We are such a family... for us, it never really ends

THE STARS OF DOWNTON ABBEY: THE GRAND FINALE, INCLUDING MICHELLE DOCKERY, REFLECT ON SAYING GOODBYE AS THE BELOVED FRANCHISE REACHES ITS FINAL CHAPTER. BY LYNN RUSK

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HISTORICAL dramas have long been a staple of British film and TV, but few have captured audiences' hearts quite like Downton Abbey.

Created by Oscar winner Lord Julian Fellowes, the acclaimed period drama is set on the eponymous, fictional Yorkshire estate and follows the lives of the aristocratic Crawley family and their household staff.

First airing in the UK in 2010, the show became a global phenomenon, running for six series.

Its success extended to the big screen with two feature films: Downton Abbey in 2019 and Downton Abbey: A New Era in 2022.

Now, after 15 years of captivating audiences, the Crawleys and their staff prepare to bid farewell in Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale.

The third and final film, directed by Simon Curtis, is set in the early 1930s and as the beloved cast of characters navigates how to lead Downton Abbey into the future, they must embrace change and welcome a new chapter.

This will be the first film without veteran actress Dame Maggie Smith, who played Violet Crawley and who died in September 2024 aged 89. However stars including Michelle Dockery as Lady Mary Talbot, Hugh Bonneville as Robert Crawley, 7th Earl of Grantham, Laura Carmichael as Lady Edith James-Collier and Joanne Froggatt as Anna Bates, all reprise their roles.

Michelle, 43, who plays the eldest Crawley daughter, reveals her character is navigating a divorce and grieving her grandmother in this movie.

"At the start of the film, she is almost no longer Lady Mary Talbot. She is separated and about to officially divorce," explains the London-born actress who is expecting her first child with her producer husband Jasper Waller-Bridge.