Say Goodbye to Mathew Crawley

Dan Stevens won't return to Downton Abbey full-time

After double checking four different sources, it turns out Dan Stevens (Mathew Crawley) will reportedly not return to Downton Abbey full-time next series.  







Rumors of the actor's exit first began to circulate last month, with TVLine now claiming that "multiple sources" have confirmed Stevens's departure from the ITV period drama.

Photos© ITV

Stevens will appear as Matthew Crawley in Downton's Christmas special - to air on December 25 - but will apparently not appear on a regular basis in the fourth series, which will start shooting in February 2013.

Series creator Julian Fellowes previously insisted that the series will not re-cast the character of Matthew, adding that "there's nothing [you] can do" if actors want to move on to other projects. sources have confirmed that Dan Stevens is not planning to return to Downton Abbey for it's fourth season.

While the majority of the cast have already signed contracts for season 4 and 5, the British actor has not made his return official — and, according to sources, he probably never will.

Dan is currently appearing Broadway in a revival of The Heiress.

"Sometimes actors feel they want to move on," he said. "Initially, for the first two or three [seasons] you can contract them, but after that, every season, you have to re-contract them. If they don't want to come back, there's nothing we can do."

In the US, the third series of Downton Abbey will debut on PBS on January 6.