Season synopsis
Contains spoilers for this season and earlier seasons.
The fifth season follows the Crawleys and their staff through 1924, as the police reopen the investigation into Mr Green’s death. Anna is arrested after a witness places her near the scene. Bates writes a false confession and leaves for Ireland, but Baxter and Molesley establish that he was in York when Green died; the evidence against Anna weakens and she is released on bail. Bates returns to her at Christmas, but the murder investigation is not yet closed.
Edith learns that Gregson was killed in Germany and inherits his publishing company. When the Drewes’ home can no longer keep Marigold’s parentage secret, Edith takes her daughter to London. Cora persuades Edith to bring Marigold back to Downton as a ward, and Robert and Tom work out the truth, though Mary remains unaware. Rose becomes engaged to Atticus Aldridge; his father and Rose’s mother oppose the match, but the wedding goes ahead despite Susan’s attempts to sabotage it.
Mary ends her affair with Gillingham, and Charles Blake helps reunite him with Mabel Lane Fox. At the Brancaster visit, Mary meets Henry Talbot, a racing-car driver, while Edith meets Bertie Pelham; neither new connection is settled by the end of the season. Elsewhere, Violet finds Prince Kuragin’s estranged wife in Hong Kong and reunites the couple. Tom prepares to leave for Boston with Sybbie, and Carson proposes to Mrs Hughes, who accepts.