Obsolescence is again on the characters’ minds in Downton Abbey, the feature film, a thoroughly satisfying follow-up that arrives in theaters not quite four years after the series finale aired. You didn’t suppose the grand old house would be allowed to get dusty?

There is something faintly Hogwartian about the opening scene of Downton Abbey, which follows a hand-stamped letter’s journey via steam train from Buckingham Palace to ITV’s most beloved Yorkshire manor. When Lord Grantham (Hugh Bonneville) receives word that the King and Queen will be visiting Downton Abbey, the household is thrown into chaos in their efforts to prepare for the royal visit. If you are already a fan of the TV series, its big-screen debut will likely be a delight. All your favourite characters are back, and Maggie Smith's Dowager Countess continues to shower us in her delightfully sardonic way. But if you are not already well acquainted with this fine country house and its residents, there’s little in this aggressively gentle nostalgia trip to really draw you into their story. This is a film where major plot points turn on precisely how shiny the silver should be ahead of a royal visit to the titular stately home. Bigger story threads involve who gets to serve dinner to the royals – the Downton staff or the King’s own people – and whether Tuppence Middleton’s Lucy Smith, maid to Lady Bagshaw (Imelda Staunton), is too big for her boots.

Movie spin-offs of TV shows are almost never a good idea and this is no exception, the film’s narrative rhythm structured in bite-size episodic beats. The budget seems bigger, the costumes flashier and the swooping overhead shots of the Crawley mansion appropriately cinematic, but, truth be told, there’s little to suggest that this has been designed for the big screen rather than as an extended television special. The hugely popular series ran for six seasons from 2010 to 2015, offering an exportable social history of Britain between 1912 and 1926. Those who followed will likely enjoy being reunited with Maggie Smith’s withering asides. Those who didn’t will find it easy enough to keep up with the plot, which centres on a visit from George V (Simon Jones) and Queen Mary (Geraldine James). Still, it’s lighthearted stuff and mostly benign too, save its unashamedly effusive stance on the monarchy. Downtown Abbey is basically a gentle, unchallenging drama for people who already know they like it, this is a nostalgic and rosy depiction of an England that was, surely, never so innocent.