Downton Abbey fans know well what the Dowager Countess would
have to say about our sadness over the show ending after season six: "Stop
whining and find something to do," Dame Maggie Smith would say, in her
most imperious Violet Crawley voice. Now that we know show-creator Julian
Fellowes is working on The Gilded Age, a prequel spinoff of sorts set in
late-19th-century New York, we have our something. Especially given the nugget
Fellowes told the Mail on Sunday.
"Robert Grantham would be in his early teens, Cora would
be a child. A young Violet could make an appearance," he said of the show,
being produced for NBC next season. Of course, the Daily Mail, knowing our
hearts, teased us with photos of Dame Maggie all over their article, making us
imagine that she'd continue her reign on the show.
Listen, they can do a lot with makeup and camera filters and
post-production these days. Can't Smith somehow portray herself 30 years
younger? Would we be able to embrace another actress uttering Violet's sharp
one-liners? Would a younger Violet even have an arsenal of one-liners yet? Good thing this is Fellowes' job, not ours.