In 1927, the Crawleys receive word that King George V and Queen Mary intend to visit Downton during their royal tour of Yorkshire, exciting both the family and the staff.

Bertie and Edith Pelham, Lord and Lady Hexham, arrive the day before the royal couple is due to visit.

Violet exchanges cold pleasantries with the queen's lady-in-waiting Maud, who is Robert's first cousin once removed and Tom meets her maid Lucy Smith.

Barrow and Ellis trick Mr Wilson, the Page of the Backstairs, into ordering some of the royal staff to return home to London early.

Anna slips a strong sedative into the tea of the royal chef, Monsieur Courbet, and Wilson himself is "accidentally" locked in his room.

Then the Downton staff, with the assistance of Mr Molesley and Albert, manage the dinner that marks the end of the royal visit.

A man at the pub invites Barrow to an underground gay nightclub, but shortly after their arrival there, police raid the venue and arrest the attendees.

Ellis, also a closeted gay man, soon learns what happened and uses his position in the royal household to get Barrow released from police custody.

The next morning, Henry returns home after travelling abroad and joins the Crawleys at Harewood House, along with the royal family.

Violet then begins plotting to keep Maud's estate in the Crawley family in the future through a union of Tom and Lucy, as she had taken notice of the pair's budding romance earlier.

As this conversation continues, Tom finds Lucy on the terrace and the two dance in the dark while listening to the music played inside at the ball.

[21][22] The plot of the film is based on an actual trip by the British royals to Wentworth Woodhouse in South Yorkshire in 1912 to demonstrate the importance of the monarchy.

[28] An August 2018 announcement indicated that newcomers Imelda Staunton, Geraldine James, Tuppence Middleton, Simon Jones, David Haig, Kate Phillips and Stephen Campbell Moore would be among the cast of the film.

[29] In September 2018, it was confirmed that Matthew Goode, Lady Mary's husband Henry Talbot in the final series, would appear only briefly due to other commitments,[30] while Jim Carter, Brendan Coyle, Kevin Doyle, Harry Hadden-Paton, Rob James-Collier, Allen Leech, Phyllis Logan, Sophie McShera, Lesley Nicol and Penelope Wilton were confirmed to be reprising their roles, with Max Brown joining in a new, undisclosed role.

[33] During the Ball scene, both Michelle Dockery and Elizabeth McGovern wore vintage dresses that were embellished with additional work.

While Michelle Dockery wears Swarovski crystals in her tiara, Maggie Smith's is a 19th-century platinum piece[33] from Bentley & Skinner of Piccadilly, jewellers by Royal appointment[34] with 16.5 carats of diamonds.

Smith's ball gown was found in a vintage shop in Paris and dye was used to alter the turquoise colour to lilac.

[47] Several weeks before its release in the United States, Fandango announced Downton Abbey's first day advance ticket sales were pacing ahead of all other adult dramas in 2019, including Once Upon a Time in Hollywood ($41.1 million debut that July).

The website's critics consensus reads: "Downton Abbey distills many of the ingredients that made the show an enduring favorite, welcoming fans back for a fittingly resplendent homecoming.

[55] In a more lukewarm reaction, Peter Bradshaw, writing for The Guardian, said: "The Downton Abbey movie is not as spectacularly star-studded as Gosford Park, but it's got its share of A-list talent, however: Maggie Smith, of course, as the dowager Countess of Grantham, Hugh Bonneville as Lord Grantham (absent-mindedly fondling his retriever at breakfast) – there's also Imelda Staunton in a new role and Jim Carter as the beetle-browed former butler Mr Carson.

[57] The cast and crew were featured in a short interview segment on PBS public television on 20 September 2019, as recognition of the influence which the film and related series have had on American popular culture.

[59] It was announced on 19 April 2021 that the sequel, titled Downton Abbey: A New Era, was already in production, with the entire cast set to return, alongside new arrivals Hugh Dancy, Laura Haddock, Nathalie Baye and Dominic West.