Five Years Ago, Downton Abbey Debuted on the Big Screen

On September 20, 2019, Downton Abbey, the feature film adaptation of the beloved TV series, opened in theaters. Directed by Michael Engler and written by the show’s creator, Julian Fellowes, the film brought back the Crawley family and their treasured staff to prepare for a royal visit. Paste wrote, the film presents “the Downton we know and love, and seeing so many familiar faces and dynamics is like visiting old friends for one more jolly reunion; you will smile throughout the whole thing.”

A critical and box-office success, the film, wrote NBC, “exceeds all expectations by doing what it’s always been so good at.” Indeed, its popularity has led to a cinematic franchise with a second film, Downton Abbey: A New Era, appearing in theaters in 2022 and a third installment, Downton Abbey 3, due in September 2025.

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For the 2010 series, Downton Abbey, Fellowes returned to familiar territory. In 2001, Fellowes wrote—and won an Academy Award® for—the screenplay for Gosford Park, a mystery set in the world of British aristocracy. Keeping the manners but doing away with the murder, Fellowes imagined the charming community surrounding a fictional English estate. For five years, audiences around the world tuned in to follow the exploits of the stalwart butler, Mr. Carson (Jim Carter); the Earl of Grantham, Robert Crawley (Hugh Bonneville); the fierce Mary Crawley (Michelle Dockery); and, of course, the sharp-tongued Dowager Countess, Violet Crawley (Maggie Smith); as well as the many other characters who made Downton so special.

When the show ended, Fellowes told CNN, “I gradually came to terms with the fact that there was a desire for a film…and that I’d better start thinking about what we would put into it.” Fellowes told Town and Country Magazine, “I thought a royal visit would rather answer that.” Indeed, the pomp surrounding the King and Queen allowed Fellowes and his cast to raise the drama and level of opulence appropriate for a big-screen production. “The television series had a very cinematic look in its own right, but Engler…raises the stakes for the movie,” wrote the Forgetful Film Critic.

For lovers of Downton Abbey, the film whisked them back to the fantasy and fun of the show. “Between the tiaras, the tea trays, the synchronized curtsies, meaningful glances and interludes of fisticuffs and tweed, fans of the long-running series will feel like they’ve slipped into a welcome warm bath,” wrote The Globe and Mail. Examining the show’s enduring appeal, NBC News writes, “In an entertainment landscape determined to drive home humanity’s horribleness, the pastoral calmness of Downton is a blessed escape.”