The first two series of the award-winning ITV costume drama following the lives and loves of those above and below stairs in a stately home prior to the outbreak of World War One. The Grantham family, long time custodians of Downton Abbey, face a crisis when the heir to the estate dies on the Titanic. With his three daughters unable to inherit by law, Robert Crawley (Hugh Bonneville), the current Earl of Grantham, must try and marry his eldest daughter off in order to obtain an heir. Meanwhile, the family's determination to cling to class and rank is mirrored in a number of growing rivalries between the servants which threaten to undermine the smooth running of the house. In series two, after the outbreak of WWI, Matthew (Dan Stevens) and Thomas (Rob James-Collier) are off fighting at the Somme, while both Lord Grantham (Hugh Bonneville) and William (Thomas Howes) feel frustrated at being barred from taking part in the fighting. Meanwhile, Lady Sybil (Jessica Brown Findlay) defies her aristocratic position and enlists in the Royal Army Nursing Corps, while Lady Mary (Michelle Dockery) puts on a brave face when Matthew arrives home on leave with his future wife Lavinia Swire (Zoe Boyle) in tow.