5.
Downton‘s
first
OMG
moment
came
when
Matthew
Crawley,
the
series’
dashing
male
lead,
was
killed
in
the
season
three
finale. “There
were
a
lot
of
very
upset
people
demanding
apologies,”
Stevens
told
Entertainment
Weekly
of
his
decision
to
exit
the
show
at
the
end
of
his
three-year
contract.
As
for
why
he
was
ready
to
say
goodbye
to
Downton,
he
explained, “Doing
a
long-running
TV
thing
was
amazing
on
all
sorts
of
levels.
But
at
the
moment,
it’s
about
seeing
how
I
can
keep
myself
challenged
and
entertained.”
6.
In
an
interview
with
E!
News,
Fellowes
stressed
it
was
Steven’s
choice
to
leave
(and
not
return
for
an
appearance
in
season
four)
that
lead
to
the
character’s
sudden
demise.
Noting
that
in
America,
contracts
tend
to
be
longer, “it
seemed
to
them
that
the
production
team
had
just
decided
you
know,”
he
continued
as
he
made
a
throat-slitting
motion. “But
in
fact,
he
had
just
gotten
to
the
end
of
his
three-year
contract
and
he
wanted
to
go
on
and
do
different
stuff…We
just
had
to
make
it
work.
Some
of
the
letters
I
got
made
your
hair
stand
on
ends!”
7.
But
Matthew’s
devastating
death
didn’t
keep
away
viewers
as
the
season
four
premiere
shattered
ratings
records,
attracting
10.2
million
viewers.
8.
If
Stevens
had
notified
Fellowes
sooner
of
his
intention
to
leave
the
series,
he
said
he
would’ve
staged
fan-favorite
Lady
Sybil’s
exit
differently: “I
probably
would
have
killed
them
together
in
a
car
crash.”
Gossip
