A chronicle of the lives of the aristocratic Crawley family and their servants in the post-Edwardian era—with great events in history having an effect on their lives and on the British social hierarchy.
This tv show contains 74 potentially triggering events.
Isis shows signs of illness in S5:E5 and passes from cancer at the end of S5:E6. She is shown multiple times throughout the episodes lying on the ground not feeling well/in pain.
Mr. Bates, in a verbal altercation with his wife, Vera, raises his hand to strike her and calls her a b***h. It's also implied (and confirmed by Julian Fellowes in the script books) that he mistreated her badly in the past, though we're told he was never physically abusive.
Sybbie Branson is verbally abused by the family's Nanny on account of her father being a working-class chauffeur. The Nanny is reported on, overheard, and immediately fired, and this does not continue past the first scene we hear it.
A hunting trip results in a dead deer tied to a horse's back and a fishing trip in a big dead fish. Neither killing is not shown, but ofc it doesn’t make any difference to the animals that it wasn’t filmed, they were killed to become props.
S1E3 - Characters participate in a fox hunt.
S2E1 - A dead horse is shown in the opening scene.
S2E5 - Blink and you'll miss it shot of a dead horse during the battle (2:37, shown <2 seconds)
S2E9/CS - Characters hunt pheasant.
Season 4 Episode 3, it's alternated with other scenes. It happens in 38:40-39:15, 39:25-39:35 and 39:47-39:59. The last part is not explicit but you can hear her screams and how she's being pushed against a table.
S2e2, the blind man at the hospital sl*ts his wrists between 35/39 min mark.. you see a pool of blood and his wrist briefly, then his face and he is clearly dead. After that scene, someone mentions that he snuck a r*zor in
S1E7 - A character goes to a hospital in London for eye surgery. Nothing is shown on-screen.
S2E2 - A character in the hospital suffers from gas blindness. His eyes are shown first bandaged, then with scarring.
A mature child of two main characters dies which I would argue counts in terms of emotional commitment but not in terms of general triggers concerning death of children.
S2E7 - A married major character kisses a widowed maid.
S2E8-Two characters kiss while both are engaged to other people. A different character kisses a woman other than his wife and doesn't do more only because they are interrupted.
S3E8-S4 - A married character carries on an affair. His wife is in an asylum and does not recognize him.
None shown; a few characters are shown playing with a ouija board in the Season 2 Christmas special, but it's largely used for comedic purposes and explicitly has various characters controlling the board themselves to tease the others or get their own points across. However, at the very end of the special, there is one instance of what is heavily implied to be (and confirmed by Julian Fellowes) the ghost of Lavinia genuinely communicating through the board.
1x02 - About 11 minutes in, Mrs. Crawley visits the hospital. They mention the word dropsy. Mute/look away for a minute. A man coughs up some blood. The noise is horrible. It’s over quite quickly- by 12:55 they’re outside the hospital.
2x05 - has Matthew v* into a bowl- you don’t see it but you can hear it a bit. He talks about being sterile and then says he’s going to be s* and then leans over a bowl that Mary holds for him.
2x08 - there are a few people in the house with Spanish flu; the scene has Lady Grantham writhing in her bed and then she leans over the bed and v* into a bowl. You don’t see it at all, but the scene is distressing to begin with and you can hear it.
6x05 - very very very distressing. The family and Neville Chamberlain are at the dinner table and Robert has been experiencing pain throughout the season, but after a few minutes he stands up, asked to be excused but then suddenly (and very graphically) v* blood across the table about three times. The rest of the scene he continues to s*u* blood. After the scene is over, you can still see blood on people's clothes, so to be completely safe, skip about 5-6 mins after you see them seated at the table.
Thomas, who is gay, seeks conversion treatment in Season 5, which includes electro-therapy. This is never shown on-screen, but it is discussed several times, and the physical effects are clear, as is his mental deterioration.
S1E2 - A procedure is shown where the doctor uses a needle to remove fluid from a patient's chest, then injects the patient with adrenaline.
S5E4-6 - A character injects himself. They syringes are shown; however the actual injections are not.
No, but two characters talk about family members who live in mental institutions as permanent residents. (Spoiler: it's Michael Gregson's unseen wife and Mrs. Hughes' unseen sister.)
At one point of the series, the manor functions as a hospital. The hospital is important to the family and they support it. The main doctor is a frequent character and his office is shown multiple times.
No character has cancer in the show, but there is a storyline where Mrs. Hughes believes she may have cancer, and her (and others') worry and distress over this is palpable until she gets the all-clear.
S2E1 - A character hyperventilates in the trenches.
S2E2 - A character with PTSD has difficulty while serving dinner, and later has a flashback.
S2E3 - The character with PTSD appears to have a panic attack while seeing off a military delegation.
A minor character, Edward, commits suicide in 2x02. A major character, Thomas, attempts suicide in the Season 6 finale, but is found and saved just in time. However, there is a potentially upsetting shot of him lying unconscious in the bath, which is filled with blood.
Once or twice throughout the show, fat jokes were directed at the cook. She also jokes about her own weight. It’s not a major plot point, but it is mentioned very occasionally.
A Jewish character is told his family isn't really Russian because they're Jewish. Several other characters make antisemitic remarks about the marriage between a Jewish character and a non-Jewish character. There is also a reference to the pogroms in Russia.
No slurs are used, but there are multiple instances where Thomas has his sexuality belittled, especially by Carson -- Carson calls Thomas foul and revolting, and says he should be horsewhipped for his sexuality.
S1E1-A character who uses a cane joins the staff, and is treated poorly, insulted and nearly fired as a result of his disability.
S1E3 - A character attempts a bogus cure for his limp.
S2E4 - A major character refers to someone with PTSD as a 'loony'.
S2E5 - A character ends an engagement after being told he is paralyzed and will never walk or father children.
S2E7 - Miraculous recovery trope.
S2E9/CS - A character has been wounded in WWI and lost use of his arm. He and others discourage a courtship with him on that basis, and say a wife would be a nurse.
In one Christmas episode, parents are shown hanging stockings on their children’s bedposts once they are asleep, but Santa is not explicitly mentioned.
In season 3 episode 9/special a main character is killed in a car accident at the end of the episode. There are multiple shots of him lying dead on the side of the road, with blood shown.
As stated by another poster, the ulcer burst scene is extremely graphic especially in the context of this show. I don't get shocked easily, but I actually said 'holy f-ing s**t!' that's how surprising that scene was in Downton Abbey.
There are multiple scenes set in the trenches of WWI, which include both gunshot sounds and on-screen gun violence. Two characters are shot -- one nameless character is shot in the head, and Thomas is shot in the hand. There are also several hunts, but the gun use in these scenes is mostly just implied.
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