Downton Abbey preparing to become more diverse by adding one black man
In keeping with the show’s themes of encroaching modernization on an archaic way of life, Downton Abbey is preparing to introduce one black man to its cast, thereby reflecting the historical introduction of one black man to early 20th-century English society. That black man, a 1920s jazz musician named Jack Ross, will join the cast in the show’s fourth season, and is described as “a real man” (not a hallucination) who is also “very attractive” and boasting “a certain wow factor.” (As in, “Wow, there is a black man on Downton Abbey.”)