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The first Downton Abbey film was a crowd-pleaser. However, some characters didn’t get as much of the cinematic spotlight shined on them, and creator Julian Fellowes admits it. He says he didn’t give two characters enough of their own subplot in the first film. So, he ramped up their stories in Downton Abbey: A New Era.

[Warning: This article contains spoilers from Downton Abbey: A New Era.]

Harry Hadden-Paton as Bertie Pelham, Laura Carmichael as Lady Edith, Tuppence Middleton as Lucy Smith, and Allen Leech as Tom Branson in 'Downton Abbey: A New Era.'
Harry Hadden-Paton as Bertie Pelham, Laura Carmichael as Lady Edith, Tuppence Middleton as Lucy Smith, and Allen Leech as Tom Branson in ‘Downton Abbey: A New Era’ | Ben Blackall /Focus Features LLC

‘Downton Abbey: A New Era’ has many subplots

Fans loved the first Downton Abbey film. While the show was famous for its many subplots upstairs and downstairs, the film sprinkled in the stories of some new royal faces. The King and Queen came to Downton, and it was all hands on deck.

By the end, everyone’s story wrapped up nicely. However, there were some unanswered questions, some characters didn’t get as much screentime, and there was room for a sequel, which creator Julian Fellowes capitalized on.

Fellowes added many surprises in Downton Abbey: A New Era. The first film could have been a long series finale. However, the second film truly reaches cinematic proportions and lives up to its title. This is not the Downton Abbey we first saw in 2011. Downton has entered the modern era.

The film touches on every character’s story, making for even more subplots. However, there are two major subplots.

To raise money to fix Downton’s roof, Mary agrees to let a film crew make a silent movie in the house. Meanwhile, Lady Violet notifies the family that a deceased French Marquis has left her a villa.

She decides to give it to Sibby, but no one can determine why the Marquis gave it to Lady Violet. While Robert, Cora, Edith, Bertie, Tom, Lucy, Maud, and Mr. Carson travel to the villa, Mary stays home to oversee the film’s production.

Creator Julian Fellowes said he gave two characters in ‘Downton Abbey: A New Era’ bigger subplots

There are tons of characters in Downton Abbey. A show allows for multiple character subplots. However, a film has less time to touch on all those stories. So, Fellowes admits it was hard squeezing in all of the character’s subplots in the first Downton Abbey film, and as a result, some characters got lost in the story.

When Fellowes started the script for Downton Abbey: A New Era, though, he set out to rectify that. Fellowes felt two of the characters did not get as substantial a story as the rest, the Earl and Countess Grantham. Other than making sure the King and Queen’s visit ran smoothly, Robert and Cora didn’t have much story in the first film.

“With Cora and Robert, who both have quite emotional storylines this time,” Fellowes told CinemeBlend. “I felt that in the earlier film, although they were in it a lot, they were on-screen but they didn’t have their own particular emotional journey.

“And so I did want to give them both something with sort of meat on the bones for them to get their teeth into. So that was conscious.”

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The Earl and Countess got some of the best subplots in the new film

In Downton Abbey: A New Era, the Earl and Countess Grantham entered murky waters.

Robert is thrust into turmoil when the Marquis tells him he suspects their brothers. Lady Violet spent time with the deceased Marquis nine months before Robert was born, so the Earl starts thinking it might be true.

He thinks he’s been a fraud his whole life, and then Cora tells him she’s ill. She had been alluding to some illness plaguing her since the family arrived at the villa. Then, Robert starts to panic. His life had begun to feel like a lie already. Now his wife is ill, and his mother is dying. We saw an uncharacteristic vulnerability in Robert in that scene.

Thankfully, Robert is his father’s son, and Cora isn’t terminally ill. When they arrive back at Downton, all is right until Lady Violet dies around her family after a few hilarious wisecracks.

The Earl and Countess’ story in Downton Abbey: A New Era definitely had more meat this time. Either way, the movie ticks all the boxes. Hopefully, there’s room for a third film because fans can’t get enough of the characters in Downton Abbey.

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