Downton Abbey star says cast have started filming third movie that will end the period drama forever

Downton Abbey is finally coming to an end, with star Jim Carter revealing when the cast of the ITV period drama begin shooting the franchise’s third and final film

Actor Jim Carter has revealed the cast of Downton Abbey begin shooting the third movie next month – and says it will definitely bring the curtain down on the period drama forever.

Rumours of a third film have circulated for a while, with the storyline expected to pick up where the last sequel left off, in the late-1920s.

Jim, who plays the beloved butler Carson, said: “We start filming in five weeks time. What can I tell you about the new Downton film? Very little really. I don’t want to give any spoilers but I think we can assuredly say it will be the last Downton film.

“They are still tinkering with the script. All the favourite characters will be there with some new ones for a bit of fun. I can say, and I don’t think I am giving anything away, but we will be filming some of it in Harrogate, my home town.”

Downton ran from 2010 to 2015 on ITV and there have been two movies since, starring the likes of Hugh Bonneville and Elizabeth McGovern as Earl and Countess of Grantham. Looking back Jim admitted he did not have high hopes for the drama when he discovered it would be going on ITV, as he hoped it was heading for BBC, who have a better pedigree of making period dramas.

Jim said: “I have done 52 episodes and two films and the third one starts filming in five weeks. You heard it first here. I am not bored of talking about it. Downton Abbey is a phenomenon. I did not really enter into it with any great ambition or hope because it was done by ITV and ITV had no track record in doing period drama.

“They didn’t at the time. Everybody thought it would be the BBC with the Forsyte Saga. Period drama was not ITV’s territory really. I thought we might be onto something when Maggie Smith said yes. It caught us all by surprise and it was a worldwide hit. I got recognised in the temples of Cambodia while on my bicycle in Lycra. When I got offered the part I thought I could do it as I believe I’m good mannered as Carson is. I knew the butler holds a special place in English film. I like the humour and the slow burning romance with Mrs Hughes.”

And with Carson’s eye for details, Jim also revealed the cast got to see the White House on a Downton tour of the US, and was very disappointed by the desk, which was not up to Downton standards. Speaking in an on-stage Q&A on Brighton’s Palace Pier with wife Imelda Staunton, he explained: “When it (Downton) opened in America it went through the roof. This was brought home to us for the second season and we were taken to the British ambassador’s residence in Washington where the great and the good were. They behaved disgracefully and were tearing at us as if we were the Bay City Rollers….no Bananarama!

“At 10pm at night a fleet of shiny black limousines took us for a private tour of the White House because we were Michelle Obama’s favourite programme. The Obamas had gone to bed as they had a big reception that evening but their housekeeper showed us around. We went into the situation room where they watched the capture of Bin Laden.

“And then we saw the Oval Office. The desk is up on naff little blocks because Presidents have got taller over the years. They have not splashed out a lot of money on raising the desk so that they can get their knees under it. We were like “This is not normal is it?” It was extraordinary.”

The first two Downton films by writer Julian Fellows took a reported £220 million at the box office.