Downton Abbey: A New Era is a sequel to the 2019 film continuation of the series of the same name. Julian Fellowes returns as writer, with Simon Curtis replacing Michael Engier as director.
The 1930s are almost upon the Crawleys, and things have gone well since the previous film; opening with the wedding between Lucy Smith and Tom Branson. Two different bits of news come to light. The first is that, in the process of getting her affairs in order, the Dowager Countess discovers she's been left a villa in the south of France by a deceased acquaintance (who may have been a little more than just that) and Robert and Cora must pay a visit to the man's surviving family. The second is that a Hollywood film wants to use Downton as its next filming location for a month. Few are keen on the idea, but the money that's being offered will help fix the leaky roofs.
Almost the entire cast returns, except for Lily James (who was also absent from the first film) and Matthew Goode. New cast members include Hugh Dancy as the director Jack Barber, Dominic West as Hollywood star Guy Dexter, and Laura Haddock as film starlet Myrna Dalgleish.
It was released on April 20th 2022.
Tropes present in the film:
- Actor Allusion:
- Carson and Maud run into each other at a hat shop, and the owner mistakes them for husband and wife. Their actors, Jim Carter and Imelda Staunton, have been married for many years.
- While describing Matthew to Barber, Mary describes him as being like "a prince in a fairytale." Matthew's actor, Dan Stevens, had portrayed the titular Beast (a prince) in Beauty and the Beast (2017).
- Another one to Dame Maggie Smith in Clash of the Titans (1981) early in the film when Violet asks why everyone is leaning over her like Andromeda chained to a rock.
- Actually Pretty Funny: Maud giggles when a French shopkeeper assumes Carson is her husband.
- Aside Glance: Isobel drops an epic one (possibly the first one in the entire franchise) when Violet understates "we've had our tussles, you and I," as if to say, "Did you hear what I just heard?"
- Babies Ever After: Lucy reveals she's pregnant, and the final scene is a Time Skip to her bringing the baby to meet everyone.
- Back for the Finale: Rosamund had missed the previous film but returns here.
- Birth-Death Juxtaposition: Violet's death and funeral scene are followed by Lucy introducing her newborn baby to the Crawleys.
- Bittersweet Ending: As the Grand Finale, this one features the actual death of the Dowager Countess Violet. Mary is left to cope with a strained marriage and the long-expected decline of the aristocracy, and Thomas ends up leaving his friends and Downton Abbey for a hopeful but uncertain future in Hollywood. That being said, every other character gets a less ambiguously happy ending, and even the temperamental Myrna may have a second wind in the talkies.
- Broken Pedestal: Daisy and Anna are huge fans of Myrna Dalgleish, so naturally they're rather put out when she turns out to be The Primadonna. This however turns into Rebuilt Pedestal by the end.
- But Not Too Gay: In contrast to the previous film showing York's underground gay club, and Thomas getting to kiss Richard Ellis, he and Guy never even share a kiss.
- Call-Back:
- Mary details her history with Matthew in a conversation with Barber.
- Thomas likewise goes through his employment history at Downton to Guy Dexter.
- Continuity Nod
- Carson references that the royal family previously ate at the dinner table.
- Carson is firmly against allowing the film crew into Downton Abbey, bitterly recalling the last time that the general public was allowed inside.
- Cry into Chest: Mary has a little sob into Carson's shoulder the morning of Violet's funeral.
- A Death in the Limelight: A main plot thread is driven by Violet's past, and her death makes up the climax of the film.
- Demoted to Extra:
- Lucy Smith was a significant character in the previous film, but is delegated to a very minor role in this one, only having a handful of lines alongside Tom.
- Andy likewise had a subplot in the previous film, but has none in this film. There is a very minor subplot on Daisy and Andy wanting to live independently of Mr. Mason, with the solution being to have him finally get together with Mrs. Patmore, but this subplot is largely focused on Daisy.
- Although Rosamund returns, she has no bearing on the plot, in particular Robert possibly only being her half-brother.
- In the show Bates was one of the main characters and had a major plotline in every season. Here he only has a few brief scenes.
