<p>The original poster is correct. ^..."How us this even a discussion?"? ^^..."They aren't real people..."? ...You latest posters both DO realize you have joined a discussion board for a period piece of small-screen cinema, A.K.A., a work of fiction, right? The producers try their best to make every detail realistic, and the posters here are coming from that perspective, as well. I'm betting you're the thypes that didn't understand how to function in mock debates and mock trial excersises, at school. </p>

<p>Funky iPad glitches...that was 'types' and 'exercises'. :-) </p>

<p>The posters are over-thinking it then. Actors are chosen for their ability and overall look - something like eye colour would not be a deal-breaker, therefore there will be disparity between characters who are supposed to be related. </p>

<div class="quote">83.244.243.226 wrote:
The posters are over-thinking it then. Actors are chosen for their ability and overall look - something like eye colour would not be a deal-breaker, therefore there will be disparity between characters who are supposed to be related.</div> <p>Agreed. Even in a few cases where actors who play roles that originated in books, if their eyes are not the same color as the characters in the original books, the actors can still provide an extremely wonderful performance. </p>

<p>Well, without being an expert in genetics, I think there is a way Mary can have inherited the brown eyes since we don't know neither of her grandparents </p>

<p>Quoting myself from an earlier post: </p><p></p><blockquote> Excepting the rare circumstances in the article referenced in my prior post, dominant genes are always expressed. Thus, for Cora or Robert to pass the brown eyed gene to Mary, one of them would need to have brown eyes too.</blockquote> <p>While we know two of the grandparents (Violet and Martha Levinson), it does not matter, because what we do know is that none of the four passed the brown eyed gene on to Robert or Cora. Thus no brown eyed gene to pass on to Mary. </p>

<p>I thought I had blue eyes for years- they are actually not. My eyes are blue with a halo of gold around the iris. This is a form of hazel. A person with hazel eyes can have a child with brown or green eyes when paired with a blue eyed person. We would need a closeup of Robert's eyes to note any other color flecks to say if he is not a true blue eyed person. I think we have enough close ups of Cora to tell that she has a true blue eye. I am looking for close ups of Robert all the time but have no definitive answer yet. </p>

<p>Genetics are weird... I have hazel eyes but my mother's are black and my father's blue... Same with hair/skin colour... But yes, it would have been better if they matched their eyes/hair somehow... </p><p>Anyway, Cora has her hair dyied and nobody bates an eye (at her age it's impossible to have any grey) LOL </p>

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Helvetica,sans-serif;background-image:initial;background-attachment:initial;background-size:initial;background-origin:initial;background-clip:initial;background-position:initial;background-repeat:initial;">My mother, who never died her hair in her life, had no discernable grey into her 60s, although her hair is much lighter than that of 54 year old Elizabeth McGovern.</span> </p>

<p>http://www.forbes.com/sites/kristinakillgrove/2016/02/07/the-eyes-have-it-who-is-the-real-father-of-downton-abbeys-lady-mary/#7faf7bb15ae1 </p>