Downton Abbey’s creator, Julian Fellowes, has defined how Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale will honor the late Dame Maggie Smith’s beloved character, Violet Crawley. Because the third (and presumably closing) Downton Abbey film, The Grand Finale will thrust the Crawleys and their fantastic downstairs workers into the Nineteen Thirties. The 30s had been a time of worldwide financial upheaval, and the Crawley household will undoubtedly be affected by the Nice Melancholy, too. There’s even a shot in The Grand Finale trailer of Robert Crawley (Hugh Bonneville) saying what seems to be goodbye to Downton Abbey itself. Will they be pressured to depart?
No matter turbulence comes subsequent, the Crawley household should face it with out the late Dowager Countess of Grantham, Violet Crawley, who handed away on the finish of the final Downton Abbey movie, Downton Abbey: A New Period. Sadly, the legendary Dame Maggie Smith is now not with us, making Violet’s absence in The Grand Finale much more bittersweet. In a latest interview with Deadline, Julian Fellowes described how The Grand Finale and the Crawley household have reacted to the demise of their beloved matriarch, and the way her lasting presence, and Maggie Smith’s, will likely be felt all through the movie.
“There is a clear sense in the film that the family continues to be, in a sense, dominated by Violet,” he defined. “The fact that she’s dead is a detail. It’s her beliefs, her demands, and her sense of how the Crawleys should behave, and what they’re there for, that live on. We tried to find ways to make that as clear as we can. Of course, we do miss Maggie in the film, but we should miss Maggie in the film. That’s quite deliberate. We don’t want people not to miss her. We want them to miss her. I think she created a wonderful character that I will be grateful for to my dying day.”
Violet Crawley Is An Inextricable Half Of This Household
Fellowes’ feedback make it clear that the Crawleys haven’t totally moved on from Violet Crawley’s demise, and maybe by no means will. She was a drive to be reckoned with, a real believer in what the Crawleys and the Grantham property stood for. She liked her household fiercely and was a guiding hand for all, particularly her son, the Earl of Grantham, and his eldest daughter, Woman Mary (Michelle Dockery).
If there’s monetary hassle brewing at Downton, if the property turns into even tougher to handle, it is no shock that Violet Crawley’s reminiscence will likely be felt in each nook of the movie. Violet would need them to battle for it. They could really feel responsible about having to let it go. How will that have an effect on their grief? How will that change their futures?
Our Take On Dame Maggie Smith’s Downton Legacy
Maybe The Grand Finale Actually Ought to Be The Closing Downton Abbey Film
Downton Abbey is likely one of the most beloved TV franchises ever created, so it is comprehensible why even Fellowes cannot commit as to whether The Grand Finale will actually be Downton Abbey’s closing installment (“I never say never anymore,” Fellowes teased in that very same interview with Deadline). Possibly it ought to be, although. With out Violet, the household’s dynamic is totally completely different. The Grand Finale will give us a glimpse of what it is prefer to see the household and the family perform with out her, and the way the solid strikes with out Maggie Smith’s efficiency to play off of. Possibly that is sufficient.
The Grand Finale will give us a glimpse of what it is prefer to see the household and the family perform with out her, and the way the solid strikes with out Maggie Smith’s efficiency to play off of.
Certain, we may preserve returning to this household and the downstairs workers till Robert’s grandchildren and great-grandchildren are grown, and so they grow to be sufficiently old to take over the property (or not). But, because the film will little doubt acknowledge, Downton won’t ever be the identical with out Violet or Maggie Smith. Maybe, then, Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale is an attractive solution to say goodbye to not solely Violet Crawley and Dame Maggie Smith, however the story as a complete.
Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale will likely be launched in cinemas on September 12.
Supply: Deadline
Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale
Launch Date
September 12, 2025
Director
Simon Curtis
Writers
Julian Fellowes
Producers
Liz Trubridge, Nigel Marchant
Hugh Bonneville
Robert Crawley
Laura Carmichael
Edith Crawley
Phyllis Logan
Elsie Hughes
Robert James-Collier
Thomas Barrow
