‘Downton Abbey: A New Era’ poster confirms who’s back – and a surprise absence!

An official new poster has been released for the upcoming Downton Abbey sequel.

And the lavish Art Deco-style artwork has revealed a few surprises about the movie!

A continuation of ITV’s hit period drama series, Downton Abbey: A New Era follows the success of 2019’s first Downton film.

The second big screen outing for the Crawley family started filming earlier this year, with strict Covid safety measures in place.

It was originally set to arrive in cinemas next month, but the release date has unfortunately been delayed by several months.

Downton Abbey: A New Era will now be out worldwide on Friday 18th March 2022.

We were treated to the first trailer for the movie earlier this week, giving fans a glimpse of what to expect next Spring.

A beautiful new poster has also been unveiled, listing the main characters who’ll be appearing.

Taking a closer look, however, suggests that not everyone will be back…

One particularly notable absence is Henry Talbot, played by Matthew Goode.

Best known for his roles in The Crown and The Imitation Game, the 43-year-old English actor has been hard at work filming the third season of A Discovery of Witches, so it’s possible that he was unable to fit in the Downton filming due to his busy schedule.

There’s no sign of Goode in the trailer either.

Introduced as the nephew of Lady Shackleton, Henry married Lady Mary in the show’s final season, later fathering a daughter with Mary, named Caroline.

Henry Talbot only very briefly appeared in the first Downton Abbey movie – could there be more romantic drama ahead for eldest Crawley sister?

Or perhaps a marriage where she never has to see her husband is the perfect arrangement for Lady Mary!

Other developments hinted at in the poster include not one but two marriages!

Daisy Mason (née Robinson) now appears under the name of Daisy Parker, suggesting that footman Andy Parker and Daisy are now husband and wife.

Following her romance with Tom Branson in the first movie, Lucy Smith is now credited as Lucy Branson, with Tuppence Middleton reprising her role as the secret illegitimate daughter of Maud Bagshaw.

However, the trailer reveals that like we’ll definitely be seeing this wedding on screen.

It looks like Mr Molesley still hasn’t popped the question to Miss Baxter though.

We’ll find out more in a few months time!

Here’s our complete list of all the new British period drama movies coming in 2022.

Downton Abbey: The Complete Collection box set is available on DVD on Amazon.