- Earn Your Happy Ending: Over the course of six serieses of the main show and the first movie, Thomas suffers multiple failed relationships (some of which never got off the ground), the Great War, a beating, multiple threats of exposure and/or sacking, a suicide attempt, conversion therapy, an attempted arrest, and an actual arrest. In this film, he accepts the offer to work for a film star in Hollywood. Officially, he will be Guy's dresser; unofficially, they have the possibility to live as lovers more openly than they would in most places during this time period.
- End of an Era: The film captures both the decline of the aristocracy, and the end of the Silent Era of films. Some of the servant characters leave their positions for work in the film industry (something that happened in Julian Fellowes's previous film set in the 1930s). Downton being used as a location for a period film highlights what a relic such Big Fancy Houses are becoming, and Carson tuts about how it might end up turned into a museum.
- Fake American: In-Universe. It turns out that while Myrna the actress can't do an RP British accent, she can do a pretty good American accent. Her plot thread ends with Myrna resolving to go to Hollywood and play Americans in movies.
- Feet-First Introduction: Myrna the movie star is introduced with her high heels coming out of the car that has driven her to Downton.
- Foreshadowing: Gloria Swanson is referenced. She was famously a star of the Silent Era who retired once films switched to sound, and then later played such a character in Sunset Boulevard; obviously intended as a nod to Myrna's potential fate.
- Fourth-Date Marriage: Thomas agrees to move to Hollywood with Guy Dexter in a relatively short period of time, and both clearly indicate their interest in a romantic relationship. Downplayed, however, in that Guy offers him a legitimate job and says that their relationship can mean as much or as little as Thomas wants, so the "marriage" aspect of the commitment is left up in the air.
- Good Adultery, Bad Adultery: Subverted. Although Mary hits it off with Barber, and even says he reminds her of first love Matthew, she refuses to kiss him or even entertain the idea of giving up her responsibilities to Downton - even with her marital problems.
- Good Stepmother: It's pointed out what a kind and benevolent stepmother Lucy is to Sibbie.
- Happy Ending Override:
- Thomas's love interest from the previous film Richard Ellis does not appear, and midway through, he receives a letter that he's decided to get married.
- Mary's marriage with Henry is now strained by his continued time abroad. By the end of the film, she rejects Barber's affections, but not without acknowledging the stress in her marriage.
- Hourglass Plot: The servants have to act as extras in the final scene of Barber's film, and thus sit at the dinner table they usually serve at - with the upstairs folk observing them.
- Instant Expert:
- Guy Dexter turns out to be automatically good at looping his dialogue. And when Myrna can't and Mary has to dub her, so is she.
- Mr Moseley ends up becoming quite a gifted screenwriter, and is offered a Hollywood contract by the end.
- Averted and then played straight with Myrna. A suggestion that Myrna simply learn to do an RP accent is dismissed, since learning the accent is hard and people send years doing it. However, at the end a single coaching session from Cora the American citizen is enough for Myrna to learn an American accent good enough to take to Hollywood.
- It Will Never Catch On: Carson snarks at the idea of one day opening Downton to the public as a museum. It's likely that's the house's future in the 20th and 21st centuries.
- Leaning on the Fourth Wall:
- Carson and Maud are mistaken for a married couple at one point. Jim Carter and Imelda Staunton have been married since 1983.
- Carson recoils in disgust at the prospect of Downton being used as a film set and says that maybe next, they'll open it up for tourists. Highclere Castle has of course been open for tourists for many years, well before the Downton Abbey TV show.
- Mama's Baby, Papa's Maybe: Lord Grantham has a pretty serious emotional crisis when he realizes that he was born nine months after his mother's sojourn in the south of France, and in fact he may be "a Frenchman's bastard" and not actually the rightful Earl of Grantham at all.
- No Celebrities Were Harmed:
- Myrna Dalgleish is patterned after Anny Ondra, a Czech actress and platinum blonde who appeared in some British films in the late silent era. Ondra, like Myrna, found that her career in British movies was over when sound came in. Also, Ondra was dubbed by a British actress in her first and last British talkie, Blackmail (directed by Alfred Hitchcock), in the same way that Lady Mary dubs Myrna's dialogue in this film. While Myrna heads off to America to make movies, Ondra went back to continental Europe and worked in French and German cinema. And if that's not enough, Alfred Hitchcock's Blackmail was changed from a silent film to a talkie in mid-production, just as Myrna and Guy's film is in this movie.
