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Downton Abbey star Hugh Bonneville has admitted he isn't holding out too much hope for a third spin-off movie.
Asked about a follow-up to this year's Downton Abbey: A New Era, the actor told RadioTimes.com: "I don't know. I thought for a while that maybe there was an energy to do a third one, but I suspect that's probably not the case. I think we've probably quit on a high."
Bonneville added: "And it has been so beloved, and it went out on such a great note, I think it would be very hard to take it on to a third. But you never know. But I think if that is the end of it, there's been a great way to finish."
Released in May, Downton Abbey: A New Era took place partly in England, and partly in the South of France. Among other trials and tribulations, Bonneville's Earl of Grantham had to contend with his family home being turned into a movie set in order to pay for its leaking roof.
At the time, Bonneville and co-stars including Elizabeth McGovern and Michelle Dockery spoke about this "new era" with Anglophenia's Sharon Carpenter.
Also in May, Downton Abbey's writer-creator Julian Fellowes spoke a little more optimistically about the possibility of a third movie, telling IndieWire:  "These things become clearer over time, if there is still a demand for more Downton, and the actors, if enough of them want to do it. I certainly wouldn’t block it. I've had five times now of thinking I've said goodbye to them and then here they are again."
As it happens, Fellowes turns 73 today, so we're celebrating by making him our British Icon of the Week. Happy birthday, Lord Fellowes!
Are you caught up on Downton Abbey so far?