Jim Carter says ‘Downton Abbey’ should never be replicated.
The 70-year-old star – who played butler Carson in the ITV period drama – believes it would be "wrong" to recreate the hugely popular show.
Speaking to The Sun newspaper, he said: "If you start from, ‘Right, it’s Sunday night, so we need sunshine, we need pretty frocks, we need people falling in and out of love’, I think that’s the wrong place to start. You don’t start with what the audience likes, you start with what I want to write, and if the audience likes it, they’ll enjoy it. You have to come up with something different. ‘Bodyguard’ was a big hit, which was a totally different thing, and look at ‘Peaky Blinders’ – that was a period drama but it was also very different. So it can be done."
Meanwhile, ‘Downton Abbey’ star Joanne Froggatt previously insisted the movie – which is based off the TV series – will be "everything fans want".
Joanne, who plays the lady’s maid Anna Bates, said: "The movie will be full of romance, fun, surprises, sadness and intrigue. Everything people want, but elevated. Anna is in a really good place. She and Mr Bates have a baby boy, now 18 months old. She is passionate about helping Lady Mary with the running of Downton, about keeping the legacy going."
And the show’s creator Julian Fellowes recently revealed filming the upcoming movie felt like a very "happy" school reunion.
He explained: "In life you can’t let yourself be daunted by the fact that it doesn’t work out for some people. You just have to keep charging on and have a go and do your best … I don’t think one should expect everything to be a triumph. I’ve done my best, I know the cast are doing their best and I think it will be fun. But I won’t count any chickens, thank you, until it is out, until we know how it is doing."
Jim Carter: Downton Abbey should never be replicated
