Do you miss watching your favorite Downton Abbey characters?
We can help. Many of Downton’s actors have been in costume dramas before (and after!) Downton Abbey. Here are suggestions of period movies and television mini-series to watch after Downton, all based on the cast members and creator of the PBS Masterpiece period drama that stole our hearts.
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The first list is made up of all the historical / costume / period dramas the cast of Downton Abbey have appeared in (as of January 2018).
The second list contains information about period dramas with two or more Downton cast members, and has an infographic you can enlarge to see how cast of the movies and series connect.
It didn’t make the infographic in time, but now there’s news that Lily James, Penelope Wilton, Jessica Brown Findlay and Matthew Goode will all appear in the upcoming The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society which is based on the New York Times Bestseller.
The third list is composed of the other period dramas that Downton’s creator Julian Fellowes has been involved with (as of January 2018).
Below is the list of the costume dramas, period television movies and mini-series in which the stars of Downton Abbey have appeared – from bit parts to starring roles. There are some historical docudramas and period comedies in here as well. When possible, the titles are linked to where you can stream the costume drama online, watch trailers, and/or buy the DVD. You’ll find some rare, obscure, out-of-print titles here too.
Some of these films were only released in the UK, so you’ll need a good, affordable multi-region DVD player like this one to watch the PAL/Region 2 discs. It is guaranteed to play both PAL/NTSC DVDs from any Country or any Region 0-6. For any period drama lover who is building a DVD library of their own, it seems well worth the $40.00 or so to be able to watch all these gems.
Hugh Bonneville (Robert Crawley, Earl of Grantham)
Mansfield Park (1999), Madame Bovary (2000) BBC, The Cazalets (2001), Doctor Zhivago (2002), Daniel Deronda (2002), Stage Beauty (2004), Beau Brummell: This Charming Man (2006), Miss Austen Regrets (2008), Lost in Austen (2008), From Time to Time (2009), The Hollow Crown: The Wars of the Roses (2016), Viceroy’s House (2017), Breathe (2017)
Elizabeth McGovern (Cora Crawley, Countess of Grantham)
Ragtime (1981), The Wings of the Dove (1997), The Scarlet Pimpernel (1999), The House of Mirth (2000), Daphne (2007) BBC, A Room with a View (2007), Cheerful Weather for the Wedding (2012), Woman in Gold (2015), The Chaperone (2018)
Maggie Smith (Violet Crawley, Dowager Countess of Grantham)
Othello (1965), Much Ado About Nothing (1967), Oh! What a Lovely War (1969), Travels with my Aunt (1972), The Millionairess (1972) BBC, Death on the Nile (1978), Evil Under the Sun (1982), The Missionary (1982), A Private Function (1984), A Room with a View (1985), The Lonely Passion of Judith Hearne (1987), The Secret Garden (1993), Richard III (1995), Washington Square (1997), Tea with Mussolini (1999), The Last September (1999), All the King’s Men (1999) BBC, David Copperfield (1999) BBC, Gosford Park (2001), Ladies in Lavender (2004), Capturing Mary (2007) BBC, Becoming Jane (2007), From Time to Time (2009)
Michelle Dockery (Lady Mary Crawley)
Fingersmith (2005) BBC, The Courageous Heart of Irena Sendler (2009), Return to Cranford (2009) BBC, The Turn of the Screw (2009) BBC, The Hollow Crown (2012) BBC, Anna Karenina (2012), Restless (2012) BBC, Godless (2017)
Dan Stevens (Matthew Crawley)
Frankenstein (2004), The Line of Beauty (2006) BBC, Dracula (2006) BBC, Marple: Nemesis (2007), Sense & Sensibility (2007) BBC, The Turn of the Screw (2009) BBC, Summer in February (2013), Beauty and the Beast (2017), The Man Who Invented Christmas (2017)
