Downton Abbey 3: everything we know about upcoming movie

Work is underway on Downton Abbey 3, as the Crawley family are heading to the big screen once again!

After months of speculation, producers confirmed a third movie was on the way in May 2024. It's believed this will be the final chapter in a saga that ran for six series between 2010 and 2015, before getting two spin-off feature-films in 2019 and 2022.

All our old favourites characters will be back, while stars such as Paul Giamatti, Joely Richardson, Alessandro Nivola, Simon Russell Beale and Arty Froushan will be joining the cast. Dominic West will also reprise his role as Guy Dexter from Downton Abbey: A New Era.

“It feels amazing and a tad emotional," said Michelle Dockery, who plays Lady Mary, in a video confirming the news. "It's wonderful all to be back together again. You come back together and it's like no time has passed at all."

Here's everything we know about Downton Abbey 3 so far...

Downton Abbey 3 release date

Filming on the third spin-off movie will start in Spring 2024, with the Downton cast and crew expected to return to Highclere Castle in Hampshire this summer, meaning a release date of 2025 is likely.

Downton Abbey 3 plot

Cast and crew were made to sign non-disclosure agreements before setting foot on set, so plot details are pretty thin on the ground at this stage, but the third film is expected to pick up where the second sequel, Downton Abbey: A New Era, left off in the late 1920s. The final scenes of that film might give us a few clues about what could be going on...

It saw Edith resuming her work at her London-based magazine, while newlywed servants Daisy and Andy schemed to match-up Daisy's former father-in-law, Mr Mason, and Downton cook, Mrs Patmore.

Elsewhere, Molesley proposed to Miss Baxter, Tom and Lucy Branson returned to Downton with Sybbie and their new infant, while Dr Clarkson diagnosed Lady Cora with pernicious anaemia, a treatable condition.

Lady Mary played a prominent part in the movie, yet her husband Henry Talbot (Matthew Goode), didn't feature and his prolonged absence due to a car rally put serious strain on their marriage. Will Mary be looking for a new man in Downton Abbey 3?

The show's creator Julian Fellowes is expected to base a new series around some of those characters, yet there are bound to be a few new faces appearing upstairs and downstairs when the show returns.

“We were lucky to reassemble our cast," the Downton creator said after the 2022 sequel. “I think for them it’s become a sort of club. They say goodbye, everyone cries and two years later, we’re back at it. I think each time it’s goodbye, but whether it is or not, who knows?”

Downton Abbey 3 cast

All our old favourites are confirmed to return, while Paul Giamatti will reprise his role from the TV series as Cora’s brother Harold Levinson.

New cast members include Joely Richardson (The Gentlemen), Alessandro Nivola (Face/Off) and House of the Dragon stars, Simon Russell Beale and Arty Froushan, who will all play new characters.

Unfortunately Maggie Smith, who played the iconic Dowager Countess, won't be back, after her character passed away at the end of the second spin-off movie, Downton Abbey: A New Era.

That film also saw Thomas Barrow setting off to Los Angeles with his companion Guy Dexter. Yet Robert James-Collier, who plays Barrow, and The Crown star Dominic West, who played Dexter, will both be back in Downton Abbey 3.

We know Imelda Staunton will be back, as the star of The Crown was the first to confirm the film was in production when she let the cat out of the bag on Zoe Ball's Radio 2 Breakfast Show in March.

Staunton, who's best known for her role as The Queen in the final two seasons of Netflix hit The Crown, played Maud Bagshaw, the queen's lady-in-waiting and the estranged cousin of Lord Grantham, in the previous two movies.

Meanwhile Lady Mary's husband Henry Talbot (Matthew Goode) didn't feature in the last film and it looks like he won't be in this one either.

Here's a list of cast who are confirmed to appear...

• Hugh Bonneville as Robert Crawley, 7th Earl of Grantham

• Laura Carmichael as Edith Pelham, Marchioness of Hexham

• Raquel Cassidy as Phyllis Baxter

• Brendan Coyle as John Bates

• Michelle Dockery as Lady Mary Talbot

• Kevin Doyle as Joseph Molesley

• Michael Fox as Andy Parker

• Joanne Froggatt as Anna Bates

• Harry Hadden-Paton as Herbert "Bertie" Pelham, Marquess of Hexham

• Robert James-Collier as Thomas Barrow

• Allen Leech as Tom Branson

• Penelope Wilton as Isobel Crawley

• Elizabeth McGovern as Cora Crawley, Countess of Grantham

• Sophie McShera as Daisy Parker

• Tuppence Middleton as Lucy Branson

• Lesley Nicol as Beryl Patmore

• Douglas Reith as Lord Merton

• Imelda Staunton as Maud Bagshaw

• Paul Giamatti as Harold Levinson

Downton Abbey 3 trailer

There's no trailer for this one yet, but we'll be sure to let you know when it lands!