Matthew Goode Explains ‘Downton Abbey 3’ Absence

Following Henry Talbot’s absence from the latest Downton Abbey movie, Matthew Goode has confirmed he won’t be in the third installment either.

The Emmy nominee recently explained why he didn’t appear in Downton Abbey: A New Era (2022) after portraying Lady Mary Crawley’s (Michelle Dockery) love interest in the 2019 feature continuation of the British historical drama series, which ran for six seasons from 2010 to 2015 on ITV and PBS.

“I was unavailable for the second because I was doing The Offer. [For the third], I was shooting [Netflix’s Department Q],” he told Radio Times. “But I also buggered my knee, and I had to have an operation. That takes weeks to get over, so I was never going to be able to do it. And let’s face it, he was edging towards becoming a bit of a wet lettuce. So maybe it’s a good thing.”

Imelda Staunton, who played Queen Mary’s lady-in-waiting Lady Maud Bagshaw in the first two films, previously confirmed that a third and final installment is in the works.

“There will be the final film – there you go,” she said on BBC Radio 2 last March. The movie filmed at Highclere Castle over the summer and will premiere Sept. 12 in theaters.

After Maggie Smith, who played Violet Crawley, the Dowager Countess of Grantham, died at age 89 in September, executive producer Gareth Neame explained that the third film was made with the cast and creator’s “huge respect” for the late Oscar winner. The character previously died in A New Era.

“The fact that Dame Maggie herself has now passed away since that time, I do think, has given a real added poignancy to a story that we would have planned anyway,” said Neame. “The loss of the Dowager, it now feels far more significant that you see actors playing characters mourning the family matriarch. But I also see actors mourning the matriarch of the show, and it feels more genuine and more meaningful.”