Dan Stevens Has Something to Say About \'Downton Abbey\'

PBS Dan Stevens as Matthew Crawley on “Downton Abbey.”

Be forewarned that this post deals with developments on “Downton Abbey” that British viewers are now aware of, but which have not yet occurred in the American broadcast of that series. In other words, massive spoilers ahead.

Just when things were going swimmingly for Matthew Crawley at “Downton Abbey” - that aristocratic character, played by Dan Stevens, was enjoying his long-delayed wedding to Lady Mary (Michelle Dockery); his wife had given birth to their first c hild, a son; he was delighted by his fancy new motorcar - an automobile accident he sustained in the show's Christmas special resulted in his demise, and ended Mr. Stevens's tenure on the popular period drama.

Speaking with The Telegraph of London, Mr. Stevens said that his departure from “Downton Abbey” felt strange but inevitable, and that his decision to leave the series was made before he started filming its most recent season (which begins in the United States on Jan. 6).

“We were always optioned for three years,” Mr. Stevens told The Telegraph. “And when that came up it was a very difficult decision. But it felt like a good time to take stock, to take a moment. From a personal point of view, I wanted a chance to do other things.”

Mr. Stevens, who is currently starring with Jessica Chastain in a Broadway revival of “The Heiress” and has also been a judge of the Man Booker Prize, said that working on “Downton Abbey” had been “a very monopolizing job.”

“So there is a strange sense of liberation at the same time as great sadness,” he continued, “because I am very, very fond of the show and always will be.”

The character of Matthew Crawley nearly met his fate in Season 2 of “Downton Abbey” when he was wounded during combat in the First World War; his injuries did not kill him, but left him with paralysis that he miraculously overcame by the end of that season.

Going into Season 3, rumors swirled that Mr. Stevens might be leaving the show, with some publications sp eculating on whether other actors that could take over the Matthew Crawley role. But Julian Fellowes, the creator of “Downton Abbey,” shot down that possibility. “Sometimes actors feel they want to move on,” he told Entertainment Weekly. “If they don't want to come back, there's nothing we can do.”