Downton Abbey makes more historical gaffes

Popular ITV1 show ‘Downton Abbey’ has come under more historical scrutiny following a number of verbal gaffes.

Having come under fire for a series of visual mistakes during the first series, the show’s scriptwriters are now under pressure after a number of verbal inaccuracies.

Characters in the show, which is set during the First World War have been caught saying phrases that hadn’t been invented until decades later.

Footman Thomas Barrow used the phrase 'get knotted' in one episode earlier this month, while in last Sunday’s he said: “I am fed up seeing our lot get shafted.”

Both expressions are believed to have originated in the 1960s, some 40 years after the show is set. Meanwhile, Captain Matthew Crawley, while in the trenches, said: “You have been taking logic pills again”, which critics are saying sounds ‘very 21st century’.

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John Simpson, of the Oxford English Dictionary, confirmed to Daily Mail that 'get knotted' was only discovered in 1963. He expressed further concern with the use of ‘shafted’. He said: “I did think ‘shafted’ felt quite wrong... it imposed too much of 1960s and 1970s culture on to the scene.'

He added that he had not found the expression 'logic pills' used very much, especially in 1920.

Eagle-eyed viewers of the hit ITV show, ‘Downton Abbey’, spotted a number of visual gaffes in its first series.

A television aerial and yellow line markings on roads were just some of the historical mistakes.

Others included the use of rubber stirrups - rather than the metal ones that would fit the period, modern road signs and the wrong breed of horses.

When the first inaccuracies were noted, Julian Fellowes, the drama's writer and executive producer, lashed out at the criticism saying: "The real problem is with people who are insecure socially.

“They think to show how smart they are by picking holes in the programme to promote their own poshness and to show that their knowledge is greater than your knowledge."

More recently he backed down in an interview with Radio Times admitting that he “behaved rather badly by getting the hump."

We wonder how he will react this time.