‘Downton Abbey’ season 4: Ed Speleers and a story that is for the dogs

When you shoot a series like “Downton Abbey,” one of the expectations that you have almost immediately after signing up is that you’re going to be spending a lot of time with some of your fellow co-stars. Just how much are we talking about here? To put this into blunt terms, it’s basically going to start to feel like your home, and then as time goes by, you will want to bring a certain percentage of your home with you. It’s certainly understandable, but a new problem at the real-life Highclere Castle may be keeping some of the pets from enjoying their time at the famed estate.

According to a source from the Daily Star, Lady Carnarvon, who helps to oversee the real-life estate, has started to feel that with the cast members bringing their dogs in addition to her own pets, the entire place is starting to feel completely overrun, and when you have a place that is worth this much money, it does make sense that you would want to protect it:

“Because the cast spend so much time filming at Highclere Castle a lot of them bring their dogs with them. But Lady Carnarvon imposed a ban because she doesn’t like the dogs going in certain areas in case they cause a mess.

“And one of her labradors gets jealous when rival dogs are on set, which is believed to be ­another reason for the ban.”

One person who has already admitted to having a rule violation under his belt is Ed Speleers (Jimmy), who claims that his pet took off to a particularly unwelcome area of the house:

“I’ve got a border collie who ran off to the part of the house you’re not allowed to go to. I had to run after him and pick him up by the scruff of the neck because he was getting mud everywhere.”

Somehow, we cannot imagine dogs playing such a role in the actual storyline for “Downton Abbey” season 4, even though we feel like it would make for a fun time.

We’ve got some more “Downton Abbey” news via Jim Carter here, and we will have even more to share as it becomes available.

Photo: ITV