Allen Leech, who played Tom Branson in Downton Abbey, has suggested the long-running franchise could return as a prequel centred on the younger years of Dame Maggie Smith’s character, Violet Crawley.
The remark came as the series closed its cinematic run with Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale, the third big-screen instalment that revisits the Crawley family and their staff in the early 1930s amid shifting social norms, mounting financial pressures and public scandal following Lady Mary’s sudden divorce. The film, released on Friday, has been described by cast members as a poignant farewell to characters and long-time viewers alike.
Speaking on Virgin Radio this week, Leech said he had spoken with director Simon Curtis and relayed what he understood to be early ideas for the future of the franchise. "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," he said. He added that another option under discussion would be to set a continuation in the 1970s, imagining a very different, more raucous era for the house and its occupants. Leech described the new film as carrying "a great poignancy" for fans, saying it is "about letting go... and it's about moving on." He also joked about potential rock-star cameos, imagining scenes of "the Stones walking through, with Keith Richards in the bath!"
Series creator Julian Fellowes has also left the door open to further extensions of the Downton universe. Though the latest film is titled The Final Farewell, Fellowes told reporters he was not ruling out future projects, saying, "I’m not saying we'll never see Downton Abbey in any other form - one should never say never."
ITV will mark the 15th anniversary of the franchise with a one-hour special, Downton Abbey Celebrates The Grand Finale, scheduled for broadcast on Sept. 12. The programme brings together principal cast members — including Hugh Bonneville, Michelle Dockery, Laura Carmichael, Jim Carter, Joanne Froggatt, Elizabeth McGovern and others — at London’s Savoy Hotel, and features contributions from behind-the-scenes creatives such as production designer Donal Woods, costume designer Anna Mary Scott Robbins and composer John Lunn.
The Downton Abbey television series originally aired on ITV from 2010 to 2015 and spawned a film released in 2019, followed by a sequel, Downton Abbey: A New Era, in 2022. The Grand Finale completes the current cinematic arc; producers and the creative team have not announced any confirmed follow-up projects. Leech’s comments and Fellowes’s openness indicate only that ideas are being discussed rather than signalling an approved production.
For now, audiences can see Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale in cinemas and tune to ITV on Sept. 12 for the celebratory special featuring cast and crew reflections on the series’ 15-year run.