goodbye to these characters or upend their world order too abruptly.

And so we have a t

See Full Page