Downton dame: We criticise our country too much

DAME Penelope Wilton has called Britons “hypercritical,” saying there has always been a feeling that the country is “on the brink”.

- By Laurent Del Fabbro

The actress, 79, who plays Downton Abbey’s Isobel Crawley — now Baroness Merton — spoke as the Yorkshire-set drama about the landed gentry and their servants comes to an end with The Grand Finale movie.

Dame Penelope said: “I see people who come back from places like Singapore and they say, ‘Oh, you know, our country is broken’. Well, it might be, but it also has enormous diversity and tremendous culture.