É«É«À²

The second one, in particular, was so stuffed with subplots, and with characters new and old, as to detract from what made “Downton” special in the first place: its focus on a family and its servants tending to a grand English estate in the waning days of the traditional aristocracy.

Luckily, “Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale” is a return mostly to form.

We get a peek at a couple of royals and a famous British cultural figure, but Ìýat the centre Ìýis the Crawley family and Ìýits loyal staff.

The “Downton Abbey” series, which debuted on North American TV in 2011, began in 1912 with the sinking of the Titanic; the new film opens in 1930 amid the bright lights of London’s West End theatre district, where the Earl and Countess of Grantham, their daughters Mary and Edith, and son-in-law Bertie are attending the Noël Coward operetta “Bitter Sweet.”

Onstage is old friend Guy Dexter (Dominic West)Ìý— the actor who made a movie at the estate in “Downton Abbey: A New Era.” He’s mainly here soÌýfans can reunite with former butler Thomas Barrow (Robert James-Collier), who left for California with Guy at the end of that film, and is now his dresser and lover.Ìý

Guy also introduces the family to Coward (Arty Froushan), who helps to resolve one of the film’s central plots: the loss in social standing of Lady Mary (Michelle Dockery).

The haughty, prickly oldest daughter has flirted with disgrace before due to sexual dalliances: first with a Turkish diplomat in Season 1 and then suitor Lord Gillingham in Season 5. But apparently, the worst thing a woman could do in British society in 1930 was get divorced.

(“Downton” creator Julian Fellowes addresses this topic in Season 3 of his other period drama, “The Gilded Age,” set in 1880s New York. Alas, Mary doesn’t have a champion like that series’ Bertha Russell to defy society and invite her to a ball.)Ìý

Personally, I’m happy to see the back end of Mary’s second husband, Henry Talbot (Matthew Goode, who doesn’t appear in this film).ÌýGoode is an admirable actor — watch Netflix’s “Dept. Q” and see for yourself — but Henry’s courtship of and marriage to Mary was rushed and unconvincing.Ìý

Nonetheless, the divorce has Mary facing social ruin. She is given the bum’s rush from a fancy London party lest the prince and princess be subjected to the presence of a divorcee (the prince in question is never named, but it would be quite ironic for Edward, then Prince of Wales, to be protected from a divorced woman just six years before he abdicated the throne to marry one). Mary is also banished from the royal enclosure at Ascot.

Even the good people back home in Downton treat Mary like a pariah, refusing a dinner invitation at the abbey — at least until they hear that famous playwright, actor and singer Coward is attending, thus saving the day.Ìý

Mary’s ignominy is more than a matter of a straitened social life; Robert Crawley, Lord Grantham (Hugh Bonneville), is — grumpily, naturally — preparing to turn the running of the estate over to her, so she needs the confidence of the village to carry out her duties.

And the abbey is once again under financial pressure, exacerbated by news that the windfall expected after the recent death of Cora Crawley’s (Elizabeth McGovern) American motherÌýhas evaporated.

I won’t tell you how, or what happens, but you don’t seriously expect Fellowes to end the Crawleys’ story with their stately manor (in reality Highclere Castle, home of Lord and Lady Carnarvon) being sold out from under them.

And what of the lives of the servants?

Former butler Carson (Jim Carter) is struggling to stay away from the abbey — where his wife, the former Mrs. Hughes (Phyllis Logan), is still housekeeper — now under the stewardship of ex-footman Andy Parker (Michael Fox).

Andy’s wife, former kitchen maid Daisy (Sophie McShera), is about to take over feeding the family from Mrs. Patmore (Lesley Nichol), who’s married to farmer Mr. Mason (Paul Copley).

Mr. Bates (Brendan Coyle), Lord Grantham’s valet, and wife Anna (Joanne Froggatt), maid to Lady Mary — the most hard-done-by characters on “Downton” — are luckily still happily married, with a second child on the way.Ìý

Former footman Molesley (Kevin Doyle) is earning his keep as a screenwriter, a job he stumbled into during the second movie, while his wife, the once Miss Baxter (Raquel Cassidy), is still lady’s maid to Cora.Ìý

We also catch up with Lord and Lady Merton (Penelope Wilton and Douglas Reith); Cora’s brother, Harold (Paul Giamatti); and Tom Branson (Allen Leech), the family’s former chauffeur and widower of youngest daughter Sybil, who comes to visit with his daughter, Sybbie (Fifi Hart).

There’s one character who looms large despite her physical absence: Violet Crawley, Dowager Countess of Grantham, who died at the end of the last movie, just a couple of years before the death of the actor who played her, Maggie Smith.

There are several tributes to Violet woven into “The Grand Finale,” as well as an onscreen dedication to Smith at the end of the film.

While Violet’s loss ups the movie’s sentimental quotient, it lessens the comedic one: nobody can deliver one-liners like she did.

Another quibble: Molesley continues to be treated like a fool, which seems like lazy writing and a disservice to the character.

And the film’s dialogue about the inevitability of change is too on the nose.

Generally, though, it’s nice to see that the characters mostlyÌýhave changed, and for the better. Mary and sister Edith (Laura Carmichael), for instance, have become allies rather than rivals. Mary’s sharper edges have been blunted while Edith has assumed a fitting dignity as Marchioness of Hexham.Ìý

Even Daisy, who had become tiresome by the end of the TV show, has grown up.

The “Downton Abbey” story doesn’t finish with any big drama, or serious obstacles to its eventual happy ending, and that’s OK. The movies have always been slighter than the TV show: they exist as pure fan service. And we fans have spent almost a decade and a half with these characters; we want them to thrive.

(And speaking of fan service, I must note that the cinematography, set and costume design are as sumptuous as ever.)

What we’re left with as the movie ends — with a tear-inducing reminder of characters we’ve lost — is an homage to the love of family and friends, even of servants and employers. And that seems grand enough.