The band is back together: Second Downton Abbey movie coming this December!!

Visiting Highclere (aka "the real Downton Abbey) with Rachel (foreground) in 2015

Officially announced this week through various news outlets, including the blog of the current countess of  Highclere Castle (aka "the real Downton Abbey"), Lady Carnarvon, the production has begun on the sequel to the 2019 Downton Abbey movie.  To those of us DA-devotees, this is tonic in a year-plus of quarantine. 

As quoted in Variety, producer Gareth Neame sums it up well:  "After a very challenging year with so many of us separated from family and friends, it is a huge comfort to think that better times are ahead and that next Christmas we will be re-united with the much beloved characters of Downton Abbey." 

Just a sample of our Downton Abbey collecton

The sequel to Downton Abbey will bring together familiar faces and a few new ones, including Hugh Dancy (for Janeites, you may recall that attractive lad from the 2007 movie, "The Jane Austen Book Club"). 

Julian Fellowes, creator of Downton Abbey, will once again write the screenplay. As Neame told Variety in an interview from 2019, Fellowes was planning on starting the sequel once he completed  "The Gilded Age" (a new series on HBO also expected out this year - and YES! BTS will be revving up its Gilded Age tea talks, too!).

Downton Abbey Exhibit in Delaware, 2014

In anticipation of the Downton Abbey movie, we've gathered up memories and mementos of our DA-focused  trips. With daughter and BTS partner, Rachel, our first DA-themed getaway was in 2014 to Delaware for one of the first Downton Abbey exhibits. That same weekend (and, by the way, we do know what that is!), we met up with author, Jessica Fellowes, writer of the DA companion books and niece of Julian. We got a lot of fun inside tales from Jessica.

Meeting Downton Abbey companion book author, niece of Julian Fellowes, Jessica Followes

The following year, Rachel and I made the trek to Highclere Castle and Bampton Village, the movie sites of the Downton Abbey home and village, respectively.  (and yes, we had tea while there and, of course, brought back the souvenir cup.)

Tea at Highclere

Bampton Village

I also had the great pleasure of interviewing Lady Carnarvon for an article featured in TeaTime Magazine. 

Downton Abbey article for TeaTime

In addition, this captivating series launched six years of Downton Abbey tea talks and events for BTS.  We are happy to announce, we're already scheduled for another one in December to coincide with the Downton Abbey movie release. (Hint: it's one of our favorite venues.)  More details to come, so stay tuned!

As Lady Carnarvon noted in her blog this week, it is a bit of relief - now that the official announcement of the second movie is out - to no longer be worried about "let[ting] the news of the film slip out inadvertently".  She, too, is filled with excitement and comfort, comparing the arrival of cast and crew on the grounds of Highclere to a feeling from her youth when returning to school at the start of a new term. It's  a mix of "apprehension allied to the welcome feeling of a familiar structure to the day."

More Downton Abbey tea talks this year!

DA fun at favorite venues

The band of the Crawley clan, from upstairs to downstairs, will be back together again and we can't wait.  We're polishing the tiara and counting down the days!

With tiara and tea, waiting for the next Downton Abbey move

The Downton Abbey sequel is scheduled to be released December 22nd. Keep checking back to here for updates on DA-2021 events!