Fans of Downton Abbey are thrilled as the show is set to make a “shock return.”
The last episode of the period drama was aired over eight years ago and the filming for the new series has reportedly begun.
The “secret” series which will be the seventh season of the show is hoping to feature some familiar faces from the original cast.
The return of the show, which was filmed at Highclere Castle in Hampshire is expected to be on our screens by the end of 2024.
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.
ITV bosses are hopeful that actors Michelle Dockery, Hugh Bonneville, Elizabeth McGovern and Joanne Froggatt will reappear in this series.
The hugely successful actors have already appeared in the previous six seasons of the show and the two movie spin-offs of the franchise.
Although it is unknown whether the former cast has agreed to appear in this series, the network is said to be “thrilled” with their current casting.
