Downton Abbey is “set to return” after the major success of its two films.
The first Downton movie was released in 2019, with Hugh Bonneville and Elizabeth McGovern as central characters, the Earl and Countess of Grantham, and Laura Carmichael as their daughter, Lady Edith.
Along with Maggie Smith as the Dowager Countess, they all returned in the 2022 sequel, Downton Abbey: A New Era, which was set between the South of France and the stately home.
A third film is now reportedly in the works and will pick off where the sequel left off, in the late 1920s.
An insider told The Sun: “This will be huge news for fans of the show who have remained just as addicted to Downton long after it went from telly drama to movie blockbuster.”
“There has been endless speculation about whether there would be a third movie and when it would be released, but finally devotees have had their prayers answered.”
“The first two films proved such a success that a third one seemed inevitable, but the biggest problem was the logistics of bringing the cast back together as their diaries are all so packed.”
Earlier last month, it was also reported that the series would return for a seventh season.
A source told the Daily Mail: “Filming has been going on for a few weeks now, it is all very, very secret. There are people working on it who have never seen secrecy like it.”
Those working on the set are also rumoured to have signed non-disclosure agreements so that they don’t reveal the news in any interviews.
“It was such a huge success before and there are so many more stories to be told, it seemed such a shame not to be able to make more of it but they’ve made it happen.”
In December, the creator of the show, Julian Fellowes did not rule out the possibility of a comeback series.
He told Radio Times: “I have said goodbye to Downton so many times, and I have written the last scene about six or seven times. Now I’ve got out of the habit of making permanent statements about whether it’s gone.”
“It just gives me a lot of pleasure that so many people enjoyed it, so to feel that you created a show that cheers people up and they had a good time with it, I love that,” Julian concluded.
