10 TV Fan Favourites Who Suffered Shockingly Brutal Deaths

10. Matthew Crawley - Downton Abbey

Once upon a time there was an actor named Dan Stevens on a hit television show called Downton Abbey. He played Matthew Crawley, a middle class solicitor who becomes heir to an earldom after the previous successor to the title went down with the Titanic in 1912. He was a straightforward, humble character who was immensely uncomfortable with all the airs put on by his newly acquired family, and he quickly became an undisputed audience favorite. Matthew was one half of the most charming romantic couple on television, claiming most of the responsibility for buffing out some of Mary's rough edges. Like so many actors before him, Stevens wanted to pursue other career options (read: film). But how to write off the character? Matthew would surely never leave Lady Mary, so the only real option was to kill him. Upon hearing that Stevens would be moving on from the show, viewers really should have expected a death scene. But still, I don't think anyone could have been prepared for what eventually happened. They could have been kind. They could have given him a gentle death, let him go in peace. But no. Matthew Crawley was senselessly killed in a motor accident, while jubilantly driving home from the hospital after the birth of his son. It was quick, it was cruel, and it crushed the hearts of every Downton Abbey fan in the world.