Pairing Up the Heroes of Downton Abbey With Their Mad Men Soul Mates

Violet Crawley and Roger Sterling, Thomas Barrow and Pete Campbell, and more.

We’ve found a spiritual cousin for 10 members of the Downton set.

The Violet of Mad Men: Roger Sterling

Soul Mates in Zingerdom

Violet, Dowager Countess of Grantham: “Don’t be defeatist dear. It’s very middle class.”

Roger Sterling, to a pregnant Betty Draper: “Oh look, Princess Grace swallowed a basketball.”

Sterling Cooper and Downton Abbey would be dull places without Roger and Violet’s superbly timed zingers. Each character plays the role of ego-deflator, knocking friends and foes alike off of their pedestals. Both Roger and Violet are steeped in nostalgia for the past and abhor social change. Take on a Japanese client? See a working woman as more than a secretary? Violet would be impressed by Roger’s resistance to such modern ideas. On whether Sybil is entitled to opinions, she once noted: “No, she isn't, until she is married, then her husband will tell her what her opinions are.” You can just see Roger sipping a vodka and nodding in agreement.

Courtesy AMC and PBS.
The Thomas of Mad Men: Pete Campbell

Soul Mates in Twisted Ambition

Though in the looks department Thomas Barrow might seem better matched with Don—and in the sexuality department with Sal Romano—his true soul mate is Pete Campbell. Both start out as detestable jerks, willing to betray people’s trust just to get ahead. Thomas frames a colleague for theft; Pete snoops in Don’s mail—whatever it takes to advance. (Though notably, neither of those tactics gets the weasels very far.) Similarly, when Thomas and Pete want something sexually, they take it, regardless of the risks involved: Pete was engaged when he slept with Peggy and married when he slept with his neighbor’s nanny; Thomas made a brash and ill-fated move on a Turkish diplomat. Despite their often ugly behavior, both Thomas and Pete have grown somewhat more appealing as their series have progressed. After the war Thomas showed surprising vulnerability in his attachment to a young blind lieutenant and Pete did the same in his increasing openness with his wife. And both have managed to convince employers who were previously wary of them that the are, in fact, indispensible. (Granted, Thomas achieved this via a botched dog-napping. But still.)

Courtesy AMC and PBS.
The Cora of Mad Men: Trudy Campbell

Soul Mates in Love

Lord Grantham is open about the fact that he married Cora for her money and only fell in love with her later. Pete Campbell is too proud to admit he married Trudy for her dowry, but it’s evident that it was on his mind: Though Pete comes from a powerful New York family, his inheritance has been squandered and he relies on Trudy’s family for financial help and career advancement. But Cora and Trudy both handle their men dashingly given the circumstances: both give their men sound advice and inspiration; both wield considerable power in the home; and they both have killer nightgowns.

Courtesy AMC and PBS.
The Carson of Mad Men: Joan

Soul Mates in Decorum

There is no one in all of Yorkshire who could rival Joan’s sensuality. But Joan is more than just a head-turner—she’s a hyper-competent manager of her staff. The “downstairs” of Sterling Cooper and SCDP is their secretary pool, and Joan is undoubtedly the boss: She tells her staff how to dress, how to answer the phone, and, perhaps most importantly, how to protect the firm’s honor. Carson would very much approve of the tight ship Joan runs (though he’d surely frown upon her dalliances with Roger Sterling). Like Carson, Joan has earned the complete trust of her employers, and is viewed as indispensible to the smooth running of their world.

Courtesy AMC and PBS.
The Don of Downton Abbey: P. Gordon

Soul Mates in False Identity

Don Draper doesn’t have a perfect soul mate in the world of Downton Abbey. There are parts of him in many characters: His shiny hair on Thomas’ head, his woman-slaying ways in the aggressive charms of Kemal Pamuk, the Turkish diplomat. Like Mary Crowley, Bates, and Carson, there is something in Don’s past that has filled him with shame and distanced him from the world around him. Ultimately, though, his most significant connection may be to Major Patrick Gordon. Gordon returns to Downton in 1918 with a bandaged face covering injuries sustained during the war. He claims to be Mr. Patrick Crawley, the heir to Downton. It seems more likely that he has simply pulled a Draper, taking on the identity of a fallen comrade in hopes of a better life, though with none of Don’s success.

Courtesy AMC and PBS.
The Sybil of Mad Men: Peggy Olson

Soul Mates in Women’s Lib

World War I, like the Vietnam War, coincided with major changes for women in the workplace. Sybil, the noblewoman turned nurse, and Peggy, the Brooklyn-born secretary turned copy-writer, embody these shifts. In love and looks they are quite different, but in their ambition—and their willingness to shatter predefined roles—they are birds of a feather. Sybil is the first woman in her family to take a job, becoming a nurse and helping with the war effort. She’s willing to push boundaries, scandalizing her family first by parading around in pants and later by marrying a chauffeur for love. Peggy meanwhile is the first Sterling Cooper secretary to be promoted to creative and to get her own office. She hasn’t found the love of her life yet, but surely she’ll meet her own Irish revolutionary at one of the beatnik parties she started attending last season.

