The creator of Downton Abbey talks about destiny, decency and his Catholic background

It’s called Downton Abbey: A New Era. But the first thing to know is that Julian Fellowes’ new movie, which opened in cinemas this week, is very much the old gang: Hugh Bonneville and Michelle Dockery, Jim Carter and Elizabeth McGovern – and, of course the indefatigable Maggie Smith. In fact, Fellowes reveals when I talk to him on Zoom from his home in Dorset, the cast was super-keen to gather one more time, to dust down their magic formula and give it another airing. “There’s a real reunion feeling as we begin the new movie: there we all are again, back at Highclere in the Great Hall, everyone in costume,” says its creator. “It was all very exciting.”

I say “one more time” but this may not, of course, be the end of Downton, which began as a TV series in 2010, and was previously revived in a 2019 movie. It could, though, be the end: many loose ends are tied up in the new film, and there’s a strong sense of time catching up with some of the characters, and with elements of the plot. The subtext “we’ve had a good innings” is shot through, as ­ubiquitous as Lady Mary’s pulling of the servants’ bell. Not that the staff move quite as quickly these days; they seem to be as much in thrall to the calls for “action” from the movie director who’s moved in, as to requests for tea or drinks from the Crawleys.