Paddy Shennan asked actor Michael Starke what he does when he puts his shammy leather down.

"Paper, ink, lead, bribes, shammy leather, brushes," he said, writing busily, and resumed absently singing, "Alouette, gentil alouette."

And next to Fellowes' glittering showpiece (with an audience of 10.8 million and one of the top 10 ratings winners of 2010), the BBC's revival of its 1970s classic looked as limp as the shammy leather wielded by Spargo, the spurned fascist chauffeur.