Post Downton Abbey Rule #1: One must keep busy in between series 2 and series 3.

Post Downton Abbey Rule #2: Pay attention to Rule #1 or one will succumb to severe separation anxiety.

This holds true not only for viewers of the runaway UK/US hit television series, but also for those both in front of and behind the camera of the series. With filming on series 2 ending last August and filming on series 3 set to begin this month, that leaves a mere 5-6 months of down time. Many involved with Downton Abbey found themselves quite busy and easily passed the time.

Julian Fellowes, creator/writer of Downton Abbey, has made the most of his brief down time. His just completed ITV1 mini-series, Titanic, centers around the 1912 sinking of the Titanic with a journey through its last hours. The mini-series will air on ITV1 in the UK and then ABC in the United States in April 2012, coinciding with the ship’s 100th anniversary. Must be too soon for me after Sundays finale….looks like Downton Abbey on a boat to me.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cjXgM1Eb0tg&

If that’s not enough, the long-time Agatha Christie fan has signed on to write an adaptation of Agatha Christie’s Crooked House, one of the authors favorites. Directed by Neil LaBute (The Wicker Man, Death at a Funeral), the film will be set just after the Second World War and will be shot in London. Fellowes said: “I love the period, I love Agatha Christie and I love the idea of reinventing it.”

Can’t wait for both. How about you? How will you pass the time between Downton Abbey II & III? Don’t forget, there’s always the printable Downton Abbey characters for those that need help in creating their own drama over the next several months.