Downton Abbey creator Julian Fellowes has confirmed he’s started penning a movie version of the popular period drama.
The show ran for six seasons until 2016, and followed the lives of the aristocratic Crawley family and their domestic servants between 1912 and 1925
“I’ve done some work on it because I don’t want to be caught out if they (producers) suddenly say yes and then it’s all go,” Fellowes told the London Evening Standard.
“But there’s a lot of things — can we round up all the cast? Can we get them? Also we just need the green light at the beginning. So I don’t know any more than that at the moment to be honest.”
Downton Abbey actor Jim Carter let slip earlier this month that the cast had been told to keep themselves "available for dates in the future,” but added there wasn’t yet a script.
The actor played the Abbey butler Mr Carson and he gave a clear indication that something's on the cards during an interview on ITV's Good Morning Britain.
"We've been asked to keep ourselves available for dates in the future," Carter said. "But nobody has seen a script."
But despite being prodded for more information, the 68-year-old insisted that he and the other cast members are unaware of what's being planned.
"We don't know," he said. "We haven't seen a script, but there's a willingness to do a film. I am sure it will emerge."
Previously, Downton Abbey creator Julian Fellowes suggested that the hugely-popular period drama wasn't gone for good, despite heading to TV Heaven after the show's 2015 Christmas special.
"It wouldn't surprise me if it had some afterlife because it's been such a strong force," he said. "But it's definitely finished on television."
Downton Abbey ran for six years and was a massive worldwide hit, but not everyone involved would fancy any kind of revival.
For example, Maggie Smith - who starred as Violet Crawley, Dowager Countess of Grantham - was relieved when the show came to an end two Christmases ago.
"I'm glad it's over, I really am," said the 82-year-old. "By the time we finished, she must have been about 110. It couldn't go on and on. It just didn't make sense."
