Glitz, Glamour & Grace Downton's Silver Screen Debut

STARS OF THE SHOW SERVE UP A FASHION MASTERCLASS.

The corsets, pantyhose and aprons have been put away, with brightly coloured ball gowns instead dominating the red carpet of Downton Abbey’s film premiere.

Leading the pack on a soggy London evening were the Crawley women – Elizabeth McGovern (58), Michelle Dockery (37) and Laura Carmichael (33) – with the rest of the film’s stars following closely behind, including Hugh Bonneville, Jim Carter (71), Imelda Staunton (63) and, of course, Dame Maggie Smith (84).

The cast of the film, now showing in Kiwi cinemas, larked about on the carpet in between signing autographs and chatting to waiting media, and were only too happy to spill even more secrets from behind the scenes – including the possibility of a sequel, already!

Hugh, who portrays Crawley patriarch Robert, Earl of Grantham, thought he’d be done with his aristocratic alter-ego, but says he can see another instalment in the not-too-distant future.

“When we started filming, I thought that this is going to be a nice full stop, but there is such an appetite for it I can see it carrying on. I’d never say never!

“As we looked around the room [when filming], there were grins of, ‘Can you believe we’re here again?’” the 55-year-old tells, adding that filming a movie didn’t feel much different to TV, just like “a bigger table”.