THE DOWNTON ABBEY WALKING DEAD: A Mash-Up Idea from a Guy Who Doesn’t Read Mash-Ups

Confession: the concept of mash-ups elicits a negative kneejerk response from me: vague annoyance. When I take a step back and analyze it, I really don’t have a specific reason for my response to things like Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, and since I haven’t read that or any other mash-up, I admit that I haven’t given mash-ups a chance. And perhaps I should.

Apocalyptic and Addictive

What’s my point?

Well, the two shows I’ve been watching lately—the only two television shows I’ve watched in half a decade—are Downton Abbey and The Walking Dead. The shows don’t share many commonalities except for great writing, excellent direction, outstanding acting, fantastic theme music, pitch-perfect editing…

Okay, perhaps they do share some commonalities after all.

And despite the anachronistic problems a mash-up of the two might create, wouldn’t you like to see the following things (and please remember that I’m only halfway through Season Three of DT and halfway through Season Two of TWD, so I might be talking about people who have already been written out of the shows or torn apart by zombies)?

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“Brrrraaaaains!!!!”

The Dowager Countess being bitten by a zombie and pursuing her rival, Cousin Isobel Crawley, through the stately drawing rooms of Downton.

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“I hate to waste an arrow on you, but you’ve really got it coming.”

Norman Reedus putting a crossbow arrow right between an undead Mrs. Bates’s eyes. (Come on. You know you’d like to see her suffer more.)

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“DO YOU MIND?!?!?”

Carson demanding that the zombies show some decorum as they shamble into the parlor room during tea.

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“At least we’ll get to spend the next thirty seconds together in peace and happiness–that’s more than we’ve had in three seasons!”

Bates and Anna declaring their love while the undead batter and claw at their bedroom door. And really, that would be the only terrible thing left that hasn’t yet happened to Bates and Anna, so they might as well face a legion of zombies, right?

Where Our Heroes Make Their Last Stand

And could one conceive of a better last bastion than Downton Abbey itself? The place was practically constructed for a cataclysmic siege.

Okay, people. It’s time to make this happen. I’ll have my people on the phones with Julian Fellowes and Frank Darabont this afternoon. If all goes well, the project should gain traction for the upcoming fall season.

Wish me luck!