The Gilded Age is branded 'clunky, inelegant and a terrible stinker' as series four divides UK and US critics

Julian Fellowes's lavish drama The Gilded Age has returned for series four, but the new crop of episodes following New York City's elite have divided critics. Downton Abbey's US cousin brought in an impressive five million viewers for its season three finale and for the new series it's pulled out the big guns.Season four features a cameo from Matt Damon in the opening minutes of episode one and the introduction of more historical figures including President Grover Cleveland (Jim Gaffigan) and John D Rockefeller (Neal Huff).The new episodes have stirred up some good old fashioned US and UK animosity though as critics have posted decidedly mixed reviews.On this side of the Atlantic The Guardian leads the charge with a savage one star review, asking: 'What did we do to deserve such a terrible stinker?' Lucy Mangan sums up the fourth season by declaring 'all is as it was. Uniformly terrible and likely to outlive us all... This stuff won an Emmy. America is a failed state.' Julian Fellowes's lavish drama The Gilded Age has returned for series four, but the new crop of episodes following New York City's elite have divided critics. Pictured; Louisa Jacobson, Blake Ritson, Kelley CurranThe Daily Mail's Christopher Stevens aims his ire at the decision to allow Damon and David Letterman to cameo, asking 'why Lord Fellowes decided to permit his show to be used as a toy for a couple of Hollywood celebs is anyone's guess.'Michael Hogan for The Telegraph is slightly more positive, awarding the new series three stars and writing that the show 'continues to exude confidence'.'The stakes are higher, the plotting more pacey, and it's even playful enough for eyebrow-raising celebrity cameos,' he writes but cautions that 'the show's flaws remain.''Fellowes isn't renowned for the subtlety of his dialogue. Stilted lines clunk and thud inelegantly, like hob-nailed boots at a ball. The wily women continue to outshine the mediocre men.' It is a different story across the pond though as US critics are full of praise for the evolution of the drama. Emma Fraser for The Playlist lauds the lavish scale, and HBO's deep pockets, with each season reportedly racking up a $100million budget.'What this production has in droves is ambition and scale, with one lavish event after another.''This attention to detail is part of the show's overall appeal, swinging between serious and frivolous without missing a beat,' Fraser writes, adding that 'the series' blend of escapism and reality retains its sweet spot.'Kathryn VanArendonk for Vulture agrees, deciding that The Gilded Age 'has perfected the art of trivial drama'. Season four features a cameo from David Letterman and Matt Damon in the opening minutes of episode one (pictured)'Four seasons into its run, The Gilded Age has finally arrived at the fullest expression of its ideal form,' the review continues. 'Season four is the most enjoyable The Gilded Age has ever been.'Kaiya Shunyata from RogerEbert.com praises the often fluffy series for becoming 'a grittier, more authentic version of itself'.'This season delivers the show’s most expensive storylines yet, as Fellowes and the writers’ room he employs continue to push the audience to think critically about how modern issues like bodily autonomy and substance abuse affected people across societies in the late 1800s,' Shunyata writes.'With its fourth season, the series has slowly changed not only its structure but also the themes it deems pressing, allowing this often fluffy show to become a grittier, more authentic version of itself.'Meanwhile much of viewers' attention when the show dropped its new season on Monday in the UK was on Matt Damon and David Letterman's blink-and-you'll-miss-it appearance.The actor, 56, and the television host, 79, made a six-second cameo in the newest episode of the hit HBO series around the 8:33 mark. Damon and Letterman suddenly appeared in the show as a stylish pair, dressed in dapper attire with tall hats to match, as they strolled across the street in a brief scene. The new episodes have stirred up some good old fashioned US and UK animosity though as critics have posted decidedly mixed reviews. Pictured; Blake Ritson and Kelley Curran On this side of the Atlantic The Guardian leads the charge with a savage one star review, asking: 'What did we do to deserve such a terrible stinker?' Pictured: Louisa Jacobson and Denée BentonThe pair were nearly unrecognisable with the addition of intricately designed facial hair and a vintage wardrobe for their short, no-dialogue parts in the episode. The showrunner of the talk show, Isabel Richardson, recently revealed how Letterman and Damon's cameo in The Gilded Age came to fruition. In an interview with Vulture, she said they came up with the idea while doing research for Damon's forthcoming appearance on Letterman's Netflix talk show, My Next Guest Needs No Introduction. She explained that they learned he got his start in the industry as a background actor, so they pitched the idea to Letterman and Damon to do background acting together. 'It'd be really fun for Dave to do this with Academy Award winner Matt Damon, and it tied into his origin story really well,' she told the outlet. She said that they presented a list of possible field segment options to Damon, and the actor 'unequivocally chose this idea as his favorite. And this was, by far, the silliest, most ridiculous idea.' Richardson said while researching what was filming in New York concurrently with production of My Next Guest, a line producer was able to introduce a friend on The Gilded Age and facilitated the conversation between them. The Gilded Age's executive producer Kate Churchill recalled getting the 'funny' and unexpected cameo request. It was a different story across the pond though as US critics were full of praise for the evolution of the drama'It was a kind of a hysterical moment when our production supervisor Leah Baker came up to me on set and was like, "Well, I have a kind of funny, interesting question. Would you like Dave Letterman and Matt Damon to be background on our set one day?" I just started laughing.' She said HBO executives thought the idea was 'hysterical', and she progressed with figuring out how to fit Letterman and Damon into the show as background actors.'The only way I could think of was if we did it in a very controlled manner and it was a shot that we needed, so there was a high chance of it making the cut,' she said before noting they filmed the scene on a closed set. After a 'complicated' back-and-forth regarding scheduling and how to pay Damon as a background actor through his own company, they made it happen. She recalled how much fun Letterman and Damon had on the day of their shoot. She described Letterman as ' a kid in a candy shop' and was 'so excited and curious about everything'. 'Matt Damon was laughing so hard throughout the day, and he had this mustache on, so anytime he laughed, he would have to hold on to his mustache to make sure it didn't come loose,' Richardson added. 'It really was one of those rare moments in our business where everyone's having a lot of fun doing something special, and there was this great authenticity to it that felt very specific to these two shows,' Churchill said.