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Matthew Goode confirms he’s not in the final Downton Abbey movie

Information from Radio Times – 19th May 2025 [Extract]

Downton Abbey’s Matthew Goode confirms he’s not in final movie – and reveals why it might be for the best

We won’t be seeing Henry Talbot in the third Downton Abbey film.

Matthew Goode in Dept Q
Justin Downing/Netflix
Published: Monday, 19 May 2025 at 9:00 pm

 

Matthew Goode has confirmed that he won’t be in the anticipated third Downton Abbey film, The Grand Finale, adding that it’s probably a “good thing” his character Henry Talbot won’t be anywhere to be seen.

Speaking to Radio Times magazine in next week’s issue ahead of the release of Netflix’s Department Q, the actor was asked why he wasn’t in the second film and isn’t billed as being in the third.

He revealed: “I was unavailable for the second because I was doing The Offer. Then [for the third] I was shooting this. But I also buggered my knee, and I had to have an operation.

“That takes weeks to get over, so I was never going to be able to do it. And let’s face it, he was edging towards becoming a bit of a wet lettuce. So maybe it’s a good thing.”

Goode had starred in the original Downton Abbey TV series through seasons 5 and 6, going on to star in the first film in 2019.

Throughout his time in the franchise, he married Mary (Michelle Dockery) and the pair had their happily-ever-after – but we’re left to fill that in for ourselves, seeing as Goode hasn’t featured in the most recent film.

The Downton Abbey 3 poster, showing a character wearing a red dress walking down a fancy hallway
Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale. BBC

Goode is set to star as Detective Chief Inspector Carl Morck in Scottish crime drama Department Q on Netflix.

Based on the series of 10 novels by Danish author Jussi Adler-Olsen, the synopsis for the new drama reads: “DCI Carl Morck is a brilliant cop but a terrible colleague.

“His razor-sharp sarcasm has made him no friends in Edinburgh police. After a shooting that leaves a young pc dead, and his partner paralysed, he finds himself exiled to the basement and the sole member of Department Q; a newly formed cold case unit.”

It continues: “The department is a PR stunt, there to distract the public from the failures of an under-resourced, failing police force that is glad to see the back of him. But more by accident than design, Carl starts to build a gang of waifs and strays who have everything to prove.

“So, when the stone-cold trail of a prominent civil servant who disappeared several years ago starts to heat up, Carl is back doing what he does best – rattling cages and refusing to take no for an answer.”