Downton Abbey's Matthew Goode Explains Why He Won't Be Back For Third Movie: 'Maybe It's A Good Thing'

Could there be trouble in paradise for the Talbots? Matthew Goode has confirmed that he won't be reprising his role of Mary's husband Henry Talbot in the third and final Downton Abbey movie, hitting theaters on Sept. 12, after previously missing the second installment.

"I was unavailable for the second because I was doing The Offer," Goode recently told The UK's Radio Times. "[For the third], I was shooting [Netflix's Department Q]. But I also buggered my knee, and I had to have an operation. That takes weeks to get over, so I was never going to be able to do it. And let's face it, he was edging towards becoming a bit of a wet lettuce. So maybe it's a good thing."

(FYI, "a wet lettuce" is British slang for someone who is "timid, submissive or easily swayed," so it's safe to say that Goode isn't too upset about missing an opportunity to step back into Henry's shoes.)

No plot details have been released about the movie, appropriately titled Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale, but we can confirm the following returning cast members: Hugh Bonneville as Robert Crawley, Elizabeth McGovern as Cora Crawley, Dockery as Mary Talbot, Laura Carmichael as Edith Pelham, Jim Carter as Charles Carson, Phyllis Logan as Elsie Carson, Robert James-Collier as Thomas Barrow, Joanne Froggatt as Anna Bates, Allen Leech as Tom Branson, Penelope Wilton as Isobel Grey, Lesley Nicol as Beryl Patmore, Michael Fox as Andy Parker, Raquel Cassidy as Phyllis Baxter, Brendan Coyle as John Bates, Kevin Doyle as Joseph Molesley, Harry Hadden-Paton as Bertie Pelham, Sophie McShera as Daisy Mason, Douglas Reith as Lord Merton, Dominic West as Guy Dexter and Paul Giamatti as Harold Levinson.

Another beloved character who won't be seen in the third movie is the Dowager Countess, played by the late, great Maggie Smith, who had already passed away on screen in the second film.

"The fact that Dame Maggie herself has now passed away since that time, I do think, has given a real added poignancy to a story that we would have planned anyway," Downton Abbey executive producer Gareth Neame told TVLine while promoting Peacock's The Day of the Jackal. "The loss of the Dowager, it now feels far more significant that you see actors playing characters mourning the family matriarch. But I also see actors mourning the matriarch of the show, and it feels more genuine and more meaningful."

Downton Abbey originally aired for six seasons, from 2010 to 2015, gobbling up 15 Primetime Emmy Awards along the way. The first movie was released in theaters in 2019, followed by Downton Abbey: A New Era in 2022.

Franchise creator Julian Fellowes wrote the third movie, which is being directed by Simon Curtis. Are you disappointed to hear that Henry won't be back for it, or have you had your fill of wet lettuce? Drop a comment with your thoughts below.