A period drama that launched as a TV series in 2010, Downton Abbey lasted six seasons and now three movies. The third of these, 2025’s The Grand Finale formally brings the franchise to a close.

Aristocrats Robert Crawley (Hugh Bonneville) and his American wife Cora (Elizabeth McGovern) operate a British estate called Downton Abbey. When their daughter Mary (Michelle Dockery) gets divorced, a scandal follows.

Additional complications result with Cora’s brother Harold (Paul Giamatti) and his handsome financial adviser Gus Sambrook (Alessandro Nivola) visit Downton. Romance sparks between Gus and the newly single Mary.

Of course, because the series involves roughly 235 characters, we see many other plot points as well. Harold brings financial problems that threaten the status of the estate.

Roughly half of the Abbey franchise focuses on the staff and that means story beats with them. However, the topics connected to Mary and family dominate.

As I noted when I reviewed the first movie from 2019 as well as its 2022 sequel A New Era, I never watched the TV show. Although I left open the possibility the series offered good material, both films lacked drama and bored me silly.

Thanks to the financial issues that beset Downton, Finale shows more of a pulse, but not a lot more. Like the prior films, this one tends to feel slow and without real heft.

Heck, I don’t even truly believe that Finale concludes the franchise. While it appears to bid adieu to some of the characters, it also firmly leaves open the door for Downton: The Next Generation.

Though the lack of profits earned by the second and third movies might subvert a spinoff. Although the 2019 film made a decent piece of change, New Era and Grand Finale broke even at best.

Still, I won’t feel surprised if we get more Abbey down the road. I can’t claim I’ll find myself excited to see it, though.

When I entered this review, I thought perhaps I should just indicate that established fans of Abbey would likely enjoy Finale but it would do nothing to entice new or less invested viewers. That does remain largely accurate, although I liked Finale more than the prior two films.

Well, a little bit, at least. As noted, Finale offers more conflict and drama than during the prior two movies, but the stakes usually feel pretty low.

Of course, Finale does remind us that scandals hit differently 95 years ago. No one blinks at divorce now, but it turned into a problem in 1930, especially among the upper crust.

That said, outside of some minor public shame Mary endures, it doesn’t feel like her diminished social status turns into anything especially problematic overall. Also, this situation allows the story to show her eventual – and inevitable – triumph over the stuffy bluenoses.

Err, okay. I guess some buy into the Downton characters enough to care about Mary’s standing among aristocrats, but I don’t.

The family encounters potential financial issues, but again, these involve extremely well-off people. No one risks living on the streets.

Which gets me back to the extremely low stakes involved with Finale. We never feel any actual threat to the characters so it becomes tough to invest in their dilemmas.

Without that tension, Finale sputters, and with so many roles to feed, the movie lacks depth. While this one does seem more interesting than its predecessors, I can’t find much to enjoy.

Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale appears in an aspect ratio of 2.39:1 on this Blu-ray Disc. The movie offered a fine transfer.

Overall definition seemed positive. Virtually no softness materialized, so the movie appeared accurate and concise.

I noticed no signs of jaggies or edge haloes and shimmering remained absent. The film lacked print flaws and seemed clean.

The movie’s palette opted for a distinct sense of teal and amber. These appeared fine within the film’s stylistic choices.

Blacks seemed dark and tight, and shadows demonstrated good clarity. This added up to a satisfying presentation.

A character drama wouldn’t seem to be a candidate for a whiz-bang soundtrack, and the Dolby Atmos audio of Finale fell into expected realms. Downconverted to Dolby TrueHD 7.1, a few scenes – mainly related to crowds or a horse race – used the various channels moderately well.

Usually the track remained oriented toward ambience and music, though. As such, don’t expect lots of sizzle from this restrained mix.

Audio quality satisfied. Although didn’t get much score, the music was full and rich, while effects showed nice clarity and accuracy.

Speech – obviously an important factor here – appeared concise and crisp. Nothing here soared, but it all seemed perfectly adequate for the project.

As we shift to extras, we open with an audio commentary from director Simon Curtis and actor Elizabeth McGovern. Both sit together for this running, screen-specific look at story/characters, sets and locations, music, cast and performances, and the finish of the franchise.

Occasionally we find some modest nuggets of information here, and the track improves somewhat as it goes. However, the track remains largely dull and doesn’t give us many insights.

Five featurettes follow and Changing Times runs 11 minutes, 33 seconds. It involves Curtis, McGovern, screenwriter Julian Fellowes, producers Gareth Neame and Liz Trubridge, and actors Michelle Dockery, Hugh Bonneville, Raquel Cassidy, Jim Carter, Michael Fox, Kevin Doyle, Sophie McShera, Lesley Nicol, Phyllis Logan, Allen Leech, Brendan Coyle and Laura Carmichael.

The show looks at story/characters as well as cast and performances. "Times" mainly acts as a way for all the actors to say goodbye, so we don't really learn much. However, fans may enjoy this farewell.

Society Season spans 13 minutes, 25 seconds. Here we find remarks from Neame, Bonneville, Fellowes, Dockery, McGovern, Carmichael, Curtis, Leech, costume designer Anna Mary Scott Robbins, choreographer Diana Scrivener, production designer Donal Woods, historical advisor Alastair Bruce, hair & makeup designer Anne Nosh Oldham, musical director Martin Hall, and actors Harry Hadden-Paton, Alessandro Nivola, and Simon Russell Beale.

We hear about sets and locations as well as costumes, choreography, and music. Expect a mix of fluff and facts.

Next comes Authentic to the Core. It lasts seven minutes, 13 seconds and features Neame, Fellowes, Curtis, Bruce, Dockery, Bonneville, Robbins, Woods, and actors Arty Froushan, Dominic West, Joely Richardson and Paul Giamatti.

Via "Core", we learn about Noel Coward and his involvement as a character in "Finale" and other stabs at more costumes, locations and period realism. Unsurprisingly, it comes with some useful material and some self-praise.

A Farewell to Fans goes for two minutes, eight seconds. It involves McGovern, Carter, Dockery, Hadden-Paton, Leech, Nicol, Bonneville, and actors Joanne Froggatt and Penelope Wilton.

All sit together with others who don't speak to wax about the series' impact. I like the fact "Fans" combines so many actors in one spot but it tells us nothing of use.

Finally, Downton Abbey Celebrates The Grand Finale occupies 42 minutes, six seconds. Hosted by Michelle Dockery, we also get remarks from Carter, Bonneville, Logan, McGovern, Carmichael, Fox, Leech, Froggatt, Carmichael, McShera, Nicol, Cassidy, Wilton, Robbins, Woods, Giamatti, Cassidy, Hadden-Paton, Doyle, composer John Lunn and some fans.

Across "Celebrates", we get notes about cast and characters as well as music, costumes, some production elements and various memories/anecdotes. Abbey lovers will likely enjoy the interactions among the actors but this show exists solely to promote Finale so we don't learn much along the way.

As the conclusion to a long-running franchise, Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale brings a tale with a little more plot than usual. That makes it a bit more interesting than the prior two films but it still delivers a project most likely to appeal to diehard fans. The Blu-ray comes with excellent picture and appropriate audio as well as a decent though inconsistent collection of bonus materials. Established Abbey buffs will probably enjoy this fond farewell but it seems unlikely to enchant others.