Downton Abbey 3 is set to arrive in cinemas this September but with a glaring absence.

Dame Maggie Smith’s iconic Dowager, who co-starred in the award-winning period drama since the TV series began, was killed off at the end of the last film, Downton Abbey: A New Era.

Tragically, the actress has died since then. Nevertheless, executive producer Gareth Neale has teased how the threequel will pay tribute to the witty Lady Violet Crawley.

Speaking with TV Line, the Downton Abbey 3 producer shared: “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. 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.”

The producer added that the icon’s death is “the end of an era,” adding that “we will never see the like of Dame Maggie Smith ever again.” He teased that the Downton Abbey 3’s cast and crew’s “huge respect for her … will come across in, in the next movie.”

Downton Abbey 3 hits UK cinemas on September 12, 2025.