Downton Abbey: A New Era (2022)

In 1928, Tom Branson, the Earl of Grantham’s widowed son-in-law, marries Lucy Smith, the illegitimate daughter of and sole heir to Lady Maud Bagshaw, Queen Mary’s lady-in-waiting. Violet Crawley, the Dowager Countess of Grantham, astonishes the family by revealing that long ago she was gifted a villa in the South of France by the Marquis de Montmirail, who has recently passed away. She is leaving it to her great-granddaughter, Sybbie, Tom’s daughter with the late Lady Sybil Crawley, to ensure that she has a more equal social and financial standing to her cousins. A film production company wants to use Downton to shoot a silent film called “The Gambler”. Robert declines, until his eldest daughter and estate manager, Lady Mary Talbot, convinces him that the fee would be enough to replace Downton’s leaking roof. The household staff are eager to see the film stars, but lead actress Myrna Dalgliesh’s haughtiness offends them.

The new marquis invites the family to visit the villa. The ailing Violet is unable to travel, but Tom and Lucy, Lady Bagshaw, Robert Crawley and his wife Cora, and their daughter Edith (the Marchioness of Hexham) and her husband, Bertie Pelham (the Marquess of Hexham), accept. Lady Mary remains at Downton to oversee the filming. Montmirail welcomes the family to the villa. His mother wants to contest Violet Crawley’s ownership. However, the family lawyer states that there is no basis for a claim and so the villa is legally Violet’s. The marquis speaks privately with Robert and stuns him by implying that Robert’s birth date, nine months after the Dowager Countess visited in 1864, could mean they are half-brothers. That night, Cora reveals to Robert she may be fatally ill. Robert breaks down at the prospect of losing his mother, the Crawley name, and his wife in short succession.