Downton Abbey 5×2

Joseph Molesley: Ooh, Mr Carson.
Mr. Carson: What is it now?
Joseph Molesley: Now that Jimmy, erm, James, has gone, do I take it that I am now first footman?
Mr. Carson: Since you are the only footman, you are first, second, third and last. Make what you will of it.
Mrs. Hughes: Mr Moseley, we are nearly at the end of those distinctions. There will come a time when a household is lucky to boast any footman.
Mr. Carson: Now get that up to the dining room.

Cora Crawley, Countess of Grantham: Why are you so against getting a wireless?
Robert Crawley, Earl of Grantham: I wish she'd just say it. "Cousin Robert, please buy a wireless for Downton."
Cora Crawley, Countess of Grantham: I wouldn't mind.
Robert Crawley, Earl of Grantham: That's because you're American. I find the whole idea a kind of thief of life. People waste hours huddled around a box listening to someone burbling inanities from somewhere else.
Cora Crawley, Countess of Grantham: But surely now with the latest news and it must be a boon for the old.
Robert Crawley, Earl of Grantham: What do you think, Bates?
John Bates: I can't see the Dowager with a wireless, my lady.
Robert Crawley, Earl of Grantham: It's a fad. It won't last.

Cora Crawley, Countess of Grantham: Tom's gone to ask if she'd like some dinner.
Robert Crawley, Earl of Grantham: You're not serious.
Cora Crawley, Countess of Grantham: She's the first friend Tom's made that has nothing to do with us and we must respect that.
Robert Crawley, Earl of Grantham: So every time we entertain we must invite this tinpot Rosa Luxemburg.
Lady Rose MacClare: Who's she?
Robert Crawley, Earl of Grantham: A German communist who was shot and thrown in the canal.
Cora Crawley, Countess of Grantham: We wouldn't wish that on Miss Bunting.

Lady Rose MacClare: Cousin Robert? Did you see that the King is going to speak on the wireless? It was in the paper today.
Robert Crawley, Earl of Grantham: Don't be silly.
Lady Rose MacClare: No, it's true. For the opening of the British Empire Exhibition. It's being broadcast on the 23rd. I just thought you'd like to know.
Robert Crawley, Earl of Grantham: Is this true, Carson?
Mr. Carson: I believe so, my lord.
Lady Rose MacClare: Talking about the Empire too.
Robert Crawley, Earl of Grantham: I wonder. If the King wants to use the wireless to speak to his people maybe we have to listen.
Mr. Carson: I wouldn't say that, my lord. Is it not a case of the King being forced into accepting a humiliating assignment by his ministers?
Robert Crawley, Earl of Grantham: Are you saying the King is a weak man, Carson?
Mr. Carson: Never that, my lord. But even kings must bow to pressure sometimes.
Robert Crawley, Earl of Grantham: And should we not support him in his hour of endurance?... Oh, cheer up. We can always hire one. Surely we won't be corrupted if it's only in the house for a day.

Lady Rose MacClare: Why is it called a wireless when there's so many wires?

Mr. Carson: What's this I see? Servants loitering in the hall with her ladyship due at any moment.
Mrs. Patmore: Look at that. If I touch it, will I get a shock?
Mr. Carson: You'll only get a shock if you listen to it.
Mrs. Hughes: I think it's exciting. We're catching up, Mr Carson. Whether you like it or not, Downton is catching up with the times we lived in.
Mr. Carson: That is exactly what I am afraid of.

Robert Crawley, Earl of Grantham: What do you think, Carson? Mrs Hughes, the King on the wireless?
Mr. Carson: I prefer to think of him on his throne, my lord.
Mrs. Hughes: To me it's a good thing. To make him less of a myth, more of a man.
Robert Crawley, Earl of Grantham: Well, I hope you've all taken something of value from it.
Isobel Crawley: Mrs Hughes is right. The radio somehow makes the King more real.
Violet, Dowager Countess of Grantham: The monarchy has thrived on magic and mystery. Strip them away and people may think the royal family is just like us.
Isobel Crawley: Well, would that be so wrong?
Violet, Dowager Countess of Grantham: Well, only if they want to stay at Buckingham Palace.

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