Upstairs or downstairs, rich or poor, no one on Downton Abbey was perfect (though Lady Sybil came close). While they all did plenty of good, even Thomas, they made many bad decisions, too. Some are barely worth mentioning, like Spratt and Denker constantly trying to trip one another up. Others are more serious but didn’t make the list, such as Branson taking part in the burning of an estate in Ireland.
In honor of the Downton Abbey movie being released into theatres, here is a list of the worst things that ten of the main characters have done. For some it was easy to choose, but, for others, a choice of the absolute worst thing they’ve done was hard to narrow in on.
Isobel: Overstepping Her Bounds
If there were a deadly sin that Isobel was guilty of, it was definitely pride. Her pride always emerged the strongest when it came to medical matters, as her work as a nurse was a major part of her identity.
Never was this more apparent than when she convinced the Crawleys to turn Downton Abbey into a convalescence hospital during the war. Despite it not being her home, she took to bossing the entire family around and taking liberties with their goodwill. Eventually, she and Cora butted heads and Cora took over. Isobel flounced off to the continent in a sulk because she couldn’t get her own way. Not her finest moment.
Branson: Inflicting Miss Bunting
Tom Branson is a moral center of the show, but he also makes some pretty poor choices. He plans to assault an army general at a dinner. There’s the aforementioned participation in the burning of an Irish estate, and his behavior following his exile from Ireland, being a Grade-A pill about the whole thing.
That all paled in comparison to his courtship with Sarah Bunting. She hated the aristocracy and made no effort to conceal it or overcome it. Rather than try to see what Tom saw in them, she spent every moment in the Crawleys’ presence instigating arguments. She was just awful, and Tom forcing his family to spend time with her was almost unforgivable.
Violet: Breaking up Matthew and Lavinia
From the first moment he came into their lives, Violet tried to ensure that Matthew and Mary would be married. It had nothing to do with how they felt towards each other, though that helped her case. It had everything to do with the fact that he’d be the sole heir to the Downton estate.
After Mary refused his hand, taking the worst possible time to hesitate (when it looked like he may not inherit after all), Matthew moved on and met Lavinia. She was a sweet, pretty, and kind woman who truly loved Matthew. Yet, their marriage would tank Violet’s plans, so she did everything she could to prevent it. She and Rosamund invite Lavinia to tea solely to try to scare her away from Matthew, and, when she sniffs what might be a scandal, she’s eager to use it against her.
Mr. Carson: Wedding Woes
Mr. Carson has a strong, almost unreasonable belief in the noble family he serves. He would never go against anything Lord Grantham said, and that goes double for Lady Mary. She’s perfect in his eyes, and nothing could change that.
So, when she suggests that his wedding reception to Mrs. Hughes take place at the Abbey, he agrees. Despite the fact his intended would rather have it in the village. He remains unmoved when she explains that she would prefer not to be a servant on her wedding day. In his eyes, Lady Mary has bestowed a great honor, and that is the end of it.
Daisy: Unwise Interference
Daisy has many admirable qualities. She’s a hard worker, loyal, and wants to improve herself and makes efforts to do so. But she also has some irritating traits. She’s impulsive, jumps to conclusions, is strident and uncompromising. All of those traits came to a head when the family that owned the land her father-in-law, Mr. Mason, farmed on went bankrupt and had to sell their estate.
When she publicly confronted both the old owners and the new owners of the estate about their behavior towards their tenants, she got Mr. Mason kicked out of his lease. What’s worse is that it wasn’t the first time or the last that her impulsiveness got her or someone else in trouble. She just doesn’t learn.
Robert: Losing Everything
It’s bad enough when you lose all your own money, but Robert managed to lose all of his and all of Cora’s as well. He made a bad investment that he’d sunk her money into, and, when the company failed, he lost everything.
His first idea to regain his fortune is a doozie—his grand idea was to invest in Ponzi’s scheme. Even after he’s lost all the money, he’s extremely reluctant to hand things off to Matthew, Tom, and Mary. He still thinks he knows best even after definitive proof that he doesn’t.
Thomas: General Scheming
Thomas Barrow was a deeply unhappy person. There were reasons for that, but they don’t excuse his behavior. There’s not one single thing that Thomas did that was worse than any of the others, but it’s his general scheming that was terrible. Terrible not just in intention, but also in execution. Thomas was not successful in his scheming.
He tried to set both Mr. Bates and Anna up for failure several times but was never successful. He used his knowledge of Miss Baxter’s history to blackmail her into doing his bidding, but overplayed his hand. Any time he got power, it immediately went to his head and he made everyone under him miserable. Thankfully he’s mellowed a lot since then, so now his scheming is used for good.
Edith: Sabotaging Mar
Edith and Mary didn’t like each other, probably since birth. And, while Edith does plenty of questionable things (kissing the married farmer, convincing the Drewes to take in Marigold, then taking her back), she doesn’t do them maliciously. Unless she’s doing something to Mary—then it’s all malice.
The worst was after she found out the truth of Mr. Pamuk’s death. He had died while having sex with Mary, and Mary, Anna, and Cora had covered it up by carrying his body back to his room. Sick of Mary constantly belittling her, Edith wrote to the Turkish embassy and let them know the truth of Pamuk’s death. The news became society gossip and severely damaged Mary’s reputation.
Mary: Sabotaging Edith
Numerous things could be chosen for Mary, nearly all of them directed towards Edith. Stopping Anthony Strallan from proposing. Making hateful comments with almost every breath. Not caring about the fact her sister’s boyfriend died. Then there was the Marigold situation. The family kept Marigold’s parentage from Mary, and it turns out for good reason.
After Mary wheedles the truth out of Tom, she barely wastes any time before using it against Edith. Mired in her own unhappiness and bitter that the man in love with Edith had become a Marquess, Mary told Bertie that Edith had a daughter. She knew it would ruin Edith’s life, but she did it anyway.
Mrs. O’Brien: Her Ladyship’s Soap
O’Brien was a wretched person. She constantly mocked and manipulated people. She tried to get almost everyone fired. She even turned on her best friend Thomas. Yet, the worst thing she ever did was her unwarranted revenge on Cora.
After mistakenly thinking that Cora was hiring a new ladies maid, O’Brien intentionally left a bar of soap on the floor next to Cora’s bathtub where she knew Cora would step getting out of the bath. She had a last-minute change of mind, but it was too late. Cora stepped on the soap, slipped and fell. Compounding everything, Cora was pregnant, and in her fall, miscarried. O’Brien felt bad and did all she could to make amends, even though Cora never knew that her fall was set up, but O’Brien’s bitterness led to Cora losing her child.
