Popular Show Deliberately Scrubbed of Christian Elements

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LONDON (ChurchMilitant.com) - The historical advisor of a popular TV show, Downton Abbey on PBS, has revealed Christianity is deliberately scrubbed from a large part of the series.

The advisor, Alastair Bruce, told The Daily Telegraph that executives of the period drama were particularly keen to "leave religion out of it."

"Everyone panics when you try to do anything religious on the telly," he explained.

Given that the show is about the life of early 20th-century English aristocrats, its characters in reality would've certainly taken religion very seriously and incorporated it into the littlest aspects of their daily lives. Yet Christian elements are conspicuously absent from most scenes.

Apparently, those in charge of the show's production were afraid too many (i.e., hardly any) displays of religious practice could end up alienating an ever-more irreligious modern viewership.

So scenes would be altered for the sole purpose of avoiding an inconvenient appearance of Christian faith, even if it were simply characters praying before meals.

The result?

"In essence you hardly ever see a table that isn't already sat at," said Bruce. "We never see the beginning of a luncheon or a dinner, because no one was ever allowed to see a grace being said, and I would never allow them to sit down without having said grace."

Even a prayer in Latin was "too far," according to Bruce, who was also prevented from having the napkins arranged in a once-common religious fashion.

"I think that the view was that we'd leave religion out of it, and it would've taken extra time too," he added.

Downton Abbey is currently in its final season, which ends on Christmas day.

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