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Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale is the third and last film of the historical drama franchise by Julian Fellowes. The movie, released in September 2025, depicts the end of the Crawley family saga and thus, brings back most of the original cast. The film, directed by Simon Curtis and written by Fellowes, received positive reviews from critics and was a commercial success.It raked in more than $100 million globally. The shooting of Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale began in May 2024 and wrapped in August of the same year.Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale, like the previous parts of the series, deeply immerses the viewer in its time frame, with a strong focus on accurate representation, period details, and historic locations.Besides returning to some of the closest familiar places of the franchise for shooting, the team went to new locations to depict a story shift from the London high society to the ancestral home of the Crawleys.Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale was filmed at Highclere Castle (Hampshire), Ripon Racecourse (Yorkshire), Great Yorkshire Showground (Harrogate), Claydon House and more places. All filming locations of Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale explored View this post on Instagram Instagram PostA wide range of real-life spots across England were leveraged to dramatize Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale on screen. Highclere Castle in Hampshire, where the main filming took place and which once again doubles as the central setting for the Crawley family’s residence, is showcased to the fullest extent.To shoot the Royal Ascot scenes that are part of the story, the team went to Ripon Racecourse in Yorkshire. They used the historic race venue to reproduce the splendor and setting of the well-known horse racing event.Another important location in Yorkshire was the Great Yorkshire Showground in Harrogate, which was chosen as the filming site for the county show sequence in the film. With these scenes, the franchise continues its tradition of using the North of England as a setting for the rural aristocratic environment.The Petersfield Ball scenes were filmed at Claydon House in Buckinghamshire, a National Trust property that was selected for its size and the preserved interiors, thus providing the required atmosphere for the formal social gathering shown in the film.The Crawleys’ life in the capital during the early 1930s was portrayed through several London locations. Among the landmarks that were featured are Fortnum & Mason and the Piccadilly Arcade. These two places appear in scenes that are meant to show the Crawleys as being part of the upper-class London society.Besides, Bampton in Oxfordshire was again used as the location for the fictional village of Downton. The village, which has been the setting throughout the franchise, was employed for outdoor and street scenes that feature the main community spaces and the local interactions of the Crawleys.Read More: "Is it going to be called The Grand-Mummy?": Fans react after reports claim Brendan Fraser & Rachel Weisz will reunite for new Mummy movieWhat is Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale about and who stars in it?Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale (Image Via Focus Features)Set in 1930 London and later returning to the estate, Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale follows shifts within the Crawley family during a period of personal and financial pressure. In the beginning, fans see the majority of the family going to a play starring Guy Dexter and Noël Coward.The news of Lady Mary’s divorce comes to them fairly quickly, and it leads to a chain of reactions that influences the social ranking of the family.Once fans learn of the financial losses of Harold Levinson caused by his bad investments, his coming to the house of Cora becomes very important to the story.And when Gus Sambrook, the character who is his adviser, subsequently becomes the one whose personal involvement with Mary and business dealings creates new problems, the story takes a turn.Besides that, the plot also deals with different issues like the changes in the estate that have to be carried out, the evolution of the household staff, and the society’s expectations that are changing.Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale brought back the cast members who appeared in the previous movies and TV shows, like Hugh Bonneville, Michelle Dockery, Laura Carmichael, Elizabeth McGovern, Jim Carter, Phyllis Logan, Brendan Coyle, Sophie McShera, Lesley Nicol, and Penelope Wilton.Harold Levinson is played by Paul Giamatti once again, and Dominic West is back as Guy Dexter. Joely Richardson, Alessandro Nivola, Simon Russell Beale, and Arty Froushan are the new cast members.Apart from that, the film also has some archival cameo scenes from Maggie Smith, Dan Stevens, and Jessica Brown Findlay, which help to connect the final chapter with the previous ones.Read More: “Back to bit parts then?”- Netizens react as Meghan Markle is set to make acting comeback in new movie starring Lily Collins and Jack QuaidThe movie was released on September 12, 2025.
