The pandemic forced Downton Abbey: A New Era to push its release date back to 18 March, but Julian Fellowes is at least keeping fans happy by sharing further information about the project, which will be an "extension" of the blockbuster series. "It's really a new era," the showrunner told People ahead of the release of the first images of the stars back in character. "The further the '20s went along, the more the world was changing in so many ways. Everything from entertainment to transport was really different by the end of the '20s."
Virtually the entire main cast is set to return, including Hugh Bonneville, Elizabeth McGovern, Michelle Dockery, Laura Carmichael, and Jim Carter. Maggie Smith will also make an appearance as the Dowager Countess, in spite of the fact that Violet revealed she had a terminal illness at the end of Downton Abbey*: The Movie—*encouraging Dockery's Lady Mary to run the estate in her stead. "As we know from the last film, Mary may not be the titular head of the household, but she is effectively running the show, [and] we take that further," Fellowes continues. "We're trying to mark the change—the fact that the Crawleys of Downton are nearly in the 1930s, which is merely the beginning of the modern world."
