Video: Ford Motor Company rips Jeremy Irons for trashing Downton Abbey — and one of its cars

Ford mocked Jeremy Irons' roles in Eragon and Dungeons
and Dragons: "I don't remember Shakespeare writing any
sonnets about dragon eggs or a role-playing game for
nerds..." In the notes to the above video, Ford opined that
Irons "doth protest too much."

Continuing the BBC's series of nasty skirmishes with WGBH/Masterpiece/Carnival/ITV over the worldwide smash, Downton Abbey, Jeremy Irons trashed DA by likening his new BBC series, Shakespeare Uncovered to an examination of a luxurious Aston Martin vs. Downton Abbey's Ford Fiesta.
     An obviously jealous BBC has ripped DA in elaborate parodies not once, but twice.
Irons' ham-fisted remarks at the Television Critics Association tour put PBS, which has two dogs in Irons' fight, in a very awkward position.
     Here's what Jack Myers saw:

[Irons:] ...actually, television doesn't end with 'Downton Abbey.' If you think that's good, then watch these Shakespeare productions, and you'll see what real writing, what real stories, what real characters are about, and …"
     "But we do love 'Downton Abbey,' too," chimed in WNET Vice President of Programming Stephen Segaller, who was on stage with Irons.
     "We do love 'Downton Abbey,'" Irons agreed, smiling.
     "Just a footnote," Segaller added. "We love it a lot. Quite a lot."
     Irons couldn't stop. "It's sort of like -- I mean, I don't know your cars well enough -- but it's like a Ford Fiesta will get you there and give you a good time … but, actually, you know … an Aston Martin, that's what you've got with Shakespeare."

WNET Vice President of Programming Stephen Segaller (left):
"If I shot myself now, would it create enough of a diversion?
Because I'm willing to do it."

     A few minutes later, in responding to a question about mastering Shakespeare, Irons teased, "It's practice, practice, practice, I think, with Shakespeare. You can't sort of mutter it in a 'Downton Abbey' way." At this point, certain heads among the PBS executive ranks were starting to spin.
     As the session progressed, a curious reporter asked Irons to clarify his thoughts about "Downton Abbey." The room was hushed.
     "If I shot myself now, would it create enough of a diversion?" Segaller interjected, "because I'm willing to do it."
     "I'm a terrible television snob," Irons laughed. "I don't watch very much television. I've never seen 'Downton Abbey.'" As the critics exploded in laughter, he added, "So I don't know what I'm talking about, basically, when it comes to that. I'm sure it's splendid."

The Car Connection weighed in:

He could've stopped right there and walked away with a few bags of hate mail from Dame Maggie Smith fans... But no, Irons was on a roll, and apparently, the press was eating it up. So, like many hams/actors, he kept at it, adding, "A Ford Fiesta will get you there and give you a good time. But actually, an Aston Martin…"
     We don't know how Irons intended to end that sentence ("...will set you back hundreds of thousands of dollars more"? "...comes with eggroll"? "...will cook you breakfast in the morning"?).
     What Irons seemed to be saying, though, was that Downton Abbey is middlebrow entertainment for the hoi polloi, while Shakespeare Uncovered is high art for the thinking man and woman. It's the sort of predictable, condescending rhetoric that's been used for centuries to celebrate Shakespeare and turn off mass audiences...
     Eager to capitalize on the public put-down, Ford responded with a painfully unfunny video in defense of the Fiesta. As Fiesta fans ourselves, we thought we'd play a bit dirtier...

Regarding Shakespeare Uncovered, premiering tonight on PBS, Trudy Ring wrote, in The Advocate:

Scholars have noted that there’s ample gender-bending in Shakespeare’s work and pointed out that the playwright, a man of sophistication, was certainly aware of same-sex love. Some think he had gay relationships, and most recognize that there are gay characters in his plays. The series will touch on the latter, said producer Richard Denton, in dealing with Twelfth Night, in which one character, Antonio, is obviously in love with another man, Sebastian, and some other characters form relationships while disguising their true gender. Denton, who joined Irons at the TCA event, said he’d like to do another set of Shakespeare Uncovered episodes, in hopes of featuring The Merchant of Venice, which strongly suggests a sexual relationship between two men, Bassanio and (another) Antonio.