star Matthew Goode clarified previous comments made about his character on the show. The actor, 47, starred as Henry Talbot during the ITV show's fifth and sixth before reprising the role for the first film, released in 2019. Matthew did not appear in the second film, Downton Abbey: A New Era, and will not return for the final instalment, set for release in September. However, Matthew told that his character had become a "wet lettuce", therefore it's probably best that the character isn't anywhere to be seen.

However, Matthew has since addressed the comments he made about Henry, insisting were not intended in a "derogatory". He told : "I didn't mean it in a horribly derogatory way. I just meant actually, wouldn't it be more exciting if [Lady Mary] didn't need a man so she might end up on her own? Some people look up to her as a modern feminist or a pillar of modern feminism."

While Goode admitted he never read the script for the third film as he was busy with other projects, he suggested an alternative ending for Lady Mary (Michelle Dockery), who married Henry in the series six finale.

"I would hope that, if she does have a happy ending, maybe one of her earlier suitors could come back and whisk her off", he said, later speculating whether Lady Mary's ending could involve "something surprising other than good old Henry".

Matthew was unable to reprise his role for Downton Abbey 2 as he was filming another show, The Offer, at the time. He recently confirmed he would not be returning for the third film due to scheduling conflicts once again.

He was filming the new Netflix series Dept. Q, where he stars as Carl Morck, a complicated police detective who is shuffled into a new cold case unit. But he was also prevented from returning to Downton Abbey due to knee surgery.

The star told Radio Times: "I was unavailable for the second because I was doing The Offer. Then [for the third] I was shooting this [Department Q]. 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."

Returning cast members for the upcoming film include Dockery, Hugh Bonneville, Jim Carter, Phyllis Logan, Elizabeth McGovern, Laura Carmichael, Joanne Froggatt, Robert James-Collier, Allen Leech, Lesley Nicol, and Penelope Wilton.

But there will be a notable absence as Dame Maggie Smith's Violet Crawley was killed off at the end of the last film in 2022. Tragically, the actress has died since then. Executive producer Gareth Neale has teased how the third film will pay tribute to the witty Lady Violet Crawley and Maggie.

Speaking with , he said: "The fact that Dame Maggie herself has now passed away since that time, I do think, has given a real added poignancy to a story that we would have planned anyway. The loss of the Dowager, it now feels far more significant that you see actors playing characters mourning the family matriarch. But I also see actors mourning the matriarch of the show, and it feels more genuine and more meaningful."