at the beginning of series three, he finds conversations with the Crawley family's friends awkward, and his friendship with schoolteacher and fellow socialist Sarah Bunting (played by Daisy Lewis) causes tension with the Crawleys. At the end of series five, Tom decides to leave Downton for Boston, Massachusetts with his daughter, but he eventually changes his mind and returns permanently to Downton. Later in series six, Branson is instrumental in setting up Lady Mary with Henry Talbot, and in the series finale, goes in with Talbot on an automobile dealership. Tom Branson was supposed to appear in only three episodes of the first series, and Branson was originally Yorkshire-born. Moreover, actor Leech wanted to audition for Thomas Barrow, but chose Branson. Leech's audition for the role convinced Julian Fellowes to expand his role and to transform Branson into an Irishman. Leech at first tried to develop a Yorkshire accent in an effort to prevent his character from becoming an Irish stereotype, but when he was persuaded that Tom would not become such, he used his native Irish accent. Tom Branson plays a major role in the first feature film, saving the king's life and courting Lucy Smith, who is the daughter of Lady Maud Bagshaw, lady-in-waiting to Queen Mary and a cousin of the Crawleys. In the second feature film, Tom weds Lucy Smith. He, Lucy and members of the Crawley family travel to the South of France, after discovering that the Dowager Countess was gifted a villa in the South of France and arranges for her great-granddaughter, Tom's daughter Sybbie Branson, to inherit it. Tom and Lucy later have a child of their own, a female, named Violet after the now deceased Dowager Countess of Grantham. Martha Levinson Martha Levinson (played by Shirley MacLaine) is Cora's brash, outspoken, and wealthy American mother. Martha has a slightly strained relationship with her daughter Cora and frequently trades barbed insults with Violet. Martha sees herself as representing modernity, while Violet seems to represent the pre-war aristocratic world that is gradually becoming obsolete. Harold Levinson Harold Levinson (played by Paul Giamatti) is Cora's younger brother. His peripheral involvement in the Teapot Dome scandal leads Martha to request that Lord Grantham appear before Congress to vouch for Harold's character late in series four – he escapes with only a reprimand. Harold then accompanies his mother to England in July 1923. While in England he