“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.

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.”