“Downton Abbey’s” Mr Bates has Irish charm - exclusive interview

Brendan Coyle plays Mr. Bates in 'Downton Abbey'

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CAHIR O'DOHERTY,

Irish Voice Arts Editor

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Brendan Coyle and Joanne Froggatt are the possibly doomed couple Mister Bates and Anna in Downton Abbey.

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“I don't know what it is and we don't try to define the success of the show. It's of another time and it's quite extraordinary. 

“That's what I love about television. You don't know where the tipping point is where a show goes from being a strong player to a phenomenon." 

One of the things that Downton Abbey clearly does, in a way that's unlike any other show currently on television, is that it brings issues of social class right to the forefront. It pointedly follows story lines that demonstrate the huge gulf in life experience between rich and poor. 

It's timely viewing and the series makes no apologies for it either. It just lays out the reality of the lives lived during the period and lets the audience decide. That contrast often makes for startling viewing.

"Mister Bates is defined by his class and role in many ways,” says Coyle. “He and Lord Grantham (played by Hugh Bonneville) served in the Boer War together, and war is a great leveler that circumvents all the rules of class division. 

“But when Bates returns to Britain and to Downton Abbey everything falls back into place, including the class system he grew up with and his role back at the house. He embraces all that completely."

One of the most unsettling things about Mister Bates is his occasionally repeated refrain, which is actually a stern warning, when he tells people "you don't know who I am." That remark suggests there's something not altogether wholesome lurking just behind that impressively impassive face. 

Will we find out more about all that in season three?

"I'm under very strict instructions about what I can and can't say. There's no mystery that we start the third season with me in prison,” Coyle says.

“We all know there's a dark side to Bates, and we also know he served in one of the most brutal wars in history. So he's seen terrible acts of violence. His own marriage has failed. There's definitely a darkness there.” 

Coyle draws a veil over the major surprises ahead, but he admits there will be plenty of them. Filming the show, he developed a close friendship with Maria Doyle Kennedy, the Irish actress who played his scheming wife Vera in season two. 

“I was delighted when Maria (best known as Natalie Murphy in The Commitments or Queen Catherine in The Tudors) was cast in that role. We had played husband and wife in a film called I Could Read The Sky but I didn't know her very well,” Coyle says.

“As Vera she hit the ground running and since then we've become pretty good buddies. A really good friendship has come out of that."

You wouldn't think peace could be possible between them when you see them dueling onscreen. Vera Bates has to be one of the most conniving and heartless viragoes to hit  television screens in the last 10 years. But it was also obvious how much fun Doyle Kennedy had playing her bitchy part. 

“I have to say in real life she's utterly charming,” Coyle clarifies with a laugh.

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