Downton Abbey: Secrets From Behind the Scenes

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Parting Company

Dan Stevens has left the abbey. The heartthrob half of star-crossed loves Matthew Crawley and Lady Mary does appear in season 3 -- but it's his final one. "I wanted a chance to do other things," the married father of two tells the U.K. Telegraph.

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Maid Makeunder

Daisy's look takes effort: dirt under her nails, "eczema" on her hands and waxy hair. Says her portrayer Sophie McShera: "I do look pretty gross!"

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Showbiz Connection

Jim Carter, a.k.a. Carson the butler, is part of an acting pair. His wife is Harry Potter villain Imelda Staunton.

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Dress to Impress

Costume designer Caroline McCall created a long-sleeve lace gown for Michelle Dockery to appear as a bride in the Jan. 6 episode. The $200,000 topper: this 30-carat Bentley & Skinner diamond tiara!

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Ruff Days

Casting scandal! Roly, the yellow Lab who played Pharaoh in season 1, didn't mesh with the pups living at the Highclere Castle set -- and was not ordered to stay. Hired: Ellie, a.k.a. Isis. (Miss season 1 of Downton? Catch up with those episodes and season 2 on DVDs available on ShopPBS.org.)

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Mind Your Manners

Historical adviser Alastair Bruce passionately nitpicks the details, down to the last vegetable. One debate over fork vs. fingers was dubbed . . . Asparagus-gate!

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Big Business

With 50-plus bedrooms and a chair that was once Napoleon's among the artifacts to dust, Downton's "upstairs," England's 18-century Highclere Castle, is definitely high-maintenance. But the show's success has lured as many as 1,200 tourists a day. Price tag per visit: $29!

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Who Wore It Best?

Downton isn't the first period project to rent vintage pieces from a costume house: Here's Michelle Dockery (right) in the same bloodred evening dress worn by Catherine Zeta-Jones in 2007's Death Defying Acts.

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Curses!

Shirley MacLaine, who guests as Lady Grantham's mother, spars with Maggie Smith's Dowager Countess -- but their first exchange was at an Oscars catering table in the '70s. MacLaine, who lost, says Smith reminded her, "You tucked right into that chocolate cake and said 'F--k it, I don't care if I'm thin ever again.'"