Drama is set to hit the Abbey one more time, with a third Downton Abbey movie finally confirmed.
The news came through Imelda Staunton, known for her portrayal of Maud Bagshaw in the first two films, who let the news slip on an interview for BBC Radio 2.
“There will be a final film, there you go,” she told host Zoe Ball excitedly on the show.
Ball, taken aback, said, “That’s quite significant. I hope this revelation hasn’t landed you in hot water.”
“I don’t care,” she replied simply.
Speculation about a third film has been bubbling for a while, after the second film, Downton Abbey: A New Era, was released in 2022.
After building such a beloved world in the British countryside, it only made sense to bring back the magic of the Abbey yet another time.
One of the show’s producers, Gareth Neame, had hinted prior to Staunton’s revelation that there could be another installment.
“We are more than willing to continue if the audience desires it. We can keep journeying with these characters for as long as viewers wish to accompany them and derive pleasure from their stories,” he said.
The creator of the show, Julian Fellows, told Radio Times, “I have bid farewell to these characters after every series and film release, only to find myself drawn back to them time and again.”
The Downton Abbey series has been ongoing since 2010, with a six-season run up until 2016. The two movies were released in 2019 and 2022 respectively.
While we don’t have details as yet on what the third movie would cover, it is assumed it will pick up where ‘A New Era’ left off, sometime in the 1920s.
