
"Downton Abbey" star Michelle Dockery shares a quiet moment with "Downton" creator Julian Fellowes.

"Downton" executive producer Gareth Neame, Julian Fellowes and Fellowes' wife, Emma Joy Kitchener.

"There is something very, very thrilling about being able to export something that came out of our heads and to find a real following over here. And the American enthusiasm for the show has been really extraordinary," Fellowes said at the lunch.

Dockery, who plays Lady Mary Crawley, is up for a Golden Globe award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series - Drama.

"American Idol" and "So You Think You Can Dance" producer Nigel Lithgow, with Sharon Harroun Peirce, BritWeek co-founder, and Bob Peirce, chairman of BritWeek. “BritWeek celebrates the huge influence of U.K. creativity in California. We see 'Downton Abbey' as a shining example of this,” Bob Peirce said.

Sharon Harroun Peirce, Lord Frederick Windsor and Emma Joy Kitchener.

Dockery and Nigel Daly.

Fellowes and Kitchener.

"Downton Abbey" executive producer Neame, Dockery and Fellowes were guests of honor at the BritWeek lunch.
Julian Fellowes is thrilled "Downton Abbey" is a hit in the U.S. "The American response to the show has been extraordinary and really one of the nicest parts of the whole adventure," he said at an luncheon in his honor Saturday at the Four Seasons Beverly Hills. Britweek, which celebrates the connections between Hollywood and the U.K., sponsored the lunch and released its schedule for the 2013 event, April 23-May 6.
Photos: WireImage courtesy of BritWeek