Ask A Historian: How Accurate Is 'Downton Abbey'?

Historical accuracy can be tricky to discuss in terms of a period drama, so perhaps "credibility" is a better word. But semantics aside, there are a few aspects of "Downton Abbey" Season 4, that raise some questions, as the period drama attempts to tackle such issues as rape and unwanted childbirth. Huff Post TV spoke to a few historians to get an idea how closely the plot resembles Britain in the 1920s. Here's what we found:

Lady Mary's excessive period of mourning was at least unusual.

University of Leeds historian Dr. Jessica Meyer noted that Mary's behavior was definitely anachronistic, "harking back to Victorian practices which had gone out of style in the years preceding the First World War." Her drawn out impression of a wayward ghost would have been more realistic prior to "criticism of Victoria whose prolonged withdrawal from public life following Albert's death was seen as harmful to British international prestige and influence," says Meyer. Dr. Peter Mandler of the University of Cambridge agreed that "Victorian mourning practices [were] in this period being dumped overboard," adding that, "Remarriage was always acceptable, and quite common."...