Things at Downton are changing in DOWNTON ABBEY: A NEW ERA, the second movie following the PBS series. The year is 1927. Downton’s matriarch, Violet Grantham, calls a meeting with her lawyer and family. Apparently, Violet owns a villa in the South of France given to her by a male acquaintance she met for a week in the 1860s. Violet plans to leave it to Sybil Branson, her granddaughter, whose mother died and doesn’t have an inheritance at Downton. Violet’s news inspires her family to speculate who this man was to Violet.
Shortly after Violet’s announcement, Lady Mary Grantham receives a call that a film crew from London would like to use Downton as the location for their next film. After some reluctance, the family agrees. After all, the funds from the filming will help repair the...