Downton Abbey 3 title and first look at heartbreaking finale with release date

Three years on from Downton Abbey: A New Era and the third and (yes, it’s now heartbreakingly confirmed) final film is almost here.

Downton Abbey 3 will be the first outing of the period drama without Dame Maggie Smith, following the death of her character (and her own) since the second movie.

Nevertheless, the rest of the original cast are returning, including Paul Giamatti, who is reprising his role as Cora’s brother Harold Levinson a decade on.

And now Universal has shared the title and first-look poster of the long-awaited threequel.

Downton Abbey 3 is called Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale and features the tagline: “The time has come to say goodbye”. Set for release in cinemas on September 12, the poster depicts Michelle Dockery’s Lady Mary Crawley walking through a corridor of Highclere Castle, where the period drama is filmed. This may be the end for now, but give it a few years (or even decades) and we bet we’ll be getting more set during World War 2.