10 Unsung TV Characters Who Completely Save Their Show

3. The Dowager Countess - Downton Abbey

The Characters Everyone Talks About: Lady Mary, Lord Grantham, Matthew, Sybil Downton Abbey might just be the pinnacle of period dramas, the shining example for what's long been considered a stuffy, boring genre by many. And whilst Hugh Bonneville and Dan Stevens take much of the credit for this with their superbly sophisticated performances, it's A-lister Maggie Smith who truly adds class to the series. The unfiltered wit of the Dowager Countess leads to many of the show's lighter moments; she's a straight-talking, no-nonsense and extremely relatable old lady who will tell you exactly what she thinks, and won't sugar-coat a word of it. What makes the performance quite so wonderful though are the occasional moments of warmth or vulnerability; she's not just a one-dimensional, one-liner to contrast the drama of the show, she's as believable a character as anyone else, and perhaps the deepest character of the lot. Maggie Smith is acting royalty; it's brilliant that she's even on television at all, and not selling her fantastic talents to Hollywood. Not only is she easily the best thing on Downton - despite not being a particularly starring character - she's probably the best thing on ITV drama.