Matthew Goode (Henry Talbot)
South from Granada (2003), He Knew He Was Right (2004) BBC, Marple: A Murder is Announced (2005) BBC, My Family and Other Animals (2005) BBC, Copying Beethoven (2006), Brideshead Revisited (2008), Birdsong (2012), Dancing on the Edge (2013), Belle (2013), Death Comes to Pemberley (2013), The Imitation Game (2014), Roots (2016), Allied (2016), The Crown (2017), The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society (2018)
Laura Carmichael (Lady Edith Crawley)
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (2011), Madame Bovary (2014), A United Kingdom (2016), Man in an Orange Shirt (2017)
Penelope Wilton (Isobel Crawley)
Country Matters (1972), The French Lieutenant’s Woman (1981), Othello (1981) BBC, King Lear (1982) BBC, The Monocled Mutineer (1986) BBC, Carrington (1995), Wives and Daughters (1999) BBC, Victoria & Albert (2001) BBC, Pride & Prejudice (2005), Marple: They Do it with Mirrors (2009), South Riding (2011) BBC, Belle (2013), Zoo (2018), The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society (2018)
Samantha Bond (Lady Rosamund Painswick)
Mansfield Park (1983) BBC, Miss Marple: A Murder Is Announced (1985) BBC, Rumpole of the Bailey (1987), The Ginger Tree (1989), Emma (1996), Fanny Hill (2007), Lark Rise to Candleford (2009) BBC, The Queen (2009), Agatha Christie’s Marple: Why Didn’t They Ask Evans (2009), Home Fires (2015), Murdoch Mysteries (2016)
Jessica Brown Findlay (Lady Sybil Crawley)
Labyrinth (2012), Jamaica Inn (2014), The Outcast (2015), Victor Frankenstein (2015), Harlots (2017), The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society (2018)
Lily James (Lady Rose MacClare)
Cinderella (2015), Pride and Prejudice and Zombies (2016), War & Peace (2016), The Exception (2016), Darkest Hour (2017), The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society (2018)
Allen Leech (Tom Branson)
Benedict Arnold: A Question of Honor (2003), Rome (2007), From Time to Time (2009), The Tudors (2010), The Imitation Game (2014)
David Robb (Dr. Clarkson)
Villette (1970), Conduct Unbecoming (1975), The Glittering Prizes (1976) BBC, Romeo and Juliet (1976), I, Claudius (1976) BBC, The Cedar Tree (1976), The Standard (1977), The Four Feathers (1978), Wuthering Heights (1978) BBC, The Legend of King Arthur (1979), Hamlet, Prince of Denmark (1980), The Flame Trees of Thika (1981), Ivanhoe (1982), Morte d’Arthur (1984), The Last Days of Pompeii (1984), Wallenberg: A Hero’s Story (1985), First Among Equals (1986), The Deceivers (1988), Parnell & the Englishwoman (1988), Behind the Lines (1997), Elizabeth: The Golden Age (2007), Roman Mysteries (2007), Sharpe’s Peril (2008) BBC, The Young Victoria (2009), From Time to Time (2009), Garrow’s Law (2009), Wolf Hall (2015), Against the Law (2017)
Harry Hadden-Paton (Bertie Pelham)
The Hollow Crown (2012) BBC, Versailles (2017), The Crown (2017)
Jim Carter (Charles Carson)
A Private Function (1984), The Monocled Mutineer (1986), Lost Empires (1986), A Month in the Country (1987), The Tenth Man (1988), Christabel (1988) BBC, The Rainbow (1989), Precious Bane (1989), The Fool (1990), Stalin (1992), A Dangerous Man: Lawrence After Arabia (1992), Lipstick on Your Collar (1993), The Advocate (1993), The Madness of King George (1994), Richard III (1995), A Merry War (1997), Ain’t Misbehavin’ (1997), Shakespeare in Love (1998), Legionnaire (1998), The Scarlet Pimpernel (2000), The Way We Live Now (2001) BBC, Hornblower: Duty (2003), Helen of Troy (2003), Bright Young Things (2003), Pompeii: The Last Day (2003), Von Trapped! (2004), Modigliani (2004), The Secret Life of Mrs. Beeton (2006), Burlesque Fairytales (2009), Creation (2009), Cranford (2007) BBC, My Week with Marilyn (2011), Return to Cranford (2009) BBC, Knightfall (2017), King Lear (2018)
