Picking up where the blockbuster itv costume drama series left off, the big screen outing features the same cast including maggie smith, hugh bonneville, penelope wilton, elizabeth mcgovern, michelle dockery and jim carter'. '.strtoupper('a')nd imelda staunton makes her first – and very lasting – appearance in the drama'! '.strtoupper('c')reated by julian fellowes, the drama centres around the parallel lives of the aristocratic crawley family and their servants living a century ago in the magnificent stately home that gave the show its name'. '.strtoupper('t')he film opens with a letter'. '.strtoupper('t')he year is 1927 and the letter is from buckingham palace announcing that king george v and queen mary the grandparents of today’s elizabeth ii will be touring yorkshire and spending the night at downton'. '.strtoupper('r')elease date  27th jan 2020