British broadcaster ITV teamed up with the cast of Downtown Abbey and a few guest stars, including George Clooney, to raise money for charity with its annual Text Santa show.
Included in the three-hour program was a two-part “episode” of Downtown Abbey, with help from It’s a Wonderful Life and Mr. Selfridge, that showed what might have happened if Lord Grantham had never been born. (Never mind that his children are still the same.)
Cora marries Clooney, complete with a Southern drawl, instead. It’s up to angelic Joanna Lumley, of Absolutely Fabulous fame, to convince him to come back.
Text Santa has raised more than 5.5 million pounds for six United Kingdom-based charities — Alzheimer’s Society, Guide Dogs, Marie Curie Cancer Care, Teenage Cancer Trust, Together for Short Lives and WellChild.
Online donations close Feb. 2.
Warning: Some of the humor is probably PG-13.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ryo7fqdmcGQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dO4UMQIsCW0
