MyAnna Buring: My mum is proud of Downton role

MyAnna Buring: My mum is proud of Downton role
MyAnna Buring: My mum is proud of Downton role

Downton Abbey newcomer MyAnna Buring has said that she is looking forward to watching her debut in the Christmas Day edition of the show with her mum. The actress, who was most recently seen on screen in Twilight: Breaking Dawn Part 2, will appear for the first time as new housemaid Edna in the festive special, which will be screened on ITV1 - and said it was the second time this year she had done a show her closest relatives were fans of. "I did Miss Marple and Downton this year and Mum's been thrilled because I've been in something she cares to watch," the 28-year-old said. The character is set to stir up trouble at Downton after she sets her sights on the estate's land agent, former chauffeur Tom Branson (Allen Leech) - who has stayed behind at Downton after the rest of the family take off for a holiday at Duneagle Castle. Branson, however, has stayed behind with his baby daughter - named after Lady Sybil Crawley (Jessica Brown Findlay) who died giving birth to her during the last series. "Branson gives her hope. It shows people a way beyond the station they're born into," MyAnna explained. Viewers can see how the action unfolds on Christmas Day at 8.45pm.

Patrick McLennan

Patrick McLennan is a London-based journalist and documentary maker who has worked as a writer, sub-editor, digital editor and TV producer in the UK and New Zealand. His CV includes spells as a news producer at the BBC and TVNZ, as well as web editor for Time Inc UK. He has produced TV news and entertainment features on personalities as diverse as Nick Cave, Tom Hardy, Clive James, Jodie Marsh and Kevin Bacon and he co-produced and directed The Ponds, which has screened in UK cinemas, BBC Four and is currently available on Netflix. 

An entertainment writer with a diverse taste in TV and film, he lists Seinfeld, The Sopranos, The Chase, The Thick of It and Detectorists among his favourite shows, but steers well clear of most sci-fi.