After six seasons and two movies, Downton Abbey is now rumoured to return to screens with a new series.
Fans were last reunited with the iconic period drama in 2022 with the release of the spin-off film Downton Abbey: A New Era, which picked up with the Crawley family in 1928.
It's understood that Downton will return to the screens by the end of 2024, no doubt exploring how the latest societal changes affect the Crawleys and their household staff once more.
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This is indeed exciting news for those who can't get enough of high-society family drama, but how much truth is there to the rumours of Downton's return?
Here's everything we know about the possible return of Downton Abbey.
Is Downton Abbey getting a season 7?
Downton Abbey is reportedly returning to screens with a seventh series. However, at this stage, the news is all speculative.
These rumours can be traced back to the Daily Mail, which reported that filming is underway.
"Filming has been going on for a few weeks now," a source close to the project is reported to have told the Mail, before adding, "It is all very, very secret. There are people working on it who have never seen secrecy like it.
"Those working on the set have been made to sign non-disclosure agreements so that they don't give the game away but there is a lot of excitement at the return of Downton."
They went on to say: "It was such a huge success before, and there are so many more stories to be told, it seemed such a shame not to be able to make more of it, but they've made it happen."
The original run of the show aired on ITV between 2010 and 2015. Though the Daily Mail reports that the new series will be returning to ITV, Digital Spy understands from its own sources that, if there is to be a new project, it will not be hosted on ITV.
This could mean that the new addition to the Downton franchise will debut on another broadcast channel, or it's possible that the creators aren't shooting a new series but rather a third film.
In August 2022, Downton's lead actor Hugh Bonneville suggested that more could come following the release of New Era.
"I don't know [if we'll see more]," he said to Radio Times.
"I know there's a whole world of fandom that creates all the fictions of what happened before or after and sideways from our stories, but there's only really one story creator and that is Julian Fellowes, so I don't know where he would take his characters next or which aspect of these characters' lives he'd like to explore."
He continued: "That's up to him, if indeed there are any more iterations to come. But I can see that there's a whole world of renewed interest in this era, certainly in the last ten years there's been a revived interest in historical drama."
While a new Downton project has yet to be confirmed by any studios or Julian Fellowes himself, Fellowes told TalkRadio in May 2023 that he has stopped ruling out 'the end' for the show.
"I have said goodbye to Downton so many times, and I have written the last scene about six or seven times. Now, I've got out of the habit of making permanent statements about whether it's gone.
"It just gives me a lot of pleasure that so many people enjoyed it, so to feel that you created a show that cheers people up and they had a good time with it, I love that."
Who is returning for Downton Abbey season 7?
Film or series, it doesn't matter: Downton wouldn't feel like Downton without the likes of Dame Maggie Smith. Smith's Violet Crawley may have passed away in New Era but there's always the option of a flashback.
We'd also expect Hugh Bonneville, Elizabeth McGovern, Michelle Dockery and Laura Carmichael reprising the roles of the Crawley family.
Sadly, much like the verification of a new project, nothing has been confirmed.
It's said that bosses hope to be able to bring back Bonneville, McGovern, Dockery and Joanne Froggatt, who played lady's maid, Anna. However, it's not known who has signed up to don the three-piece suits and evening gloves once more.
The Daily Mail does report that the chiefs in control of the project are supposedly "thrilled" with their casting, so make of that what you will.
There's always Fellowes' utterly absorbing The Gilded Age to keep you going in the meantime.
Downton Abbey seasons 1-6 are available to watch now on ITV X. Downton Abbey: A New Era is also available to buy as a digital download.
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TV writer, Digital Spy Janet completed her Masters degree in Magazine Journalism in 2013 and has continued to grow professionally within the industry ever since. For six years she honed her analytical reviewing skills at the Good Housekeeping institute eventually becoming Acting Head of Food testing. She also freelanced in the field of film and TV journalism from 2013-2020, when she interviewed A-List stars such as Samuel L Jackson, Colin Firth and Scarlett Johansson. In 2021 she joined Digital Spy as TV writer where she gets to delve into more of what she loves, watching copious amounts of telly all in the name of work. Since taking on the role she has conducted red carpet interviews with the cast of Bridgerton, covered the BAFTAs and been interviewed by BBC Radio and London Live. In her spare time she also moonlights as a published author, the book Gothic Angel.
