Downton Abbey (PG, 122 mins) Emotional return with royal twist will have upper lips quivering

Towards the dewy-eyed conclusion of Downton Abbey, a handsomely appointed return to the award-winning period drama created by Julian Fellowes, Lady Mary (Michelle Dockery) considers bidding a hearty cheerio to her ancestral home.

“What are we doing? Should we really go on with it?” she ponders aloud.

It’s a fair question, not just for the heiress apparent as she contemplates her future, but also for Michael Engler’s film, which seeks to recapture the guilty pleasure of a TV phenomenon that chronicled the wavering fortunes of the Crawley family across six series from the sinking of HMS Titanic in 1912 to New Year’s Day 1926.

Ardent fans can unstiffen their upper lips with relief because the glassware gleams and the bone china is lustrous in this crowd-pleasing frippery of froth, which assiduously ties up loose narrative threads and unpicks a few new ones.

Fellowes’ script arms Dame Maggie Smith with the lioness’ share of biting one-liners and she delivers with lip-smacking relish.

Lord Grantham (Hugh Bonneville) and his wife (Elizabeth McGovern) receive written communication from Buckingham Palace informing them of the arrival of King George V (Simon Jones) and Queen Mary (Geraldine James).

The visit is part of a royal tour of Yorkshire, which will reunite the King and Queen with their daughter, Mary, Princess Royal (Kate Phillips).

Thomas Barrow (Robert James-Collier), who has replaced Mr Carson (Jim Carter) as head butler, briefs the staff and preparations are in full swing when Lady Edith (Laura Carmichael) and her husband (Harry Hadden-Paton) arrive for the ceremonial parade and dinner.

However, excitement is spiced with nervous anticipation because the Queen’s lady in waiting, Lady Bagshaw (Imelda Staunton), is a troublesome thorn on the Crawley family tree.

Shadowed by her maid Lucy (Tuppence Middleton), Lady Bagshaw proves a formidable sparring partner for the Dowager Countess (Smith) and Baroness Merton (Dame Penelope Wilton).

Downton Abbey is comfortingly and disappointingly familiar, welcoming back most of the main cast.

The film’s narrative structure is three back-to-back TV episodes and it reserves the emotional meat for a poignant final 20 minutes that might require a dainty dabbing of eyes.