Down to a tee

Abbey cast ancestors had roles like theirs

- BY MARK JEFFERIES Showbiz Editor

IT is almost like they had been bred to play the parts.

Research into the family trees of Downton Abbey's cast has revealed that some actors have ancestors whose lives were uncannily similar to the roles they ended up playing.

Michael Fox, 36, who plays butler Andy Parker, has a three-times-great-grandfather who was a butler and great-great-grandad a chauffeur.

It seems he was almost destined to play a loyal footman.