‘Downton Abbey’ season 6: Some Michelle Dockery – Allen Leech fun; also, new book!

While “Downton Abbey” season 6 is not premiering in the United States until January, the cast are doing their annual publicity tour once again before the holidays in the United States. This is really the only opportunity that they can in order to provide their support to the show on PBS, as this is when the late-night talk shows are still on the air.

Last night, Hugh Bonneville, Michelle Dockery, and Allen Leech all made an appearance on “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert,” and the results were pretty hysterical as he predicted that one of the biggest reasons for this show’s popularity is the fact that many U.S. viewers find the British accents fascinating and otherworldly. Therefore, he had all of the cast try reading out a scene as though they were American.

As you would expect, the end results here are hilarious. We actually think that Bonneville could have a future somewhere with this character, and Dockery and Leech may have come up with some great characters if they ever want to appear on “The Californians” with Fred Armisen and Kristen Wiig.

Before we depart, we thought that we would send a recommendation over for all fans this holiday season: Downton Abbey: A Celebration. The book by Jessica Fellowes (with a foreword from creator Julian Fellowes) is billed as an official companion to all six seasons. We’ve had a chance to check it out, and it’s a fantastic look at the time period and the legacy of the show.