O'Brien won't feature in Downton Abbey 4

Downton Abbey's scheming maid Sarah O'Brien has left the hit period drama.

Actress Siobhan Finneran said she will not be returning to the show as the nasty screen character, who is maid to Lady Grantham.

Viewers have seen her throughout the first three series, but O'Brien will not feature in the fourth series, which is now being filmed.

Siobhan - soon to be seen in BBC1's The Syndicate - said she enjoyed playing the part, but she would not be back.

"I'm not doing any more," she revealed. "O'Brien is a thoroughly despicable human being - that was great to play."

During her time in the show she has been involved in a bitter feud with under-butler Thomas Barrow, as well as causing Cora Crawley to miscarry.

A spokeswoman for Downton confirmed O'Brien would not feature in the fourth series, but it is understood the door could be left open for a return.

At Christmas viewers were shocked to see the surprise exit of actor Dan Stevens when Matthew Crawley was killed off in the show's seasonal special.

Siobhan is in the cast of the second series of The Syndicate, playing a nurse who wins millions on the lottery with her colleagues.

Downton Abbey will return on BBC1 later this month.

Patrick McLennan

Patrick McLennan is a London-based journalist and documentary maker who has worked as a writer, sub-editor, digital editor and TV producer in the UK and New Zealand. His CV includes spells as a news producer at the BBC and TVNZ, as well as web editor for Time Inc UK. He has produced TV news and entertainment features on personalities as diverse as Nick Cave, Tom Hardy, Clive James, Jodie Marsh and Kevin Bacon and he co-produced and directed The Ponds, which has screened in UK cinemas, BBC Four and is currently available on Netflix. 


An entertainment writer with a diverse taste in TV and film, he lists Seinfeld, The Sopranos, The Chase, The Thick of It and Detectorists among his favourite shows, but steers well clear of most sci-fi.