I don't care for the show myself, though I wanted to like it. It's well done, but it just lacks something for me. But, Benedict did clear up this quote awhile back and how he never meant it seriously. Besides, I can't imagine any actor dogging a show this popular, even if it was true.

Totally correct skitty.

The quotes were given as tongue-in-cheek comments. Ben and Dan Stevens are good friends; Julian Fellowes is an old family friend of the Cumberbatches knowing Benedict since he was a small child.
It was purely said as a joke aimed at his friends. Benedict has nothing but praise for the showand its cast in reality.

I do remember posting about this as it showed the level of thinking by the fandom; to me it had gotten completely out of control & had Benedict said ' all people should fart as they enter the theatre' cumberbatch fans everywhere would have stocked up on licorice, ..... all because Benedict was reported to have said so.

Downton is a very enjoyable series; yes there are some inaccuracies in a few minor things but overall does appear to reflect the times it is set in. I believe it deserves all the accolades that have been placed upon it.

In comparison, for sheer viewing enjoyment value alone it wins hands down over parade's End. I don't believe any actor could save Parade from its weaknesses in storyline; it would have been far better to be left as a book only.

But back to the main topic, this episode of reporting ben 'out of context' was one of the things that riled Benedict & pushed him toward his next 'inaccurately quoted' quote - the 'may as well move to USA' one.

He seriously has a point. I am sure he would prefer his fans stopped blindly reading & believing everything reported about him, or what he said.
He admits he does NOT think before making these comments and whilst afterwards he regrets them, he has npo desire to 'take them back' as the people involved know the TRUE story & what others think really doesn't bother him.

In fact, if people took off the rose coloured glasses and really looked at what he DOES say (and watching actual footage of whole interviews is best, so as to keep things IN context) people may see Benedict in a completely different light.

Excerpt of interview with Benedict where he explains what he said

TVLINE : Speaking of your past comments, did you get any blowback from the perceived slam you made against Abbey’s second season in that recent New York Times article?
(Editor’s Note: In the piece, Cumberbatch recalled an incident at the Golden Globes in January where Masterpiece exec Rebecca Eaton playfully taunted him with the statue Abbey had just won.
“I just looked at it and went: ‘Begone, woman,’"  he recounted. ‘Bring it back when it says Sherlock or Steven Moffat or myself — someone else who’s more deserving than the second (season) of Downton Abbey.’" )

Benedict: Oh God, you would not believe it! I mean, honestly, it’s like people don’t have any sense of irony or a brain.
First of all, I knew it was the first [season] that it was getting awarded for, so that was the first part of the joke.
The second part is that Rebecca Eaton, the executive producer on Sherlock and Downton, is a friend.
The third, and probably the most important, is that [Abbey creator] Julian Fellowes has known me since I was born. [Abbey leading man] Dan Stevens is one of my good friends — one of my closest friends in England — as is Michelle Dockery.
There’s just no way I would say something like that without it being tongue-in-cheek.
And I don’t walk around town saying ‘Begone, woman!’
And suddenly [I’m in the middle of] a PR disaster. Maybe I am a PR disaster because I talk too much or don’t filter enough. But I was kind of mortified.
I play such a contemporaneous, vile and whiplash-smart [character] who doesn’t [tolerate] mediocrity or any type of bureaucracy or any stupidity, and yet as an actor — a misunderstood actor – you have to put up with a lot of it.
So I just let that go.
I can tell you I’m a huge fan of Downton, and what I said was quite, quite clearly – to most intelligent New York Times readers – a joke.