Downton Abbey Creator Reveals How Henry's Absence From The Finale Changed Mary's Story

Downton Abbey creator Julian Fellowes has revealed the sole reason why Lady Mary and Henry Talbot’s divorce was a key plot point in the third and finale movie, Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale. With Matthew Goode having no interest in playing Henry again, Fellowes was forced to use divorce to address his character’s absence.

Speaking with TVLine, Fellowes explained how Goode’s absence in the last two Downton Abbey movies led to Mary and Henry’s divorce in The Grand Finale. “For Matthew, once he’d done the series, I think he felt he’d done the job,” said Fellowes. “He was in the first film for a very short time — I think he gave us three days or something — and then he didn’t want to be in the second or third, so I had to come up with a believable reason for all of that, or I would have been stuck. Matthew is a wonderful actor, so I was sorry he didn’t want to be part of it. I can’t pretend that I was glad, but in this business, you must make what you’ve got work. That’s your job.”

With divorce in high society a rarity, at least in 1930, Mary was treated as a pariah for most of the third and final Downton Abbey movie, with the public only coming around to the idea that it was not entirely a big deal for Mary to be divorced at the end of the movie, although even then it took a great deal of convincing and plotting from Mary’s family and the downstairs staff at Downton, as well as an appearance by acclaimed English playwright Noël Coward, to make it happen.

How Was Henry Talbot Written Out?

The cast of Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale movie dressed up, leaning on a fence looking off screen

The cast of Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale movie dressed up, leaning on a fence looking off screen
Image via Focus Features

As for how Fellowes convincingly wrote Henry Talbot out of Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale, the series created made him into an adulterer, which put Mary “in a very interesting position” that allowed for Michelle Dockery to play the character in a different way than she had been afforded in the previous movies and television series. “Mary has always been something of a winner all the way through, and suddenly it’s gone against her, and she’s a kind of loser,” explained Fellowes. “I felt that was good for us and good for Michelle.”

Goode’s decision not to return for The Grand Finale is not the first instance of Fellowes having to rework Mary’s storyline in the Downton Abbey universe. When Dan Stevens decided to leave the series after its third season, Fellowes was forced to kill off Matthew Crawley in a car crash, with the character dying in the Season 3 finale, right after Mary had given birth to his son, and Downton heir, George. With her divorce from Henry in The Grand Finale, Mary has now weathered through two marriages that were cut short. While Fellowes won’t reveal what the future holds for the fan-favorite character, he knows that whatever challenges come her way, “Mary will get through it. Whether she marries again or not, is something else.”

Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale is playing in theaters.