Allen Leech already knew a fledgling series he was in called Downton Abbey was going down well with audiences. But if he had any doubt how huge the show was about to become globally, he was about to discover that fact during an encounter with US immigration officers.
The Irish actor — who plays Tom Branson in one of the biggest screen successes of recent decades — was going through airport security when he got a “telling off” over his Downton character. It was 2010, and the period drama was starting to become a worldwide water cooler moment.
“It was the first time going to the States with the show,” he recalls. “I was going in, and it was the episode where Tom Branson had run away from Ireland and actually left his pregnant wife Sybil there because he had to get out as quickly as possible, and was just hoping that she was following quickly behind him.
“There was quite a strong reaction from the audience all around the world when Tom did that. As I was coming into America, the guy at immigration took my passport, looked at me, looked back at the passport, started frowning, and I got pretty nervous.
“Then he looked at me and shook his head and said: ‘That was a shitty thing you did to your wife.’”
The joke, he chuckles, was followed by “the caveat that most men over 50 have, which is: ‘I don’t watch it. My wife watches it. It’s just on in the background for me.’”
Allen Leech as Tom in Downton Abbey. Picture: PA Photo/ITV
Whether in the foreground or the background, a lot of people watched Downton Abbey. The series about the lives of the aristocratic Crawley family and their domestic servants was a worldwide critical and commercial smash, running for 52 episodes across six series — including five Christmas specials — and winning Golden Globes and Primetime Emmy Awards. In Britain, it became the most successful British costume drama since Brideshead Revisited in 1981, while Irish fans also lapped up the Sunday night show in their droves.
On September 12, Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale — the third movie spin-off — comes to cinemas. As the title suggests, it’s going to be an emotional farewell to the characters who have populated fans’ lives for 15 years.
“I remember saying goodbye to everyone after the sixth series, and we thought that was it,” says Leech.
“Then we came back and did the movie, and at the end of that movie, we said goodbye. Exactly the same thing happened after A New Era. The fact that we all knew that this was definitively the very last time, I think it definitely added a certain poignancy. You’ve created a second family when you’ve been together for 15 years, and just knowing that it was the last time, every scene had a certain resonance.
“I have to say it was more of a celebration than sadness when we all finished up. I guess we all feel that we’ve been part of something very special, and it definitely had more of a sense of a celebration that was quite lovely.”
Allen Leech stars as Tom Branson in Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale. Picture: Rory Mulvey/2025 Focus Features LLC
Tom, viewers will discover, is in a good place in his life: “He sold the car business that he had with Henry Talbot. He definitely is in a place where he finally feels like he knows exactly who he is and where he belongs.
“He’s able to come in with a fresh set of eyes and steer some of the decisions that the family have to make.”
For its Dublin star, already a successful actor with roles in shows including The Tudors and Black Mirror, and the Irish drama Cowboys & Angels, Downton was nevertheless a game changer. He was originally contracted to take part in just three episodes before becoming an integral character in the show. Creator Julian Fellowes came up with the idea of making Tom, a Yorkshireman, Irish after meeting the Irish actor at the audition stages.
“I think by making one of the characters Irish, it immediately opened and broadened the storytelling within what is essentially quite a confined space, which is the aristocracy in Britain,” says Leech now.
“Suddenly we had access to a whole other world and history that was occurring so close and yet so often was kind of kept quiet and not dealt with within British society.
“What I ultimately think Tom Branson became as the show grew from strength to strength around the world, was Tom became the eyes of the audience. He’s looking into this world as an outsider, like so much of the world was, watching the show.
Allen Leech stars as Tom Branson, alongside Dominic West as Guy Dexter, and Robert James-Collier as Thomas Barrow, in the upcoming film ‘Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale’. Picture: Rory Mulvey/2025 Focus Features LLC
“As Julian Fellowes, who wrote and created Downton, has said: Tom Branson became your tour guide for Downton because he could take you anywhere. Because he was former staff, he could go downstairs, but he can also sit at the table in white tie and tails.
“He’s the person that you can use as the barometer of: ‘How would I view this if I was sitting there now? Because that’s exactly what Tom was doing.’”
As the series grew in success, Leech would find himself getting recognised on the Tube in London.
“Certainly when we’re together as a cast, even now, sometimes you might get a double take if myself and Michelle [Dockery, who played Lady Mary Crawley] are sitting having a coffee,” he says.
“I guess when people see two characters that they’re so aware of out of context in modern-day life, it could be quite jarring, and then also quite funny for people to see. I’d never experienced it before, and certainly within my career, I’m very grateful to it, because it brought my work as an actor to a lot more people within the industry as well. The scale of opportunities certainly changed.
“ Downton on an international level became something that I think every person in the industry — be it a producer, writer, director or actor — wants. I was part of a show that was the water cooler moment in offices. It went out on Sunday night. People were talking about it Monday morning, people gravitated towards the show and definitely the characters resonated. The zeitgeist did seem to appeal to a much larger audience.”
Allen Leech attending the Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale world premiere. Picture: Ian West/PA Wire
When Downton first came to our screens in 2010, it seemed to coincide with another zeitgeist — the growth of a platform named Twitter. Fans would take to social media while watching the show on Sunday nights to live-tweet their responses to everything from Violet Crawley’s delightful put-downs to Mary’s fabulous flapper frocks.
“I remember Hugh Bonneville came to me and Dan Stevens — I mean, we’re going back now, because Dan was still in the show. He was like: ‘Mate, you’ve got to get on this thing called Twitter. The fans love it,’” says Leech.
“It was kind of mad to have that instant reaction to what was happening on screen. For me, it was something brand new — I guess it was like a technological version of a theatrical experience in that you were getting the audience reaction in real time.”
As a boy, Leech’s interest in acting was first fostered by family and community.
“There was a brilliant teacher called Martin Kelly, a Cork man whose love of English actually was incredibly inspirational to me,” he says. “He was my English teacher, and he directed Othello when we were there [St Michael’s College in Dublin].
Allen Leech with Michael Legge in a scene from Cowboys & Angels
“It all started with a lady called Maura Cranny, who did school productions for the primary school. Because I had an interest, my parents put me in to do private classes with her, and competitions like Feis Maitiu when I was about 11.”
We may be saying farewell to the Crawleys, but Leech has other movies and shows on the way — including a film he recently completed in West Cork. He spent some of this summer in Schull, filming The Body is Water, a forthcoming drama set between Texas and Ireland.
“It’s a lovely script by Vicky Wight, who was brought up down in West Cork, and then at the age of 12, moved to Houston, Texas, and she came back to make this movie,” he says. “The cast includes Saoirse Monica Jackson, Aidan Quinn, Fionnuala Flanagan, Eva Birthistle, Bronagh Gallagher, Maria Doyle Kennedy. It was very special.”
Leech is currently in Toronto filming another Irish-related project, TV series The Westies, with JK Simmons and Sarah Bolger. “It’s set in Hell’s Kitchen in 1980 and it’s about the gang The Westies, which was an Irish gang, and in a period when they decided to take on the Italian Mob.”
Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale opens in cinemas on September 12.