Hugging, holding hands and even touching one another’s shoulders are common in this day and age.
Of course, there’s still some kissing and I do believe I remember Carson and Mrs. Hughes holding hands, but apparently touching had to be kept at a minimum during the making of Downton Abbey’s TV and movie.
Downton Abbey is only a few short years past the 1918 Spanish influenza in the timeline.
Then again, we aren’t suffering from as many deadly pandemics as were still common in the 1920s.