‘Downton Abbey’ season 4 notes: Dan Stevens … and ‘The Simpsons’?

We’re going to start this edition of “Downton Abbey” notes off with a video, mostly because one of the last things we ever expected to see a few years ago was “The Simpsons” deciding to do a full-on spoof a British period drama. However, it’s certainly happened now.

While the clip we have of it below is pretty short, it also does a very effective job at getting its point across. It is still very funny, and combines the two worlds pretty effectively in between the donut imagery and characters wearing elaborate clothing.

To us, the even more surprising thing about Sunday night’s finale for the Fox comedy is that it features a guest-starring appearance from Seth MacFarlane, as “Family Guy” and “The Simpsons” have had a bit of an animation war for some time now.

Dan Stevens’ new interview – Now, let’s go for a major change of pace. Speaking to the Daily Mail in a new interview, Dan Stevens has yet again spoken out about why he is not appearing in season 4 of the series, and also fires back at critics claiming that he did not give the show proper warning as to what his plans were going to be:

“I gave them plenty of warning – it wasn’t like I slammed the door and walked out. It was one of the hardest decisions I’ve had to face. On paper it looked mad to walk away, but it felt like the right time … I’ve got an appetite to learn new things – it’s nothing more than that. Julian’s actually been very gracious about it. There was no rancour at all.”

In reality, one of the reasons for the ending being precisely what it was simply was that Julian Fellowes was hoping that he could find a way to convince Stevens to stick around. It didn’t happen, and so the scene was included at the end of the Christmas episode.

What do you think of the video, and of what Stevens had to say? Well, if you want to watch some more interviews with various “Downton Abbey” cast members, the best way to do is is by heading on over to the link here.

Photo: ITV