Entertainment

Downton Abbey prepares for royal visit in first full trailer for film

The cast returns for a big-screen adaptation of the lavish period drama.
The cast returns for a big-screen adaptation of the lavish period drama. The cast returns for a big-screen adaptation of the lavish period drama.

The first full trailer for the Downton Abbey film sees the characters getting ready for a royal visit from the King and Queen.

Set in 1927, the film adaptation of the popular ITV period drama sees the principal cast back for another lavish outing, including Hugh Bonneville, Michelle Dockery, Dame Maggie Smith, Joanne Froggatt, Jim Carter and Laura Carmichael.

The storyline continues after the series left off in the 2015 Christmas special, which took place in 1925.

The trailer shows the Crawley family and their servants preparing for the royal visit, which will include a luncheon, a parade and dinner.

There is much anxiety ahead of the event, with Lady Mary (Dockery) asking their beloved and now-retired butler Mr Carson (Carter) to return as she needs his help.

Lady’s maid Anna (Froggatt) is also seen trying to convince Lady Mary not to leave Downton Abbey, telling her the house is “the heart of this community, and you’re keeping it beating”.

There are glimpses of traditional goings-on in the household, with the servants flitting around preparing for the royal arrival.

Lady Edith (Carmichael) is seen with husband Bertie (Harry Hadden-Paton), and there are other familiar faces throughout the clip, including Tom Branson (Allen Leech), Isobel Crawley (Penelope Wilton), Mrs Hughes (Phyllis Logan) and Thomas Barrow (Robert James-Collier).

A comical moment comes when Dame Maggie’s Violet Crawley quips to Isobel: “Do you have enough cliches to get you through the visit?”

Isobel replies: “If not, I’ll come to you.”

The film, which will be released in cinemas on September 13, also includes new cast members Imelda Staunton – who is married to co-star Carter – and Tuppence Middleton.

The ITV drama’s creator Julian Fellowes wrote the screenplay and is also co-producing the feature.

The hit series followed the lives of the Crawley family and the servants who worked for them at the turn of the 20th century in an Edwardian English country home.