Discover the cast of 'Downton Abbey' on stage

Book tickets to see alumni of the beloved costume drama on stage, including Sophie McShera in Shucked, Imelda Staunton and Kevin Doyle in Mrs Warren's Profession, and Harry Hadden-Paton in Here We Are.

Britain is renowned for producing beautifully made costume dramas for Sunday evening viewing, and Downton Abbey is one of the most successful of all time. Created by Julian Fellowes (Gosford Park), it was broadcast on ITV over six series (52 episodes) between 2010 to 2015 and attracted record numbers of viewers. It is sumptuous escapism with costumes and locations to die for, and packed with drama, intrigue, and social commentary.

In a nutshell: In the 20th century, the Earl and Countess of Grantham have three daughters – Mary, Edith, and Sybil – but no son to inherit the title and estate. Enter Matthew Crawley, a middle-class distant cousin, who offers hope for romance. Equal weight is given to the storylines of servants like butler Charles Carson, housekeeper Elsie Hughes, and valet John Bates. And, of course, the late Maggie Smith’s Dowager Countess steals every scene she’s in with her withering bons mots.

The show makes for such classy entertainment thanks to the calibre of the actors, including Smith, Penelope Wilton, Hugh Bonneville, Elizabeth McGovern, Michelle Dockery, Jim Carter, Brendan Coyle, and more. Fun fact: the first-ever winner of an Olivier Award for Best Actor (or Society of London Theatre Award for Actor of the Year, as it was called then) was Paul Copley, who plays the recurring role of tenant farmer Mr Mason (father-in-law of kitchen maid Daisy), for his role as Private Hamp in John Wilson’s For King and Country.

Read our guide to Downton Abbey actors who have tread the boards in the West End, including multiple on stage now and soon. As the main series ended in 2015, there are some spoilers ahead!

Sophie McShera in Shucked

Sophie McShera has been in situ from the beginning as Daisy, the sour yet lovable young kitchen maid-turned-assistant cook, who starts out at the bottom of the pecking order and discovers a sense of autonomy through education.

This spring, she plays the lead role of bride-to-be Maizy in the UK premiere of Tony-winning musical Shucked at Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre. McShera played the title role in Annie as a child and appeared in the original production of Jez Butterworth’s Jerusalem. It will be exciting to see her spread her wings as a stage performer and to hear her sing!

Book Shucked tickets on LondonTheatre.co.uk.

Imelda Staunton and Kevin Doyle in Mrs Warren’s Profession

One of the most beloved actors of her generation, Imelda Staunton joined the franchise for the films as distant relative Lady Maud Bagshaw. Staunton was incandescent in the title role in Hello, Dolly! last summer and now takes the lead in Bernard Shaw’s Mrs Warren’s Profession, in which she and her real-life daughter Bessie Carter play a mother and daughter with very different ideas about money and morality.

While Staunton is the star name, there’s a second Downton actor in the cast. While Dan Stevens’s dashing Matthew Crawley was set up to be the hero, it’s possible to argue that his erstwhile valet Joseph Molesley became the true hero of the saga. Actor Kevin Doyle, who has performed at the National Theatre, the Royal Court, and with the Royal Shakespeare Company, takes the role of Reverend Samuel Gardner in Mrs Warren’s Profession.

Book Mrs Warren’s Profession tickets on LondonTheatre.co.uk.

Harry Hadden-Paton in Here We Are

Harry Hadden-Paton joined the cast in the penultimate Christmas special as land agent (and eventual marquess) Bertie Pelham, suitor and eventual husband of the luckless Lady Edith, and their wedding was the centrepiece of the series’ grand finale. Hadden-Paton’s theatre credits include performing in the original cast of Laura Wade’s Posh and as Henry Higgins in My Fair Lady on Broadway and the West End. He plays the role of the Bishop in the London premiere of Stephen Sondheim’s last musical Here We Are as part of an all-star ensemble.

Book Here We Are tickets on LondonTheatre.co.uk.

Michael Fox and Nigel Harman in Farewell Mister Haffmann

There are two Downton alumni in the London premiere of one of France’s most popular contemporary plays at north London’s Park Theatre. Michael Fox joined the cast as footman Andy for the fifth and sixth seasons, culminating in a romance with Daisy. In Farewell Mister Haffmann, Fox plays the gentile employee of a Jewish jeweller, who takes on the management shop while his boss hides out in the basement during the Nazi occupation of France.

Visiting valet Mr Green was the most despicable character ever to darken the Abbey’s doors. He is played by Nigel Harman, a former EastEnders star and an Olivier winner for Shrek. Harman currently plays another villain, a Nazi commanding officer. LondonTheatre.co.uk’s reviewer calls his performance “eerily commanding.”

Book Farewell Mister Haffmann tickets on LondonTheatre.co.uk.

Tuppence Middleton in The Years

Tuppence Middleton was a new arrival for the Downton Abbey films, introduced as lady’s maid Lucy Smith. She mostly recently appeared on stage as Elizabeth Taylor in The Motive and the Cue. Middleton has succeeded Romola Garai in the five-star stage adaptation of Annie Ernaux’s autobiographical novel The Years and recently published the memoir Scorpions, about living with OCD.

