Downton Abbey Cast: Where Are They Now?
Transport yourself back to the world of Downton Abbey by catching up with the cast and what they’ve been up to since the series finale, from award-winning TV series to hit films, music, and even a venture into the world of children’s books.
- 1.
Michelle Dockery
After her years playing the respectable Lady Mary Crawley on television, Michelle Dockery moved on to roles very different from her ladyship, including con artist Letty Raines in the TV series Good Behavior, a hardened widow in the Western series Godless, and more series, including Defending Jacob, and even the children series Amphibia. She’s also appeared in films other than the Downton Abbey films, such as The Gentlemen (which also featured All Creatures Great and Small‘s very own Samuel West!), and more.
- 2.
Laura Carmichael
After Lady Edith’s happy ending with Bertie (and, of course, Marigold), Laura Carmichael went on to star in The Secrets She Keeps, TV detective series Marcella, as well as series such the Catherine of Aragon inspired series The Spanish Princess as Margaret Pole, the Countess of Salisbury, who was eventually ordered to be executed by King Henry VIII. Additionally, MASTERPIECE fans may have also recognized her in 2018’s Man in an Orange Shirt.
- 3.
Hugh Bonneville
Good news for MASTERPIECE fans: Hugh Bonneville will be returning to your Sunday night schedules in The Gold, premiering on Sunday, October 5, 2025 at 10/9c. And not only is one season coming your way — but two!
Post Downton Abbey, Bonneville has been hard at work, voicing Merlin on the children’s series Thomas & Friends (including various Thomas specials), as well as working on the Disney children’s series Sofia the First, starring in the hit Paddington films (Paddington, Paddington 2, and Paddington in Peru) as Mr. Brown, and in TV series such as Galavant (with Downton Abbey co-star Sophie McShera), W1A, and The Agency: Central Intelligence. In October 2025, Bonneville’s first ever children’s book. titled Rory Sparkes and the Elephant in the Room, hits shelves.
Bonneville and fellow Downton Abbey castmate Michelle Dockery admitted to the Los Angeles Times that it finally struck them that Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale, truly is the end. “Michelle and I squeezed each other’s hands as we watched the final frames of the movie…It really did feel like the end, that time,” Bonneville said in the interview.
“It did,” Dockery agreed. “And we’ve had a lot of endings. With the series, it felt like we didn’t really know where it would go beyond that. It felt quite definitive at the time. And even after the first film there was no guarantee there was going to be a second. But this one does feel like the goodbye.”
- 4.
Elizabeth McGovern
In her days after Downton Abbey, Elizabeth McGovern went on to work with Downton writer Julian Fellowes on MASTERPIECE Films’ first theatrical release, called The Chaperone, which tells the story of young 1920s silent film star Louise Brooks and her chaperone (McGovern). In addition to The Chaperone, McGovern appeared in the 2018 Liam Neeson film The Commuter, the television adaptation of H.G. Wells’ classic War of the Worlds, and in the 2024 film And Mrs, alongside other familiar MASTERPIECE faces Aisling Bea (Alice and Jack) and Harriet Walter (Wolf Hall).
On top of her on-screen talents, McGovern released a solo album titled The Truth in 2019. (Joining her on the album: acclaimed actor Samuel L. Jackson!) Later, in 2025, McGovern and her band, Sadie and the Hotheads, released a new album (“Let’s Stop Fighting”) for the first time in nearly a decade.
- 5.
Allen Leech
Allen Leech, long known as Downton Abbey’s resident chauffeur turned gentleman Tom Branson, went on to appear in the TV crime drama series Bellevue, and other series such as Too Good to Be True, and The Vanishing Triangle. Leech also appeared in the Academy Award winning 2018 film Bohemian Rhapsody as Freddie Mercury’s former personal assistant (and former lover) Paul Prenter.
- 6.
Maggie Smith
After a six season run as the Dowager Countess, and a lifetime of iconic roles marked by more than fifty awards (including an Academy Award, an Emmy Award and a Tony Award), Maggie Smith continued appearing on screens everywhere. In 2015, she starred in a film version of The Lady in the Van. (Fifteen years earlier, Smith had been nominated for an Olivier Award, a prestigious London theater award, for her work in the play.)
Smith — a legend on stage and on screen — passed away in 2024 at the age of 89. One of her final performances was as Lady Violet Crawley in Downton Abbey: A New Era (the second of the three Downton Abbey films).
“I felt her spirit was there, and we were always referencing her,” Elizabeth McGovern told PEOPLE, referring to filming the final Downton Abbey film without Smith.
- 7.
Penelope Wilton
Wilton, after starring as kind-hearted cousin Isobel Crawley, went on to star in the 2018 film The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society with Downton Abbey costars Lily James, Matthew Goode and Jessica Brown Findlay. She also appeared in the hit film The BFG, in 2017’s Zoo, and more, such as Eternal Beauty and Summerland. Most recently, Wilton has appeared in the television series Murder is Easy and Dead Hot.