- Guy Dexter has elements of William Haines, who was gay and refused to have a sham marriage to hide it; living with another man and eventually giving up his Hollywood career for him. He also resembles Cary Grant, who had a classier stage name, and was rumoured to have had affairs with men.
- His career arc might also draw from Neil Hamilton, who was discovered for films due to his first career as an Arrow Shirt model. (Yes, Commissioner Gordon was a male model in his early career...)
- No Romantic Resolution: Mary chooses not to entertain a romance with Barber out of her duty as the next matriarch of Downton.
- O.O.C. Is Serious Business: You know it's getting close to the end for Violet when she starts being nice to her former rivals, and even acknowledges Isobel as a Worthy Opponent.
- Of Corset Hurts: Mrs Patmore says of the 19th century costumes that she doesn't envy the Queen if she had to wear a corset like that.
- The One Who Made It Out: Myrna was a working class girl who ended up becoming a movie star.
- Pair the Spares: Mrs Patmore and Mr Mason are set up by Daisy, and Miss Baxter and Mr Moseley get engaged.
- Put on a Bus: Henry Talbot is absent for the film, off on a rally somewhere. Unlike the previous film, he doesn't even return for a cameo.
- Rags to Riches: Both of the Hollywood stars come from relatively modest means, Myrna most obviously; while Guy has a more respectable accent, Anna notes that he was working as a menswear salesman when he first arrived in Hollywood.
- Same Language Dub: In-Universe. When 'The Gambler' becomes a talkie, Myrna can't do the accent required for her character, so the solution is to have her mouth the lines while Mary says them.
- "Shaggy Dog" Story:
- We're led to believe that Violet may have had a brief affair, and Robert was actually an illegitimate son from that union. It turns out they didn't, and she was merely The One That Got Away.
- Cora reveals to Robert that she's been diagnosed with cancer. Then after another diagnosis, it's just a form of anaemia—the same form, in fact, which Lord Merton had received as a death sentence in Series 6. But while pernicious anaemia was untreatable in 1925 (hence Lord Merton's relief when the diagnosis turned out to be wrong), by 1929 it was now quite treatable.
- She Cleans Up Nicely: When the servants have to fill in as extras, they get dressed up in 1870s finery. Special attention is given to how beautiful Miss Baxter looks.
- Shout-Out: The French noble family that the Crawleys visit is called Montmirail.
- Stage Names: Guy Dexter reveals his birth name as Quentin Sidebottom. Thomas snarks that they made the right call in changing it.
- Stiff Upper Lip: Robert actually burst into tears at the thought that he might be illegitimate and his wife could be dying, but Cora reassures him not to cry.
- Take a Third Option: Myrna faces the end of her career once Rise of the Talkies happens, unable to change her accent to RP. She must either try to carry on as she is, or find another career to go into. Cora teaches her how to do an American accent instead.
- This Looks Like a Job for Aquaman: When the film is converted to a talkie, the actors have trouble remembering what to dub over the already shot scenes. Mr Moseley's experience as a school master immediately proves useful.
- Vacation Episode: A significant part of the second act is Robert, Cora, Tom, Lucy, Maud, Bates and Carson visiting the south of France. Some scenes were even filmed on location.
- Vocal Dissonance: Everyone is shocked when Myrna Dalgleish opens her mouth, and a thick cockney accent comes out of it.
- White-Dwarf Starlet: Myrna can sense that her career will be over once films all switch to sound, and fears becoming this.
- Whole-Plot Reference: The in-universe film 'The Gambler' initially being silent and then converted to a talkie midway through, the male lead being fine for sound and the female having a thick accent she has to hide is one to Singin' in the Rain.
- Whoopi Epiphany Speech: Daisy the lowest ranking servant in the house is the one who gives Myrna a Rousing Speech that brings about her Heel–Face Turn.
