'Downton Abbey 2' gets official title: 'A New Era'

The sequel to the Downton Abbey film has been given an official title.

Downton Abbey: A New Era will arrive in cinemas in March 2022, producers said.

The film had been set for a December 2021 release, and was produced under strict Covid-restrictions.

Dame Maggie Smith, Hugh Bonneville, Laura Carmichael, Jim Carter, Michelle Dockery and Elizabeth McGovern will all be reprising their roles.

And Hugh Dancy, Laura Haddock, Nathalie Baye and Dominic West are joining the cast.

A teaser for Downton Abbey: A New Era was shown at the CinemaCon event in Las Vegas, reportedly including a snippet of a wedding.

Read more: Maggie Smith had her own COVID-19 bubble during Downton Abbey 2

The hugely popular TV series aired on ITV from 2010 to 2015 and followed the fortunes of the aristocratic Crawley family and their downstairs servants at a Yorkshire country estate.

Show creator Julian Fellowes is returning to pen the script while Simon Curtis, whose credits include My Week With Marilyn, is on directing duties.

The first movie, in 2019, followed a royal visit to the Crawley family and Downton staff.

Talking to Lorraine Kelly earlier this year, cast member Phyllis Logan said the actors have to wear ‘peculiar masks’ on set while filming the movie sequel under Covid restrictions.

Logan who plays Mrs Carson (née Hughes) in the drama, revealed to Kelly that the cast have nicknamed the face masks “the actors’ cone of shame.”

Logan said that cast are being Covid tested three times a week.

Aside from having to adapt to wearing PPE on set, Logan said filming was 'going terribly well' and confessed that the 'usual band' are 'thrilled to be doing it again'.

Downton Abbey: A New Era is coming to cinemas globally on 18 March, 2022.

Watch: Everything you need to know about Downton Abbey 2