Hugh Bonneville has spoken about the forthcoming Downton Abbey Christmas special.

The actor, who plays Lord Grantham on the ITV drama, refused to discuss plots, but said that fans can expect an uplifting festive episode.

Dominic Lipinski/PA Wire



Speaking on The Graham Norton Show, Bonneville described the special as "very heart-warming".

He added: "You'll have a lump in your throat, but in a very nice way."

Speaking about the recent controversy surrounding the death of Downton's Isis the dog, he said: "Isis is a very unfortunate name at the moment but it got a bit daft that people genuinely thought we'd reacted in some way to world events. It shows a slight lack of understanding of how TV shows are made.

"Back in the nice days before we'd heard the acronym I mentioned to [creator] Julian Fellowes that the dog was getting on a bit and he said he would think about it. I'm not giving any spoilers, I'm just mentioning there is a storyline involving the dog that was developed a year ago."

ITV



The actor went on to discuss his new film Paddington, saying: "[Paddington Bear] was a childhood favourite of mine. Mum and Dad used to read the stories to me and then when I was a bit older I used to read the stories to myself.

"He was my pal and I wanted to eat marmalade with him in London... I was quite a lonely child!"

The Graham Norton Show airs on BBC One tomorrow (November 28) at 10.35pm.

Watch the trailer for Paddington below:

This content is created and maintained by a third party, and imported onto this page to help users provide their email addresses. You may be able to find more information about this and similar content at piano.io