- 8.
Phyllis Logan & Jim Carter
After their years portraying Downton Abbey’s household staff leaders Mr. Carson and Mrs. Hughes, who eventually found their own slices of happiness together, Jim Carter and Phyllis Logan continued on to roles on the big screen, TV screens and beyond.
Carter appeared in a TV original production of King Lear as the Earl of Kent, starring alongside Emma Thompson, Anthony Hopkins and Jim Broadbent, as well as in 2023’s Wonka, and The Good Liar, alongside Helen Mirren and Ian McKellen.
In 2025, Logan played the role of Mrs. Austen, mother to Jane and Cassandra Austen, in the MASTERPIECE series Miss Austen (which also featured Downton Abbey‘s Rose Leslie and The Durrells in Corfu star Keeley Hawes). She’s also appeared in TV series such as Doctor Who, Girlfriends, and MASTERPIECE Mystery!’s Scottish mystery Guilt. The familiar MASTERPIECE face has also appeared in films such as Misbehaviour and The Last Bus (also featuring Wolf Hall star Timothy Spall).
- 9.
Lesley Nicol
After hanging up her apron as Mrs. Patmore, Lesley Nicol went on to appear in a number of children’s programs including Sarah & Duck and Goldie and Bear. MASTERPIECE fans may also remember her role in Beecham House, starring Tom Bateman and Leo Suter (Sanditon), a six-part drama which told the story of a former British soldier (Bateman) who purchased a mansion in 19th century Delhi to begin a new life with his family (including Nicol, who starred as his meddling mother), as well as in the BAFTA Award-winning series Mr Bates vs The Post Office.
- 10.
Matthew Goode
After Matthew Goode’s Henry Talbot went on to marry Lady Mary and begin their life together at the end of Downton Abbey, Goode went on to star in series including Dept. Q, The Crown as Princess Margaret’s first husband Tony Armstrong-Jones, A Discovery of Witches, and The Offer. Goode has also appeared in films such as The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society (alongside Downton Abbey costars Lily James and Penelope Wilton) and Official Secrets (which also featured Conleth Hill, star of Magpie Murders and Moonflower Murders, as well as Poldark’s Jack Farthing).
- 11.
Joanne Froggatt & Brendan Coyle
Since making our hearts race as beloved couple Anna and Mr. Bates, actors Joanne Froggatt and Brendan Coyle have both appeared in a number of hit films and series. Coyle went on to appear in the Academy Award nominated Mary Queen of Scots, starring Saoirse Ronan and Margot Robbie, in the romantic film Me Before You, starring Sam Claflin and Emilia Clarke, as well as in the sci-fi series 12 Monkeys.
Meanwhile, Froggatt has appeared in a number of series, such as the crime drama MobLand, starring Tom Hardy, Pierce Brosnan, and Helen Mirren, and others such as Liar, and The Commons. MASTERPIECE fans may also remember spotting her in Dark Angel as real-life Victorian poisoner Mary Ann Cotton. She has also lent her vocal talents to the beloved children’s series Bob the Builder.
- 12.
Sophie McShera
After her days working in Downton’s kitchen side-by-side with Lesley Nicol’s Mrs. Patmore, Sophie McShera went on to appear in Disney’s live-action remake of Cinderella (starring Downton Abbey costar Lily James), as well as in TV series such as The Queen’s Gambit (starring The Miniaturist‘s Anya Taylor-Joy), Galavant (with Downton Abbey costar Hugh Bonneville), and Murdoch Mysteries, and in films such as The Personal History of David Copperfield.
- 13.
Robert James-Collier
After his days scheming as Thomas Barrow, Robert James-Collier appeared in a number of TV series, including Ackley Bridge, Generation Z, The Inheritance, and Fate: The Winx Saga, as well as film appearances including The Ritual and A Christmas Star.
- 14.
Kevin Doyle
Once his days as the lovable Mr. Molesley came to end, Kevin Doyle went on to appear in television series such as Sherwood (with Magpie Murders, Moonflower Murders, and World on Fire star Lesley Manville), Death in Paradise, Doc Martin, Paranoid and Happy Valley (starring former Downton Abbey costar Siobhan Finneran and Grantchester star James Norton).
- 15.
Harry Hadden-Paton
After his days on Downton Abbey as Edith’s love (and now husband!) Bertie Pelham, Harry Hadden-Paton went on to play Martin Charteris (Baron Charteris of Amisfield) in The Crown, as well as TV series including Wallander and Versailles. On the big screen, Hadden-Paton has also appeared in films such as 2024’s Twisters as journalist Ben,
