Downton Abbey is known for invoking the warm, fuzzy feeling of nostalgia that we all love about period dramas, and creator Julian Fellowes has assured us that we can expect the sequel movie to be no different.
Downton Abbey: A New Era sees the Crawley family, their entourage and friends head to the south of France for a stay in a villa that the Dowager Countess of Grantham (Dame Maggie Smith) has recently come into possession of resulting from a liaison in her "mysterious past".
The first trailer has already teased a sun-lit setting for the family's usual drama, alongside dazzling parties and the wedding of Tom Branson (Allen Leech) to Lucy Smith (Tuppence Middleton), the illegitimate daughter of Lady Maud Bagshaw (Imelda Staunton).
Related: Downton Abbey star teases what fans can expect from A New Era
"I'm pleased with it actually, I think it works pretty well," Fellowes told Alan Titchmarsh on his show Love Your Weekend. "It's a feel-good [movie], and I don't know about you, but I could use a bit of feel-good right now. There's a kind of fun in getting the club together again because it's been a long time, particularly for the young ones – their careers have changed entirely over this period."
Fellowes also elaborated on the difficulty he has with killing off characters, especially members of the main family such as the devastating and shocking loss of Matthew Crawley (Dan Stevens) and Lady Sybil Branson (Jessica Brown-Findlay) back in 2012.
"Killing them off is hard. I mean, the audience always thinks you've done it wilfully. You know, [as if] I come in like some tyrant saying 'Off with his head', but it isn't, of course, it's the actor saying it's the end of my three-year contract and I've got a play on Broadway.
Related: Downton Abbey's Dan Stevens explains why he left the show
"The trouble is, a servant can get another job – there is no problem with that. They go off, and they work for Lady so-and-so instead, and that's fine. But a member of the family who was never prepared to be seen again, for them it's the grim reaper. There is no way around it."
Downton Abbey The Movie is available to buy on digital, DVD and Blu-ray now. Downton Abbey: A New Era will be released in cinemas on March 18, 2022.
![Downton Abbey: A New Era [DVD] [2022]](https://hips.hearstapps.com/vader-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/1659510494-51CjjzUrOaL._SL500_.jpg?crop=1xw:1xh;center,top&resize=980:* "Downton Abbey: A New Era [DVD] [2022]")
Universal Pictures Downton Abbey: A New Era [DVD] [2022]
![Downton Abbey: The Movie [DVD]](https://hips.hearstapps.com/vader-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/1622112275-51EmMhleQL._SL500_.jpg?crop=1xw:1xh;center,top&resize=980:* "Downton Abbey: The Movie [DVD]")
Universal Pictures Downton Abbey: The Movie [DVD]
![Downton Abbey - Series 1- 6 [DVD] [2015]](https://hips.hearstapps.com/vader-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/1565598027-51L35EzpOcL.jpg?crop=1xw:1xh;center,top&resize=980:* "Downton Abbey - Series 1- 6 [DVD] [2015]")
Universal Pictures/ITV/Carnival Films/WGBH-TV Downton Abbey - Series 1- 6 [DVD] [2015]
St. Martin's Griffin Downton Abbey - A Celebration: The Official Companion to All Six Seasons (World of Downton Abbey)
White Lion Publishing The Official Downton Abbey Cookbook
White Lion Publishing The Official Downton Abbey Cocktail Book
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