LONDON - While the producers will always maintain that the great house is the primary character in Downton Abbey, the hugely popular historical drama that ran between 2010 and 2015, for many fans it was Violet, Dowager Countess of Grantham, who took centre stage.

Played by the inimitable Dame Maggie Smith, Violet represented the old world order of English aristocratic life in the early 20th century, and she won over audiences with her whip-sharp wit and acerbic commentary. Indeed, her powerful, matriarchal stance proved so popular that series writer and creator Julian Fellowes claims people everywhere recognise her as an archetype.