Who is Anna Bates in Downton Abbey?
The head housemaid the house leans on · Downstairs
Anna Bates (The head housemaid the house leans on) is a character in Downton Abbey, part of Downstairs. Anna Smith is Downton's head housemaid and its most quietly indispensable person: the one Lady Mary trusts with a body in a corridor, the one Bates lets past the silence, the one whose goodness the series tests with its darkest storyline and refuses to let break. Anna's ambitions are small and radical for her station — a husband, a cottage, a child — and watching the era make her fight for each one is the downstairs plot at its most affecting.
When does Anna Bates first appear?
Anna Bates first appears in Season 1, Episode 1 of Downton Abbey (2010–2015, ITV).
Who is Anna Bates connected to?
Relationships already established when Anna Bates first appears — nothing from later episodes.
- John Bates — The valet and the housemaid
Which group does Anna Bates belong to?
By the time Anna Bates appears, Downstairs also includes Charles Carson, Elsie Hughes, John Bates, Thomas Barrow, Sarah O'Brien, Daisy Mason, Beryl Patmore.
Who else is introduced in this episode?
- Robert Crawley — The Earl holding the estate against the century
- Cora Crawley — The American countess who bends, not breaks
- Violet Crawley — The Dowager Countess — what is a week-end?
- Mary Crawley — The eldest — cold front, deep water
- Edith Crawley — The middle sister, perpetually overlooked — until
- Sybil Crawley — The youngest — trousers, politics, the chauffeur
- Charles Carson — The butler — standards are the last wall standing
- Elsie Hughes — The housekeeper with the keys and the conscience
- John Bates — The valet with the limp and the locked past
- Thomas Barrow — The schemer the house slowly learns to keep
- Sarah O'Brien — Her ladyship's maid, with a bar of soap
- Daisy Mason — From scullery to her own opinions
- Beryl Patmore — The cook — steam, shrapnel wit, soft centre
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