Sue Johnston has been announced as a guest star on the forthcoming fifth series of ‘Downton Abbey’.
The actress, best known for her role as Barbara in the TV comedy ‘The Royle Family’ following her breakthrough along with Ricky Tomlinson in 'Brookside', recently enjoyed a stint in ‘Coronation Street’ playing Gloria Price, the mother of Michelle Collins’s character Stella.
Sue Johnston, who will be appearing in the new series of 'Downton Abbey'
This will be Sue’s first major role since leaving the ITV soap back in February, and she'll be playing Denker, the lady’s maid to Dame Maggie Smith’s iconic Dowager Countess of Grantham, famed for her quick wit and acerbic one-liners.
The ITV period drama, which has been a hit overseas and been awarded with Baftas and Emmys alike, will be returning for a fifth series later this year, with a feature-length Christmas special also in the pipeline.
Sue isn’t the only name to have landed a role in the show, as actors including Richard E Grant and Anna Chancellor have also been confirmed for guest appearances in the new series.
The show’s regular cast - including Michelle Dockery and Hugh Bonneville, who plays patriarch Robert Crawley - were recently photographed in full costume taping the drama’s much-awaited fifth series.
Meanwhile, it was reported earlier this month that Lily James, who joined ‘Downton’ as Lady Rose at the end of the third series and has been causing trouble for the Crawley family ever since, would be quitting the show at the end of the next series, to play the lead in Disney’s forthcoming live-action ‘Cinderella’ remake.
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