Where Does Downton Abbey Go From Here?

On Saturday night, I went to the Kendall Square Cinema to view Downton Abbey: A New Era. 

While I enjoyed the big screen debut of Downton Abbey in September 2019, I think this installment was an improvement. 

Spoiler Alerts to follow.

Downton Abbey: A New Era begins with a wedding as Mr. Branson finally remarries with Lucy Smith whom he courted in the 2019 film being his new bride.

From there we soon learn the Dowager Countess (played with typical aplomb by Maggie Smith) has inherited a villa in the south of France from a paramour from long ago and intends to give the property to Mr. Branson's daughter Sybbie whom he had with Sybil Crawley who died in childbirth at the conclusion of Season 3. This prompts a visit by Lord and Lady Grantham, Edith and Bertie, the Bransons and Lady Bagshaw to the villa along with Mr. Carson, Mr. Bates and Ms. Baxter. 

The most amusing scene from his story was a brief visit to a haberdashery by Mr. Carson who stubbornly insists on wearing heavy clothing in the summer heat. There he is met by Lady Bagshaw who picks out a summer hat for Mr. Carson. The storekeeper refers to them as husband and wife which elicits laughter from Lady Bagshaw. It also prompted laughter from the audience as Jim Carter and Imelda Staunton have been married for nearly 40 years. 

As for Downton itself, there is the ongoing struggle to keep the estate afloat. A financial opportunity comes along when a film company desires to use Downton as a location to shoot a new movie. Mary Crawley is given the Herculean task of managing the movie set, coordinating the downstairs staff while doing voiceover for silent movie star Myrna Dagleish who cannot shake her Cockney accent (until she gets help from Daisy). As usual, Mary cannot enter a room without some man falling in love with her. In this case it was film director Jack Barber played by Hugh Dancy. I knew I recognized Dancy from somewhere but could not place him. As it turns out he is part of the cast of the revived Law & Order playing Senior Assistant ADA Nolan Price. I had no idea he is British.

A few Downton characters have happy developments. Mrs. Patmore gets a new beau with Mr. Mason with Daisy once again pulling the strings while Mr. Barrow gets to leave Downton with leading man Guy Dexter (Dominic West) who is in the closet and looking for someone to dress him. But perhaps the character who gets the biggest push is the much maligned Mr. Molesley who goes from irritant to indispensable screenwriter for the movie being shot at Downton and, for good measure, finally asks Ms. Baxter's hand in marriage. I was also glad to see David Robb reprise his role as Dr. Clarkson in the movie as he was notably absent last time around. 

But all things must come to an end. The Dowager Countess draws her last breath. But there will be new Crawleys as the movie ends with Mr. and Mrs. Branson bringing their new child into Downton. 

The question is where does Downton go from here? Is this it? Or will there be another installment in 2 to 3 years from now? As long as it draws an audience I suspect this is more likely than not. However, I have a feeling the next installment will be more somber (although there is a brief reference to the Spanish flu as a nod to COVID). The next chapter of Downton will likely take place in the 1930's with The Great Depression and the rise of fascism. By the time this movie is released America might very well be going through a fascism of its own.

Downton Abbey might be entering a new era, but I suspect many of us watch it to escape to an era gone by.