Downton Abbey's third film will feature a "meaningful" tribute to the late Maggie Smith.
The legendary actor played the Dowager Countess Violet Crawley in the ITV series before the character passed away at the end of the second film, A New Era. The third film was always going to pay tribute to the Countess, and with Smith's own passing earlier this year, the tribute has taken on an even great significance.
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"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," the film's executive producer Gareth Neame explained in an interview with TVLine.
"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."
He added that Smith's loss was "the end of an era... we will never see the like of Dame Maggie Smith ever again", also noting that he hopes the cast and crew's "huge respect" comes across on the screen once the third film is released.
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Smith's on-screen son Hugh Bonneville (Robert Crawley) also spoke about how the third film will pay tribute to Smith, stating recently that: "It's a proper film for the fans.
"It's very much set in the house and saying goodbye to all these characters and we obviously say goodbye to Dame Maggie, which was very poignant on screen and now in real life. She'll be sorely missed. But the final film will obviously be a great lasting tribute to her."
The third Downton Abbey movie is due to be released on September 12, 2025.
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Joe Anderton is a freelance news writer at Digital Spy, having worked there since 2016. In his time, he's covered a host of live events and interviewed celebrities big and small. A big fan of TV and movies both mainstream and obscure, Joe also enjoys video games and in particular PlayStation. Joe currently does not use Twitter, but he only ever used it to tell people to watch the film Help! I'm a Fish.