Courtesy AMC and PBS.
The Anna Draper of Mad Men: Lavinia

Soul Mates in Sweetness

Sweet, fair-haired, unconditionally supportive of a man whose life has been altered by war, dead too soon. This describes both Anna Draper, the widow of the man who Don stole his name from, and Lavinia, fiancee of Matthew Crawley. Both are good, caring women. And both must die to kick-start a new phase for the men they loved. (Don proposes to Megan shortly after Anna’s death; Matthew is able to eventually pursue his feelings for Mary.)

Courtesy AMC and PBS.
The Isis of Mad Men: Polly

Soul Mates in Furry Plot Propulsion

Isis [Translated from Barks]: Help! I’ve Been Locked in a Shed!

Polly [Translated from Barks]: So What If I Want to Eat a Pigeon? I’m Bored and Hungry

Isis, Lord Grantham’s Labrador, is perhaps the most selfless character in the entire show. She wants nothing other than to be Grantham’s quiet companion, loyally walking him from room to room, glen to glen. In the season two finale, she finally got her own plot line, when Thomas locked her a shed with the goal of later finding her and ingratiating himself with his employer. The plan works, sort of, but poor Isis gets nothing in return: No scene with a special feast, no apology from Thomas. No one could understand the plight of the underappreciated dog better than Polly, the golden retriever that Don Draper brings home after Sally’s birthday party in season one of Mad Men. Polly gets her big moment later that season, when she goes after a pigeon from next door neighbor’s coop. When the neighbor threatens to shoot Polly, Betty Draper comes to her defense, firing a BB gun at the birds. But just as in Downton, it becomes clear that this sweet canine is mainly on hand to bring something out in its human masters. Isis and Polly deserve a fox hunt together to commiserate.

Correction, March 21, 2012: This caption originally referred to Isis as Percy (a real-life dog who lives on the Downton Abbey grounds where the show is filmed). Isis was also incorrectly referred to as a he. The dog in Downton Abbey season one (Pharaoh) was male but was replaced with the female Isis in part because Percy reportedly did not like Pharaoh.

Courtesy AMC and PBS.
The Isobel Crawley of Mad Men: Lane Pryce

Soul Mates in Imposing Order

Lane Pryce and Isobel Crawley may not look like soul mates, but both enter worlds where they don’t entirely belong and try to impose order—with limited success. Lane first comes to Sterling Cooper as a representative from the British firm Putnam, Powell, and Low. He’s a no-nonsense taskmaster, setting up a rigid system and cutting expenses, much to the chagrin of the Sterling Cooper brass. Isobel Crawley is a similarly driven outsider. She enters the Downton world when her son Matthew becomes heir and immediately gets involved in local affairs, altering protocols everywhere from the kitchen to the local hospital and leading the push to turn Downton into a convalescence home during the war—much to the chagrin of the Downton brass, namely Cora and Violet.

Courtesy AMC and PBS.
The Edith of Mad Men: Sally

Soul Mates in Young Neediness

A little troubled, a little rebellious, craving attention as they’re overshadowed by other women. This description could be applied to both middle daughter Edith in Downton Abbey and Sally Draper of Mad Men. Though Edith is in her 20s and Sally is just a child, the two characters are strikingly similar. Edith grows increasingly frustrated as Mary monopolizes the attention of potential suitors, as well as their father. She finds the ego-stroking she needs in a married farmer. Sally grows increasingly frustrated as her father’s time is consumed by other women. She finds the emotional tending she needs in the form of neighbor boy Glen. Both relationships are cut short and these ladies are left adrift and alone. By the time Sally reaches her 20s, she’ll hopefully be more of a Sybil. But in these early episodes of neediness, she’s got a lot in common with poor Edith.

Courtesy AMC and PBS.

As the second season of Downton Abbey wound down and the anticipation for Mad Men Season 5 ramped up, we got to thinking: What sort of parallels exist between the two period dramas? Though the series are set 50 years apart, and with the Atlantic Ocean in between, it occurred to us that their characters actually have a lot in common. The dowager countess would surely admire Roger Sterling’s rapier wit. Thomas Barrow could learn a trick or two about advancing his career from that clever Pete Campbell. Which other Downton characters have soul mates on Madison Avenue? We’ve found a spiritual cousin for 10 members of the Downton set. Call us crazy—or suggest your own pairings—in the comments.

Also see our Magnum Photos gallery on the Mad Men era.