Shocking stuff, but Downton got it right

Just when you thought it was safe to turn on the telly, Julian Fellows gave us the most harrowing scene ever shown on Downton Abbey last week.

We were warned to expect something upsetting but no one could have foreseen the graphic assault on Anna Bates, one of the most popular characters on the show.

It came right out of the blue and, although we didn’t actually see much of the violence, it was clear what was going on.

I found it shocking and heartbreaking, and the repercussions will be enormous.

Anna was found in a distraught state by housekeeper Mrs Hughes who she begged to keep the attack secret, and she is determined not to tell her husband, Mr Bates.

He’s an ex jailbird with a real temper and is likely to hunt down and kill her attacker, an arrogant visiting valet called Mr Green, played with chilling cunning by former EastEnder Nigel Harman.

Of course, Mr and Mrs Bates have already had their share of heartache. He was very close to being hanged in prison when wrongly convicted of murdering his first wife.

We thought they would spend the rest of their lives looking lovingly at each other. Now they’ll have to deal with the aftermath of the attack.

Anna will be in pain, physically and mentally. She might even become pregnant by her attacker and poor John Bates will have no idea what’s wrong as she withdraws from him and doesn’t want him near her.

It wasn’t an easy watch and made all the more distressing because of the lack of build up.

We saw Anna innocently laughing and talking with the valet, but his aggression was as unexpected to us as it was to her.

In those days there was great shame in being raped, and many women failed to report an assault because they feared they would not be believed and would be forever “ruined”.

Even today it is very hard for women to press charges and appear in court and testify.

Some say reliving the ordeal is as bad, and often even worse, than the actual rape.

It was quite interesting that up until now, a lot of critics were deriding this latest series of Downton as rather dull and boring after the first two episodes.

Obviously there’s not much drama in Lady Mary talking about income tax, and I am afraid I haven’t warmed to giddy Lady Rose and couldn’t care less who she ends up canoodling with.

With the assault on Anna, however, Downton can no longer be classed as twee and cosy Sunday entertainment, and maybe that’s no bad thing.

Women were, and are, attacked by men that they are acquainted with.

It is far more likely that a woman is raped by a man she has met before, than the hooded stranger waiting in the bushes with a sharp knife.

The Downton storyline has encouraged more people to talk about rape, and although some viewers have been horrified, others have welcomed more realism to the drama.

I think Julian Fellowes was right to shine a light in a very dark place and show just how tough it could be working as a servant in a big house 100 years ago.

Even as married women, female servants could still be extremely vulnerable, but it was usually the men from “upstairs” who felt they could have non-consensual sex with their servants.

I have no idea how this will turn out, but I doubt that valet Mr Green will escape unpunished and it’s debatable whether the relationship between John and Anna will be able to survive.