Anna Smith

Anna is a housemaid at Downton Abbey, capable and steady, with a quiet warmth that makes her the person other servants confide in. She's observant and unflappable under the strict hierarchy below stairs, and she's drawn early on to Mr Bates, the new valet everyone else regards with suspicion.

Froggatt plays decency without making it dull, giving Anna a watchful patience that reads as strength rather than passivity. The writing uses her as the show's moral centre — the one whose kindness costs her something — and Froggatt's stillness makes every small act of loyalty land with real weight.