Downton Abbey: A New Era

In 2019, Downton Abbey made the transition to the silver screen barely five years after the television show ended its run, receiving a warm welcome from critics and fans alike. That adaptation did little to reinvent the wheel, wisely favouring charm and fan service over drama for the sake of drama, and this approach works tremendously when you have a waiting audience who merely want to be made to feel as if they’re amongst old friends again.

Just as devotees of Sex and the City donned their best dress and headed out to cinemas for Carrie Bradshaw’s big screen debut in 2008 - with their only wish being to witness their favourite characters sipping cosmopolitans and trading innuendos - so too do Downton Abbey fans only yearn to see the Dowager Countess deliver another sharp, scathing one-liner as the pomp and pauperism of the show’s upstairs/downstairs dynamic unfolds.

Downton Abbey’s original film adaptation was a distillation of all the elements that made the show the success it was, with an emphasis on light-hearted fun. In no manner did the movie undermine the conclusion of the show or its characters, and that is for the better; it exists as an epilogue or appendix of sorts, where all of your favourite characters end as they began. Who amongst the fandom of any franchise truly wants to see their beloved characters revived for a film, only to watch them suffer for the sake of telling an unnecessary story? If such were the case in 2019, viewers might have felt compelled to ignore the movie’s very existence on the basis of a controversial writing choice which upended the resolution of the previous six seasons. And they’d be welcome to; after all, if the films can’t be self-contained, then are viewers essentially watching another iteration of the show? And if so, why are we waiting three years between episodes?

Such are the questions that this latest instalment - tellingly subtitled ‘A New Era’ - poses as it presents fans with the Crawley family’s latest escapades. While one half of the family travels to the continent to survey a villa mysteriously inherited by the Dowager Countess, the other half plays host to a crew of filmmakers and acting talent who have scouted the estate for the purpose of shooting a moving picture. While the film never manages to make these two separate stories feel like a coherent whole, in isolation they both work on their own merits. Not only is the European diversion a welcome opportunity for the franchise to extend its scope and depict a location far removed from the British aristocracy, but the film shoot back home is also a clever way of breathing new life into the hallways and sitting rooms of Highclere Castle, creating plenty of humour amongst the ensemble of servants who reside there. In a particularly genius stroke, it affords certain cast members a complete change of wardrobe in a heartwarming sequence that reminds viewers how the relationship between the Crawley family and their staff was arguably the beating heart of the show.

New additions, such as Hugh Dancy’s smitten film director and Laura Haddock’s pretentious actress, immerse themselves in the world of Downtown seamlessly as a handful of characters appear to take their final bow. This is the sequel’s biggest gambit, presenting itself as a frivolous spin-off in the same vein as the 2019 film - one that has no serious ramifications on the story - but also taking strides to suggest what the future of the franchise might look like if there are more stories to tell. In the closing moments of the film, A New Era risks what its predecessor seemingly wouldn’t have dared, in a move that is sure to be divisive - but ultimately necessary - rendering the film worthy of its subtitle. As a result of this, the future of Downton Abbey seems both daunting and full of possibilities and opportunities at the same time. But that more concerns the future of the franchise in whatever form it takes; taken on its own, A New Era is as wonderful and comforting as any two hours of Downtown could be.