Downton Abbey's Laura Carmichael thinks her character is the Carrie Bradshaw of the 1920s.

The actress, who plays Lady Edith Crawley in the period drama, imagines her to be like Sarah Jessica Parker's Sex And The City alter ego, because she writes a column for a newspaper about women's issues, despite it not being mentioned often in the show.

"I do love to think of her in my head as Carrie Bradshaw of the 20s. She's got a column on being a modern woman. Probably far less racy," she said.

Although Edith's work isn't mentioned much on the show, it is important to Laura that it remains a part of the character. "Her writing was still going on this season, and I kept checking with the producers to make sure of it. She would submit an article monthly to the newspaper, and it would have been this casual column. It was pretty common of women of her status," she explained.

Lady Edith has recently been left heartbroken in the show after falling for editor Michael Gregson, who disappeared after she found out she was pregnant. When asked if the tone of her writing would have changed in her newspaper columns, Laura joked, "Can you imagine? 'I couldn't help but wonder... where has he gone?' It writes itself."

Laura says Lady Edith chooses what she wants rather than what is expected of her and she is proud of her character "I love that Edith has become very brave. She's forced to along her journey, being left at the altar and such. I think she would have been the most traditional of all the daughters. In the end, life was harder on her and it falls on her to become a professional woman and write for a newspaper and find a different path for herself. That's really cool," she added.