Joanna Froggatt to return to Downton Abbey in shock twist that will be 'welcome news' for fans

Joanne Froggatt's character will reportedly she pregnant when she returns to 'Downton Abbey'.

The 43-year-old actress starred as Anna Bates on the ITV1 period frans throughout the entirety of it initial run and appeared in the first two films but now in photos obtained by The Sun from the set of the third film, the character appears to be expecting.

A source told The Sun newspaper's TVBiz column: "This will be welcome news for fans of the drama, because Anna was a particular favourite but none of the cast members were guaranteed to return."

The insider also noted that while producers had tries their best to reunite "most" of the cast from the hit TV series, it was just not possible to get them all in the end.

The souclrce added: “Although the producers have tried to reunite most of the 'Downton' stars, not all of them have been able to commit, even if they did appear in the first two films.”

According to Variety, Paul Giamatti will be reprising his role from the TV series as Cora’s brother Harold Levinson.

The outlet added new to the film franchise are Joely Richardson, Alessandro Nivola and ‘House of the Dragon’ actors Simon Russell Beale and Arty Froushan.

Dominic West will also reprise his role as Guy Dexter from the second movie.

The hugely successful period drama started on ITV in 2011 and has spawned six series and two movies.

The first two films, released in 2019 and 2022, grossed a combined $287.3 million worldwide.

As well as actress Elizabeth McGovern, other returning key cast include Hugh Bonneville, Michelle Dockery, Laura Carmichael, Jim Carter, Phyllis Logan, Penelope Wilton, Lesley Nicol, Michael Fox, Raquel Cassidy, Brendan Coyle, Kevin Doyle, Harry Hadden-Paton, Sophie McShera and Douglas Reith.