TCA 2015-6 Exclusive!: Gareth Neame On What A Downton Abbey Movie Could Look Like

[Primetimer]

That is, if it ever gets made, so don't get all worked up.

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[Glade]

Personally, I want some characters to die (Robert!) or move out/move on from the manor house altogether in the last season, to the point where bringing everyone back for a movie wouldn't be feasible. This show has gone downhill, so I don't see the point of a movie (unless it was a prequel or something) especially one that was afraid to break the staid, squalid rules that fellowes has written himself into a corner with.

[helenamonster]

I'm not saying how I'd feel either way about a movie until the series is over. It's not even a matter of the ending being good or bad, but more something that I'd either like to see eventually continued or am fine with leaving as it is.

 

The thing about a movie, though, is that it wouldn't be confined by the rules of the show. The show being called Downton Abbey unfortunately necessitates that all or most of the ensemble have to live in or around the abbey, as that is where the action happens (as it should; the house is as much a character as the people that fill it). Even though the movie would be a continuation of the show, I feel like the format would be more flexible and allow for characters to not be stuck at the abbey whether or not it makes sense, while still making the abbey a central part of the plot. Films generally have larger budgets than television and allow for a schedule that uses more scenery, while a television show, especially a serialized one like Downton, should be rooted in familiar places.

[Cameltoes]

I'd love to see a movie that takes place 20 years in the future. Marigold, George, and Sybil all grown-up and given Fellowes's love of incorporating history, we'd get a sense of the impact of things like Edward's abdication and World War II without needing 10 more seasons of the show to cover it.