Set in the early 1900s, "Downton Abbey" tells the story of England's aristocratic Crawley family and the servants who work on their sprawling estate. Starring Michelle Dockery, Dan Stevens, Maggie Smith, Elizabeth McGovern, Joanne Froggatt, Laura Carmichael (pictured) and more, the show became the most popular series ever to air on PBS, and with good reason -- the overflowing elegance was tempered with tawdry romance, betrayals, blackmail and even murder. The show was rebooted for the big screen in September 2019 with a "Downton Abbey" film -- it opened at No. 1! -- that chronicled the king and queen's visit to the family's estate. A second movie, "Downton Abbey: A New Era," hit theaters in 2022.

And now more is in store: A surprise seventh season of "Downton Abbey" -- the PBS drama that wrapped up its TV tenure in 2016 -- has quietly started filming in the U.K., DailyMail.com reported in February 2024.

"Filming has been going on for a few weeks now, it is all very, very secret. There are people working on it who have never seen secrecy like it," a source told the outlet, adding that its expected to be released at the end of 2024. "Those working on the set have been made to sign non-disclosure agreements so that they don't give the game away but there is a lot of excitement at the return of 'Downton.' It was such a huge success before and there are so many more stories to be told, it seemed such a shame not to be able to make more of it but they've made it happen."