SPOILERS ALERT!!!

Hello everyone! 🙂

Welcome to ‘Bradley’s Basement’ blog and I’m Tim Bradley

Here we are again! We’ve returned to the world of ‘Downton Abbey’ in the third and final instalment of the supposed film trilogy ‘Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale’. It’s been a while since I shared reviews on ‘Downton Abbey’ in 2022. It’s nice to come back to the series in this film.

Whilst this is regarded as the final film of the ‘Downton Abbey’ series, I can’t say that this is the definite end. I’m sure there’ll come a point where ‘Downton Abbey’ will be revisited. Whether that’s in another film or in another season of the TV show, I don’t know.

There was speculation that a Series 7 would be in the works, but I’m holding back on that until that actually happens. We might end up with a spin-off series that takes place in Downton Abbey’s future. Who’s to say? Hopefully, the answer will come sooner than later.

Anyway, for the sake of argument, let’s say this is the final end of ‘Downton Abbey’ in this third and final film. Would I consider this a ‘grand finale’ to the series? Yes, in some respects it is, since I believe a lot of the series’ character arcs are finally resolved in this film.

However, that’s not to say this is an altogether satisfying finale to ‘Downton Abbey’ as a series. I’m sure many people will disagree, but, speaking personally, there are things I wish were included in ‘The Grand Finale’ in order to make it a pretty satisfying conclusion.

Out of the three films in the ‘Downton Abbey’ film trilogy, ‘A New Era’ – the second film – is my personal favourite and what I consider the best film of the series. This is especially when it contains two plots that are enjoyable. ‘A New Era’ is happier compared to the other films.

Anyway, let me share what I consider a disappointment with ‘The Grand Finale’. And this is a spoiler, by the way. I know people will probably have seen it in the film’s final trailer and sussed out what that spoiler is, but this is just to clarify what the spoiler is to the uninitiated.

So, anyway, here it is: spoiler. Lady Mary has now divorced Henry Talbot. 😮 Yeah, I know this shouldn’t be a surprise, considering that Henry Talbot barely appeared in the first film and he didn’t show up in the second film. But honestly, this was a bit of a letdown. 😦

And I wouldn’t really mind this so much considering that the third film focuses on that aspect of the storytelling with Lady Mary’s character. What frustrates me about this is that it was done off-screen and in-between movies. It doesn’t feel well-explored enough.

I don’t know why Henry Talbot didn’t appear much in the films. Maybe Matthew Goode wasn’t able to return in the movies so much. Perhaps he didn’t want to return. Maybe the writer/producer Julian Fellowes didn’t know what to do with Henry’s character anymore.

Regardless, it’s sad this has happened, especially for Lady Mary’s character, since she’s without a husband anymore and is running Downton Abbey more or less by herself. But hey, she’s a strong and I appreciate that aspect to her character is established throughout the film.

Michelle Dockery is excellent as Lady Mary in the film, as well as Hugh Bonneville as Robert Crawley and Elizabeth McGovern as Cora Crawley. It was good to see Laura Carmichael return as Lady Edith along with Harry Hadden-Paton as her husband Bertie Pelham.

There’s Jim Carter as Mr. Carson, Phyllis Logan as Elsie Carson née Hughes, Raquel Cassidy as Phyllis Molesley née Baxter, Kevin Doyle as Joseph Molesley, Paul Copley as Albert Mason and Lesley Nicol as Mrs. Mason née Patmore. It’s nice to see so many faces back. 😀

Brendan Coyle returns as Mr. Bates along with Joanne Froggatt as Anna Bates. Joanne Froggatt was pregnant in real-life whilst making the third ‘Downton Abbey’ film. So, it made sense for Anna Bates to be pregnant too. I really like how that was handled in the film.

Michael Fox returns as Andy Parker, who’s now the butler at Downton Abbey, and there’s Sophie McShera as Daisy Parker, who becomes the cook at Downton Abbey, taking over from the former Mrs. Patmore. I like how Daisy gets to have her own voice in the film.

Paul Giamatti returns as Harold Levinson, Cora’s brother in the film. If you don’t know who Harold is, he appeared in one of the series’ Christmas Specials – ‘The London Season’ – which was shown in 2013. It’s good Paul Giamatti returned in this ‘Downton Abbey’ film.

Robert James-Collier returns as Thomas Barrow along with Dominic West as Guy Dexter, who was in the previous film ‘A New Era’. They’re joined by Arty Froushan as Noël Coward. Thomas seems to be a lot happier these days when spending his new life with Guy Dexter.

Allen Leech returns as Tom Branson in the film. A shame his wife Lucy Smith (as played by Tuppence Middleton) didn’t appear in the film, as it would have made the ‘Downton Abbey’ cast reunion more complete. Thankfully, they’re still happily married in the series. 🙂

There’s Penelope Wilton as Isobel Grey aka Lady Merton and Douglas Reith as Lord Merton, Isobel’s husband. There’s Simon Russell Beale as Sir Hector Moreland, Alessandro Nivola as Gus Sambroke and Joely Richardson as Lady Petersfield in the film.

I’m pleased the film makes a tribute to Dame Maggie Smith who played Violet Crawley, who previously passed away in ‘A New Era’. This is especially when Maggie Smith recently passed away in 2024. The tribute to both Maggie Smith and Violet Crawley is rather fitting.

As well as Dame Maggie Smith as Violet Cralwey, it was nice to see archival cameos of deceased characters in the series like Dan Stevens as Matthew, Lady Mary’s first husband, and Jessica Brown Findlay as Lady Sybil Crawley by the time the film finishes. 🙂

Despite my issue with Lady Mary’s divorce in the film, ‘Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale’ turned out to be better than I expected. I’m pleased I saw the previous two films to remind myself of the characters, especially as ‘Downton Abbey’ is a very character-driven series.

It seems ‘Downton Abbey’ has come to an end in ‘The Grand Finale’ as the final instalment of the series. I’d like to think that ‘Downton Abbey’ will have a continuation following on from this film. Whether it’s in another film or another TV series, we’ll have to wait and see.

Thanks for reading!

Bye for now!

Tim 🙂