Book The Years tickets on LondonTheatre.co.uk

Brendan Coyle in Dealer’s Choice

It was one disaster after another for valet John Bates and his long-suffering wife Anna (Joanne Froggatt) until they finally got their happy ending. British-Irish actor Coyle won an Olivier Award for his performance in the original production of Conor McPherson’s The Weir and has also acted in McPherson’s plays Shining City and St Nicholas, and in many other productions in London and in Ireland. He shortly appears in Patrick Marber’s Dealer’s Choice at the Donmar Warehouse, directed by Matthew Dunster.

Check back for Dealer’s Choice tickets on LondonTheatre.co.uk.

Maggie Smith

The late Maggie Smith had one of the greatest stage careers of her generation, beginning with performances with the Oxford University Drama Society. She made her Broadway debut in 1956 and was a fixture at the National Theatre (allegedly, Smith was the only actor who could outdo Laurence Olivier in a battle of wits). She is one of a select group of actors to have won the “Triple Crown” of acting (an Academy Award, Emmy, and Tony).

Following her Downton run as Violet, Dowager Countess of Grantham, Smith gave her final stage performance at the Bridge Theatre in 2019 in A German Life, a monologue by Christopher Hampton about Joseph Goebbels’s secretary Brunhilde Pomsel. It was a magnificent swansong to an exemplary career.

Hugh Bonneville

“His Lordship” (Robert, Earl of Grantham) was last seen on stage in the UK playing C.S. Lewis in Shadowlands at Chichester Festival Theatre in 2019 and previously starred in An Enemy of the People at the same venue. Bonneville is currently playing the title role in Conor McPherson’s version of Uncle Vanya across the pond with Shakespeare Theatre Company in Washington DC.

Elizabeth McGovern

American actress Elizabeth McGovern, who played Cora, Countess of Grantham in Downton, has performed on stage on both sides of the Atlantic and most recently played Ava Gardner in her passion project, Ava: The Secret Conversations at Riverside Studios, and Martha in Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf at Theatre Royal, Bath. She is also a member of the folk band Sadie and the Hotheads.

Michelle Dockery

Prior to being cast as the formidable Lady Mary Crawley, Michelle Dockery won an Ian Charleson Award (2nd Prize) for her Eliza Doolittle in Pygmalion (a performance that made costume drama stardom a dead cert) and was nominated for an Olivier for the stage adaptation of the Russian film Burnt by the Sun at the National Theatre. In 2018, she appeared in Network at the National Theatre, co-starring with Bryan Cranston.

Laura Carmichael

Laura Carmichael was auditioning for fringe shows before she was cast as neglected middle child Lady Edith Crawley in Downton, and she made her West End debut as the put-upon Sonya in Uncle Vanya in 2012. She also appeared in The Maids and Apologia at Trafalgar Studios.

Jessica Brown Findlay

Lady Sybil Crawley’s final episode, once seen, is never to be forgotten. Jessica Brown Findlay has followed up the series with some brilliant theatre work. Three out of four of her stage appearances have directed by Robert Icke: Oresteia, Uncle Vanya, and Hamlet (all of which originated at the Almeida Theatre). The fourth, An Enemy of the People, was directed by Thomas Ostermeier.

Penelope Wilton

Known for her role as Isobel Crawley on Downton, Penelope Wilton began her exemplary stage career at the Nottingham Playhouse in 1969, and she made her Broadway and West End debuts two years later. Highlights include Critics' Circle Awards for Much Ado About Nothing and The Deep Blue Sea, an Evening Standard Award for The Chalk Garden and, in 2015, an Olivier Award for Taken at Midnight. In 2023, she played the Queen Mother in Backstairs Billy, a sparkling double act with Luke Evans.

Dan Stevens

Like Michelle Dockery, Dan Stevens built a reputation as a stage actor before he was cast as her love interest, Matthew Crawley, in Downton. He most recently appeared in the Broadway premiere of Martin McDonagh’s Hangmen.

Jim Carter

In the first series, it’s revealed that Carson, the ultra-stuffy butler, was a musical hall performer in his youth. Jim Carter appeared on stage throughout the 1970s and 1980s in an eclectic array of productions and even went to America to study in a circus school (what would Carson say?). Carter hasn’t appeared on stage since 2005 — surely it’s time for a return!

Lesley Nicol

In the 1990s, Lesley Nicol (Mrs Patmore on Downton) created the roles of Rosie in Mamma Mia! and Auntie Annie in East is East (which she reprised on screen). She also co-wrote and performed the one-woman autobiographical musical How the Hell Did I Get Here? off Broadway in 2022.

Lily James

Downton Abbey proved a big break for Lily James as Lady Rose MacClare. While finding screen success as a costume drama darling, James has enjoyed West End acclaim in Romeo and Juliet directed by Kenneth Branagh, All About Eve opposite Gillian Anderson, and Lyonesse with Kristin Scott Thomas.

More Downton Abbey stars on stage

The series included guest and recurring appearances from theatre luminaries including Samantha Bond, Harriet Walter, Anna Chancellor, Iain Glen, Charles Edwards, Julian Ovenden, Kevin R McNally, Penny Downie, Patricia Hodge, legendary opera singer Kiri Te Kanawa, and the iconic Shirley MacLaine. Dominic West, who joined the Downton world in the second film, is due to return for an upcoming third film set to be released on 12 September 2025, and Simon Russell Beale is also on the cast list in an unspecified role. The Downton Abbey world boasts a veritable who’s who of acting talent.