Phyllis Logan (Mrs. Hughes)
The White Bird Passes (1980), Another Time, Another Place (1983), The Doctor and the Devils (1985), The Inquiry (1987), The Kitchen Toto (1987), And a Nightingale Sang (1989), Silent Cries (1993), All the King’s Men (1999) BBC, Uncovering the Real Dickens (2002) BBC, The Real Jane Austen (2002) BBC, Poirot: Sad Cypress (2003), The Royal (2008)
Brendan Coyle (John Bates)
The Glass Virgin (1995), Rebel Heart (2001) BBC, North & South (2004) BBC, Allegiance (2005), Lark Rise to Candleford (2008), The Raven (2012), Murdoch Mysteries: A Merry Murdoch Christmas (2015), The Rising: 1916 (2016), Mary Queen of Scots (2018)
Joanne Froggatt (Anna Bates)
Lorna Doone (2000) BBC, Island at War (2004), Robin Hood (2009) BBC, Dark Angel (2016), Mary Shelley (2018)
Lesley Nicol (Mrs. Patmore)
Black Adder II (1986) BBC, The Lion, the Witch, & the Wardrobe (1988) BBC, The Grand (1998), Marple: A Murder is Announced(2005) BBC
Sophie McShera (Daisy Mason)
Cinderella (2015), Galavant (2015), Timewasters (2017)
Kevin Doyle (Joseph Molesley)
Shine on Harvey Moon (1984), A Midsummer Night’s Dream (1996), The Libertine (2004), Foyle’s War (2007), The Royal (2007), Good (2008), The Tudors (2009), Room at the Top (2012), The Crimson Field (2014), A.D. The Bible Continues (2015)
Raquel Cassidy (Baxter)
Land Girls (2011), Cliffs of Freedom (2018)
Douglas Reith (Lord Merton)
An Englishman Abroad (1983) BBC, The Prince and the Pauper (1996), Elizabeth I (2005), The Queen’s Sister (2005), Ancient Rome: The Rise and Fall of an Empire (2006) BBC, Enid (2009), W.E. (2011), Outlander (2017)
Paul Copley (Mr. Mason)
Days of Hope (1975) BBC, A Bridge Too Far (1977), Secret Army (1977) BBC, Treasure Island (1977), A Christmas Carol (1977), Zulu Dawn (1979), Tenko (1984) BBC, Silas Marner (1985) BBC, War and Remembrance (1988), Wonderworks: Young Charlie Chaplin (1989), The Remains of the Day (1993), Jude (1996), Horatio Hornblower: The Duel (1998), Horatio Hornblower: The Fire Ship (1998), Horatio Hornblower: The Duchess and the Devil (1999), Horatio Hornblower: The Wrong War (1999), Hornblower: Mutiny / Retribution (2001), Hornblower: Duty (2003), Born and Bred (2004) BBC, The Shadow in the North (2007), The Royal (2011), The Sound of Music Live (2015), Call the Midwife (2016)
Siobhan Finneran (Sarah O’Brien)
The Royal (2006)
Rob James-Collier (Thomas Barrow)
Sorry, he hasn’t been in any other period dramas as far as I know!
Downton Abbey Cast Connections
There are some period dramas in which two or more stars of Downton have appeared together; or which were written by Julian Fellowes and have one or more Downton characters cast in their roles, as of April 2016. Click on the title of the film to see its availability on DVD, click Watch the TRAILER or Available to STREAM to watch the movie online.
For these films see the Willow and Thatch Downton Abbey Cast Connections info-graphic below, and read the key below for a full explanation. This was fun – and maddening – to figure out; if you like it, please share it! Click to enlarge.
Willow and Thatch Downton Abbey Cast Connections Key
Reading from top, clockwise
The Downton Connection: With Hugh Bonneville (Robert Crawley, Earl of Grantham), Maggie Smith (Violet Crawley, Dowager Countess of Grantham), David Robb (Dr. Clarkson), and Allen Leech (Tom Branson), brought to us by Julian Fellowes.
Shown on PBS Masterpiece Theatre.
The Downton Connection: With Maggie Smith (Violet Crawley, Dowager Countess of Grantham) and Phyllis Logan (Mrs. Hughes).
The Downton Connection: With Maggie Smith (Violet Crawley, Dowager Countess of Grantham), and Jim Carter (Charles Carson).
The Downton Connection: With David Robb (Dr. Clarkson), and brought to us by Julian Fellowes.
