Downton Abbey Creator Julian Fellowes Tells the Cast to Stay Away from Twitter—Find Out Why!

"You’re in a bubble when you’re filming," the 64-year-old told The Telegraph after Richard E. Grant shared a snapshot from the set

By Jordana Ossad Apr 06, 2014 9:27 PMTags
Downton AbbeyCourtesy of ©Nick Briggs/Carnival Film and Television Limited 2013 for MASTERPIECE

No tweeting from the upstairs, or downstairs, at the sprawling Crawley residence! But we have to admit, it would be highly entertaining to see the Dowager Countess of Grantham (Maggie Smith) attempt to try to understand and use the social networking site.

Downton Abbey's creator Julian Fellowes recently revealed that the cast should steer clear of Twitter when filming the English period drama.

It all began when Richard E. Grant shared a snapshot of himself from the set in his costume. Grant joined the cast during Season 5 and portrays Simon Bricker, a guest of the Granthams who visits Downton Abbey.

"He's very naughty," the 64-year-old told The Telegraph on Friday at the launch of Grant's fragrance, Jack. "The trouble we've had with things like Twitter."

Twitter

Fellowes continued: "We had to explain to the cast about the dangers of tweeting as no one realized how interested everybody was in the show. You're in a bubble when you're filming. You're just tweeting these nice things and you don't realize there are millions of people worldwide trying to pick up the plot."

Grant tweeted a non-spoiler photograph with Fellowes from the event and added, "GOSFORD & DOWNTON Grateful."

Twitter

Downton Abbey season five is slated to premiere in the UK in the fall with a winter 2015 start in the US. Smith, Hugh Bonneville, Michelle Dockery, Elizabeth McGovern, Jim Carter, Penelope Wilton, Phyllis Logan, Samantha Bond, Laura Carmichael, Lily James, Allen Leech, Brendan Coyle, Joanne Froggatt, Lesley Nicol, Sophie McShera, Rob James-Collier, Ed Speleers, Kevin Doyle, Raquel Cassidy, David Robb, Tom Cullen, Julian Ovenden, Daisy Lewis, Douglas Reith, Jeremy Swift and Andrew Scarborough will all return for the fifth season.

And all of them will all stay off Twitter.