BAFTA pays tribute to British period drama 'Downton Abbey'

'Downton Abbey' Season 6 cast members — Downton Abbey cast members and crew pose for the media at a hotel in central London, Britain August 13, 2015. Downton Abbey's final season is due to premiere in September. Reuters/Dylan Martinez

British period drama “Downton Abbey” was honoured with a Special Award by BAFTA in August. But, the star-studded tribute programme was aired on STV on Monday. The event was filmed for broadcast as a BAFTA-ITV Studios coproduction for ITV. The special award for the hit series comes at a time when viewers are waiting to watch the finale Christmas special episode on Friday.

The entire cast and crew members of “Downton Abbey” attended the tribute programme that celebrated the international success of the show. The Special Award was presented in front of a live audience at Richmond Theatre. The tribute gave the audience a glimpse into two features "The Making of Downton Abbey" and a "Downton Abbey World Map."

The BAFTA tribute was hosted by Jonathan Ross who gave insights into Britain’s most successful TV drama series, Mirror UK reports. Some of the highlights of the programme included a role play between Hugh Bonneville (Robert Crawley) and Maggie Smith (Violet Crawley, popularly known as the Dowager Countess). The actors who play husband and wife in “Downton Abbey” reminisced over the lively events at the Abbey over the years.

“He bounced out of his wheelchair like a jack-in-the-box!” the Dowager said, referring to Matthew’s ridiculously impressive recovery while playing out the part at the BAFTA event. Also, the best clips from the show were shown to the audience. The audience also witnessed musical performances by Kiri Te Kanawa (who had a cameo) and Julian Ovenden, who played Charles Blake.

“Downton Abbey” created by Julian Fellowes tells the story of the Crawley family set in the Yorkshire country estate. The series is divided into two parts, the upstairs and downstairs. While the upstairs is inhabited by the Crawleys, the downstairs depicts the story of their servants during the post-Edwardian era.

Meanwhile, Judy Parfitt of BCC’s show “Call the Midwife” has criticised “Downton Abbey” for reportedly using sex to draw viewers. The 80-year-old actress who plays Sister Monica Joan said that her show is suffering due to lack of “hunks and cleavage,” Mirror UK reports.