The Downton Connection: With Jim Carter (Charles Carson) and Paul Copley (Mr. Mason).
The Downton Connection: With Michelle Dockery (Lady Mary Crawley) and Harry Hadden-Paton (Bertie Pelham). Michelle Dockery plays Kate Percy in both episodes of Henry IV, Harry Hadden-Paton plays Sir Henry Green in one episode (Richard II).
Shown on PBS Masterpiece Theatre.
The Downton Connection: With Jim Carter (Charles Carson) who was also in Cranford (2007) and Michelle Dockery (Lady Mary Crawley).
The Downton Connection: With Michelle Dockery (Lady Mary Crawley) and Dan Stevens (Matthew Crawley).
The Downton Connection: With Samantha Bond (Lady Rosamund Painswick), and Brendan Coyle (John Bates).
The Downton Connection: With Lily James (Lady Rose MacClare) and Sophie McShera (Daisy Mason).
The Downton Connection: With Matthew Goode (Henry Talbot) and Penelope Wilton (Isobel Crawley).
The Downton Connection: With Matthew Goode (Henry Talbot) and Lesley Nicol (Mrs. Patmore).
The Downton Connection: With Maggie Smith (Violet Crawley, Dowager Countess of Grantham), brought to us by Julian Fellowes.
The Downton Connection: With Matthew Goode (Henry Talbot) and Allen Leech (Tom Branson).
Additionally, Matthew Goode and Michelle Dockery both appeared in The Sense of an Ending, which has flashbacks to the 1960s.
Harry Hadden-Paton and Matthew Goode both appear in The Crown.
Period Films & Television mini-series written / produced by Fellowes
Written and created by Academy Award-winner Julian Fellowes, Downton Abbey follows the Crawley family and their servants from pre-war England through the storms of World War I, and into the social upheaval of England in the Roaring 1920s as the lives of its inhabitants are shaped by romance, heartbreak, scandals, rumors, blackmail, and betrayal. Because you like the story-lines in Downton written by Julian Fellowes, which filled the television mini-series with the drama of the family dynamics, class issues and romance, here is a list of other costume dramas he penned or produced:
The tragic events that followed have captured imaginations for a century, not the least of which is that of award-winning writer Julian Fellowes (“Downton Abbey”), who has brought the story to life again in this miniseries. Events unfold through the points of view of those aboard, from first class to steerage, as the early jubilant mood turns dark and the passengers are shaken from their private worlds of secrets, love and resentment. The individual stories come together in a playing field leveled by disaster as everyone struggles to survive, leaving the lives of those involved forever changed.
Mary Thorne has grown up alongside the Gresham family, whose house, Greshamsbury Park, and status dominate the county. However Francis Gresham Senior has frittered away the family fortune and now his wife, Lady Arabella Gresham, their daughters Augusta and Beatrice, and their handsome brother Frank face losing their home. When the terrifying Lady Arabella Gresham discovers that her darling son, Frank, has fallen in love with Dr Thorne’s penniless niece, she is horrified. Her husband Gresham is only being kept afloat by very favourable loans that Dr Thorne has secured from a railway millionaire, Sir Roger Scatcherd. However, Sir Roger is drinking himself into an early grave and the family’s financial future lies with his unreliable son Louis Scatcherd.
Lady Arabella believes it is her son’s duty to make a rich marriage to save the family estate and launches a campaign to secure her son an heiress for a bride, aided by her scheming sister-in-law, the very grand Countess De Courcy.
If you enjoyed this post, you’ll want to wander over to The Period Films List: the best costume dramas, heritage films, documentaries, period dramas, romances, historical reality series and period inspired movies, sorted by era and theme. You may also be interested in More Manners of Downton Abbey. Be sure to see The Post-Downton Abbey Survival Guide.
And please share this post – it took ever so long to research, write and make lovely.
Downton Abbey is a British period drama television series created by Julian Fellowes. The series, set in the fictional Yorkshire country estate of Downton Abbey, depicts the lives of the aristocratic Crawley family and their servants in the Edwardian and post-Edwardian eras (1912 and 1925) —with the great events in history having an effect on their lives and on the British social hierarchy.
Short descriptions of the films are either the official synopses, and/or are from Amazon or IMDB.
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