Downton AbbeyThe gloomy yet glamorous house. The vibrant characters. The gorgeous costumes. And, of course, the drama. Fans of the Masterpiece Theater's "Downton Abby" can't get enough of the show, which transports viewers into World War I-era England and into the lives of the high-brow and low-born alike.
Downstairs, a staff of servants attend to every detail of the 200-plus-room house and the aristocrats who inhabit it. Upstairs, the lords and ladies dress for dinner (with help from their valets and maids) and consider marriage proposals that could save or ruin the lives they live and the home they love.
The actors bring their characters to life so thoroughly that it's almost a shock to see them off-screen in modern-day clothing and without servants' caps or elaborate turn-of-the-last-century hairstyles. Click through the slideshow (above) to see how some of our favorite characters look like in and out of costume.
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