The third and second installments of "Downton Abbey" are about to return with the movie "The End"

Downton Abbey is set to return for its third and final big-screen chapter, according to The Crown 's Imelda Staunton. The actor, who played Queen Mary's lady-in-waiting Maud Bagshaw in the first two films, revealed on BBC Radio 2 that "there will be a final film".

"That's it," she told host Zoe Ball, who responded, "Wow, that's really big. I hope we didn't get you in trouble." Staunton quipped: "I don't care."

On March 21, "Downton Abbey" co-star Michelle Dockery, who plays Lady Mary Crawley, responded to the news on BBC Radio 6. You’d have to ask Julian,” she said, referring to show creator Julian Fellowes.

Fellows has previously spoken about the possibility of another movie, though never as specifically as Staunton. "You never know if you're going to need more," he told Radio Times in 2022. "People talk about stage plays and more movies, but I think I'll know if there's a strong demand and if that's the demand people want, then I'm not going to fight it."

"Downton Abbey" actors Laura Carmichael, Elizabeth McGovern and Michelle Dockery. Samir Hussain/WireImage/Getty Images

The original "Downton Abbey" TV series aired for six seasons from 2010 to 2015. The show has spawned two big-screen adaptations, 2019's "Downton Abbey" and 2022's "Downton Abbey: A New Age," which grossed a total of $287 million at the global box office.

The Sun reports that production on the third and final film will begin in the summer of 2024. As for the cast and plot, the sequel will reportedly be set in the late 1920s, with Oscar nominee Paul Giamatti ( Watchmen ) reportedly set to reprise his role as Harold Levinson from the 2013 Downton Abbey Christmas special (Harold Levinson) character.