Downton Abbey

King George V and Queen Mary are visiting Downton Abbey on their 1927 Yorkshire tour in the gilt-edged spin-off from the lauded TV series. Naturally, this puts the aristocratic Crawley family on major alert and sees their downstairs staff desperate to impress. But when a bossy royal entourage arrives to take over the arrangements, the servants rebel while the upstairs folk deals with an assassination attempt, stolen knick-knacks, an inheritance feud and a missing ballgown. With all the TV cast present and correct, and new additions Imelda Staunton, Tuppence Middleton and David Haig equally playing to the gallery, this is elegant and highly polished entertainment primed to satisfy every fan of the beloved costume drama. Although feeling like an entire season of storylines crammed into a Christmas special, it's safe, sumptuous and unsurprising to a fault. However, the wonderful ensemble plays it to the hilt and, as expected, Maggie Smith steals every scene with her signature disdainful put-downs. Downton Abbey the movie is everything you want it to be and with a cocktail olive on top.