Fan-favourite Matthew Goode will be missing from the third Downton Abbey film – and according to the actor, “it’s a good thing.”
Goode, who played Lady Mary Crawley’s race-car driving husband Henry Talbot, confirmed he won’t be returning for the upcoming instalment due to scheduling conflicts and a recent knee operation.
The actor has been busy filming his new Netflix crime series, Department Q.
Though Goode appeared in seasons 5 and 6 of the hit series and the first film, he was notably absent from the second movie, and now, the third.
Explaining his absence, Goode said: “I was unavailable for the second because I was doing The Offer. Then [for the third] I was shooting this [Department Q].
“But I also buggered my knee, and I had to have an operation. That takes weeks to get over, so I was never going to be able to do it.”
In a Radio Times interview, he also acknowledged his character was “edging towards becoming a bit of a wet lettuce,” adding, “so maybe it’s a good thing.”
The highly anticipated third Downton Abbey film will welcome back many familiar faces to the beloved Yorkshire estate.
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Returning cast members include Michelle Dockery (Lady Mary Crawley), Hugh Bonneville (Lord Grantham), Jim Carter (Mr Carson), Phyllis Logan (Mrs Hughes), Elizabeth McGovern (Lady Grantham), Laura Carmichael (Lady Edith Crawley), Joanne Froggatt (Anna Bates), Robert James-Collier (Thomas Barrow), and Allen Leech (Tom Branson).
Others making an appearance are: Lesley Nicol (Mrs Patmore), Penelope Wilton (Lady Isobel Merton), Brendan Coyle (John Bates), Michael Fox (Andrew Parker), Kevin Doyle (Mr Molesley), Raquel Cassidy (Mrs Baxter), Harry Hadden-Paton (Lord Pelham), Sophie McShera (Daisy Mason), Douglas Reith (Lord Merton), and Dominic West (Guy Dexter).
Joining them is Paul Giamatti, who will reprise his role as Cora Crawley’s brother, Harold Levinson, a character who last appeared briefly in season four.
The upcoming film will also include a “meaningful” tribute to the late Dame Maggie Smith, whose character, the Dowager Countess Violet Crawley, passed away in the last film.
Reflecting on the new chapter, Michelle Dockery described the film as “a real tribute to Maggie Smith,” following the legendary actress’s passing in 2024.
Executive producer Gareth Neame added: “The fact that Dame Maggie herself has now passed away since that time, I do think has given a real added poignancy to a story that we would have planned anyway.
“The loss of the Dowager, it now feels far more significant that you see actors playing characters mourning the family matriarch. But I also see actors mourning the matriarch of the show, and it feels more genuine and more meaningful.”
Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale is set to premiere on September 12, 2025.