‘Downton Abbey’ season 5: Is Allen Leech, Lily James, someone else leaving in Christmas Special?

Tonight marks the “Downton Abbey” Christmas Special, and going into it, there is one pretty substantial question that we would understand you having: Is there going to be a notable departure?

While we have already known via Michelle Dockery that there will not be a character death, we have nonetheless heard rumors that there will at least be one character who departs.

Going into this episode, there are three likely candidates: Tom Branson (Allen Leech), Lady Rose (Lily James), and Daisy (Sophie McShera). Why these three? First of all, it is for story reasons. Tom is thinking about moving to America, while Rose could move off with her new husband and Daisy could take on some new career opportunities. The challenge with the latter is that while we want to see Daisy happy and successful, it would still be sad to see her go away from the show for any substantial period of time.

As for some other possible reasons, there are career reasons for James in particular to leave. With her new “Cinderella” movie premiering early in the spring, she has the potential to become a major movie star. Also, the promotional campaign for the film will collide precisely with when she would be needed in the United Kingdom to work on new episodes of the show. Either she would have to scrap the campaign, leave the show, or find a way to do both that involved many sacrifices along the way.

Regardless of who ends up leaving, we at least know that the show will go on. ITV has already renewed the series for a sixth season airing in the fall.

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