Look who’s come to take on Lady Grantham

PERIOD drama fans will be delighted to see the familiar faces reunited – with a couple of newcomers. Downton Abbey producers have released a first cast picture of the upcoming film, which takes over where the TV series left off.

Imelda Staunton, 6 – who is married to Downton veteran Jim Carter – joins the cast as Lady Bagshaw, as does Tuppence Middleton, 2, who plays Lucy. Among returning figures, from both upstairs and downstairs, are Dame Maggie Smith, 84, as the Dowager Countess of Grantham and Hugh Bonneville and Elizabeth McGovern as Lord and Lady Grantham. Of course, no aristocratic family would be complete without its dog, although it is not known whether the retriever is Tiaa, who was seen in the final ITV series.

The film is set one year on, in 1927, and revolves around a royal visit from George V and Queen Mary. It will be released in the UK in September.

3 15 4 16 5 6 17 21 7 1 8 18 2 9 10 19 11 12 20 13 14 1 Joanne Froggatt (Anna Bates), 2 Sophie McShera (Daisy Mason), 3 Kevin Doyle (Joseph Molesley), 4 Brendan Coyle (John Bates), 5 Jim Carter (Charles Carson), 6 Phyllis Logan (Elsie Hughes), 7 Elizabeth McGovern (Lady Grantham), 8 Hugh Bonneville (Lord Grantham), 9 Imelda Staunton (Lady Bagshaw), Michael C Fox (Andrew Parker), 11 Tuppence Middleton (Lucy), 12 Allen Leech (Tom Branson), 13 Penelope Wilton (Isobel Crawley), 14 Lesley Nicol (Beryl Patmore), 15 Rob James-Collier (Thomas Barrow), 16 Harry Hadden-Paton (Herbert Pelham), 17 Laura Carmichael (Lady Edith Pelham), 18 Maggie Smith (Dowager Countess of Grantham), 19 Michelle Dockery (Lady Mary Talbot), 20 Matthew Goode (Henry Talbot), 21 The Downton dog – but is it Tiaa?