It's a truth universally acknowledged every TV period drama is in need of a galaxy actors to fill out the extravagant cast lists. Well known English actors rub shoulders with luminous ingenues and old sitcom stars looking for a new lease of life. All supported by bevvy of people you recognise from somewhere else, but can't quite put your finger on where that somewhere was...ITV's amazing and now sadly-departed Downton Abbey was no exception, mixing perennial bustle-botherers Dame Maggie Smith and Hugh Bonneville with Lovejoy's Phyllis Logan and Every Decreasing Circle's Penelope Wilton. And then there was floppy-haired, blue-eyed Dan Stevens.
"Who?" I hear you ask. He played Matthew Crawley, the distinctly non-U Lord Grantham-in-waiting constantly rebuffed by Lady Mary, whilst the godawful Lady Sybil lurked in the wings with a face that could sour milk.
As it turns out he's no stranger to sporting a Corinthian bouffant, or to being spurned by ladies in bonnets. Not strictly speaking "costume", his big break came playing Nick Guest, the lead in Alan Hollingshurst's tale of Eighties excess The Line of Beauty - although there is an argument massive shoulder pads, ZX Spectrums and a love of Thatcher are so out of date they could be considered "Period".
Far more breeches and barouche boxes were his turns in the BBC's 2006 version of Dracula, and the US TV mini-series version of Frankenstein alongside Matt Goss. No, really.
However, if you want to re-live the doe-eyed glory of Matthew Crawley looking for love, may I direct your attention to his star turn as Edward Ferrars in the sexed-up version of Sense and Sensibility?
You may think you don't need to look beyond the Emma Thompson/Kate Winslett version, but this 2008 BBC three-parter brings a whole new melancholy and humanism to the piece, as well as containing Daisy Haggard's gloriously over-the-top Miss Steele.
So if you're missing Downton Abbey, why not scratch that itch with a visit to Barton Park and Donwell Abbey? I warrant you'll find it most felicitous...