The Downton Abbey franchise could return to the small screen with a prequel.
The series, which ran for five seasons, has just wrapped up with the third and final film Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale hitting cinemas this month.
Allen Leech, who plays Tom Branson in the series, has hinted the popular period drama might return with a prequel series that explores the backstory of Violet Crawley, who was portrayed by the late Dame Maggie Smith.
“I was chatting to the director Simon Curtis the other day over lunch and he was saying there’s a great poignancy about this movie for the fans. It’s about letting go… and it’s about moving on,” he said during an appearance on Virgin Radio.
“From what I hear, the plan is if they’re going to do anything with it next, they’re either going to go back in time and do a prequel of Maggie Smith in her younger years, which would be very interesting.
“Or they’re going to go Seventies, and all the debauched madness that could happen in the house.”
“I think it could be kind of interesting: “Sorry I rang the bell — would you mind rolling this, would you?!” There could be the Stones walking through, with Keith Richards in the bath!’
Allen isn’t the only member of the Downton Abbey family who has hinted that the show might go on in some form or another. Show creator Julian Fellowes recently said he was open to continuing to explore the story despite the third film being called “The Grand Finale”.
“I’m not saying we’ll never see Downton Abbey in any other form — one should never say never,” he said.
He’s also spoken about crossover special for Downton Abbey and The Gilded Age.
“Obviously there’s an opportunity to [stage a crossover], because they are both in England,” he told TV Line. “Things like the shooting season or whatever would incorporate many great houses for all of these families, as they would travel around England. We can bring about a conjunction whenever we wish, really, but we haven’t got one planned yet, so we’ll have to see.”
Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale follows the original cast of characters in the summer of 1930, when Lady Mary’s sudden divorce and the family’s financial situation brings chaos to Downton Abbey’s halls and disgrace to the family name.
It’s also a fitting tribute for Dame Maggie Smith, who passed away in September last year at the age of 89.
“This film is partly a tribute to Maggie and to the dowager,” Michelle Dockery, who plays Mary in the series, told PEOPLE.
Executive producer Gareth Neame told TV Line “we will never see the like of Dame Maggie Smith ever again” and that everyone in the cast and crew had immense respect for the actress.
“The fact that Dame Maggie herself has now passed away since that time, I do think, has given a real added poignancy to a story that we would have planned anyway,” he said.
“The loss of the Dowager, it now feels far more significant that you see actors playing characters mourning the family matriarch. But I also see actors mourning the matriarch of the show, and it feels more genuine and more meaningful.”
Related stories
Native ad body.
Native ad body.
Native ad body.
Share this post