Warning: the following post contains spoilers!

From 2010 to 2015, Sunday evenings found millions of viewers around the world tuning into Downton Abbey. The lush period drama which followed the lives of the aristocratic Crawley family and their staff at the dawn of the twentieth century became an unexpected hit. It’s hard to imagine now, but ITV was originally doubtful that the show would last beyond its first series.

The show’s lavish setting, romantic flair, engaging storylines that were both moving and whimsical, and of course Maggie Smith’s dry one-liners kept viewers entertained for six series. Indeed, the show’s ratings remained remarkably stable over its entire run even after the shocking death of one of the show’s most pivotal characters — Matthew Crawley (Dan Stevens) — at the end of the third series.

Now a decade after its premiere and four years since the series’ conclusion, Downton has returned for its first — and given its box office probably not its last — cinematic outing.

The film picks up two years after the series finale with the stunning news that King George V and Queen Mary will visit Downton during a tour through the country. In true Downton fashion, the plot involves romance, family secrets, conflict, humour, and even an assassination attempt set against the backdrop of this regal visit.

There is no point in arguing that the film is indeed a delightful piece of nostalgia that fans of the TV series will enjoy. Screenwriter and series creator Julian Fellows finds a good balance between meeting fan expectations and ensuring that viewers who’ve never seen Downton will not feel lost. The film is very accessible to a wider audience.

Despite the nostalgia and high enjoyability of the film, like many television to film adaptations, Downton Abbey loses something in translation. A typical challenge when a television series makes the leap from small to the big screen is the need to create a cinematic story — typically involving elements that were impossible on a television budget — while still focusing on the characters whom audiences have become emotionally attached to.

The film version of Downton Abbey struggles with the ambition to be something more than the series while keeping focus on the large cast of characters. The King and Queen’s visit is meant to elevate the story to a higher level, but ironically the visit is somewhat inconsequential and seems more subdued than cinematic.

Downton was renowned for its large ensemble cast but with only a two-hour run time, many beloved characters are underutilized. This creates several contrived moments that were obviously written just to ensure each character had a moment in the spotlight. The most obvious of which are Isobel’s ‘psychic’ ability to guess Maud’s secret and Tom’s role as assassin foiler and royal psychiatrist.

Throughout the film, there are a series worth of character story arcs crammed into the plot. Daisy’s pre-marital nerves, Thomas finally finding love, Carson’s boredom in retirement and Violet’s waning health are character stories that could have easily been carried over eight to ten episodes. In the film, however, these arcs become rushed with only Thomas’ story feeling full circle.

The plot of the film is remarkably restrained for a Downton Abbey outing. Indeed, the plot lacks serious stakes for the characters. During the television series, many of the characters faced major consequences and not every story ended on a happy note. In the film, however, very little is at risk and nothing really changes for the inhabitants of Downton by the time the credits roll. Indeed, one could argue the largest source of conflict in the film is a broken hot water boiler.

There are moments when the film seems to be moving towards something very dramatic in true Downton fashion. The hints that something is wrong with Violet’s health are teased but dropped until the final fifteen minutes of the movie. Thomas’ arrest after dancing at an underground gay bar — a sad but realistic turn of events for the butler viewers love to hate — are hastily and rather unrealistically resolved to give the character a happy ending.

Violet’s impending death was no surprise for fans familiar with behind the scenes news. Over the years, Dame Maggie Smith has been fairly adamant that she did not wish to reprise her role. Indeed, the decision to end the series was largely the result of Smith opting not to renew her contract. During a 2015 interview with Graham Norton, she confessed to being very happy that the show was over. When Smith agreed to return, it was widely expected within the Downton fandom that Violet would meet her end.

Violet’s “death” is haphazardly handled by being plunked into the final act. During the last fifteen minutes of the film, Violet confesses to Mary that her doctors have told her she “may not have much time left.” The revelation does feel like it was begrudgingly added to ensure Smith would agree to return to do the movie. This isn’t surprising, however, as Julian Fellows had previously expressed reluctance at ever killing off Smith’s character on screen.

Smith and Michelle Dockery deliver moving performances, Violet’s ‘death’ scene is something of a cop-out. Rather than having a full death scene, her confession leaves open the possibility of Smith reprising her role in a sequel. Indeed, producers have recently confessed that Smith’s line was changed during filming to make it more open ended. It seems all parties involved developed cold feet about being more definitive about Violet’s impending demise.

While it is understandable why producers would want to keep the option open for Smith to return given her character’s popularity, it blocked what could have been a very emotional storyline. Had Violet’s declining health been more in evidence, her conflict with Maud and her ambitions about the royal visit would have carried far more emotional weight. It would have given her much clearer motivation to resolve her final orders of business and see Downton shine one last time. Saving her health revelation for the end of the film deprived Smith of the opportunity to do more than just deliver witty one-liners for much of the film.

These criticisms aside, Downton Abbey is still a joyful watch. It will happily appease longtime fans with its warm sense of nostalgia, and it will likely draw in a new audience into the lives of those living on the Downton estate.