It’s being revived! Photo: PBS

A Downton Abbey movie has been in the works since before the show even closed its door on the estate, and now it’s officially a done deal. An NBC Universal executive has confirmed to the AP that the film will begin production in 2018. “We are working on getting the script right and then we’ve got to figure out how to get the [cast] together. Because as you know, people go on and do other things. But we’re hopeful to make a movie sometime next year,” Michael Edelstein said. Given the large ensemble cast, it’s unclear who will be brought back, but Edelstein says the aim is to focus the movie on 20 characters, which is, what, half the Downton staff? Sophie McShera, who played Daisy, says she wasn’t aware the film was confirmed until she spoke to the AP, but that “we would all love to be part of the film if it was to happen, for sure.” Laura Carmichael, who played Lady Edith, sounds skeptical enough to already be in character: “Well, tell my agent, because we’re still waiting to know. We’re hoping that will happen soon.” Downton Abbey ended in 2015 after five aristocratic years, but clearly not without the last word from Maggie Smith’s Dowager Countess, thank heavens.