Julian Fellowes was memorably dismissive about people who highlighted anachronisms and inaccuracies in his ratings-busting ITV1 drama, Downton Abbey. A TV aerial on a roof, for instance, and the occasional double yellow line. "The real problem is with people who are insecure socially," he said. "They think to show how smart they are by picking holes in the programme to promote their own poshness and to show that their knowledge is greater than your knowledge." But now Fellowes has had a change of heart, admitting he had "behaved rather badly by getting the hump". He told the new issue of Radio Times: "So this time round, I thought we should get a newspaper to do a 'This week's mistakes on Downton' column and we would have the right to reply. Don't you think that would be good?" Maybe make an ITV2 spin-off show out of it, perhaps, to accompany the launch of the new series this Sunday. But what about that TV aerial, JF? he told the listings mag it had "somehow fell through the system, which was sloppy, and I was annoyed about that". Could have been worse. Could have been a satellite dish.
