‘Downton Abbey’ Creator Regains Ability to Write After Fixing Tremor

Downton Abbey and The Gilded Age creator Julian Fellowes is regaining his ability to do everyday tasks after a “revolutionary” procedure.

In a new video with Insightec, the Oscar-winning screenwriter, 76, opened up about struggling for years with essential tremor, which left him unable to do simple tasks without shaking, such as holding a cup or writing by hand. The video follows him before, during and after the procedure.

“It started for me around my mid-60s,” he recalled of his early tremors. “At the beginning I was in denial and I sort of said, ‘Oh, wonder what’s the matter with me today.’ But gradually I realized it was a condition.”

After seeing a specialist, Fellowes said he was diagnosed with essential tremor (ET), a neurological condition that causes rhythmic shaking that a person can’t control, according to the Mayo Clinic. It can affect any part of the body, but the trembling typically occurs in the hands.

“One of the losses is handwriting. That is now impossible for me,” the British star shared before the procedure, adding that he had also become less social due to his condition. “[The specialist] proclaimed it more or less incurable. So I am, of course, curious to see if that proves to be true,” he said.

He connected with neurologists Dr. Peter Bain, Dr. Dipankar Nandi and Dr. Brynmor Jones at Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust in the U.K. They would lead the “revolutionary,” non-invasive procedure, which concentrates ultrasound energy on a target without harming healthy surrounding tissue.

“We’re going to treat the tremor in his right arm,” said Bain. “We’re going to do that by firing ultrasound beams into an area of the brain on the left side of the brain, called the thalamus, to relieve the tremor in his right arm.”

In May 2025, Fellowes underwent the MRI-guided focused ultrasound treatment. He said he had to be conscious during the procedure so that he could answer the doctors’ questions. However, he said that meant that he had to “feel a certain amount of pain.”

The procedure was ultimately a success and doctors say Fellowes’ tremor in his right hand was “greatly reduced” with “no adverse effects.”

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In the video, Fellowes is shown after treatment easily drawing circles on a piece of paper, a significant improvement from his previous abilities. He was also able to drink from a cup with a stable hand.

“That’s quite strange, actually, because I haven’t trusted myself to do that for some time,” he admitted, looking at his steady right hand next to his trembling, untreated left hand.

One month after the procedure, Fellowes said that he regained his ability to write, encouraging others with essential tremor to consider having the life-changing procedure.

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“I’ve had the treatment and I’ve, in a sense, cured the tremor in my right hand. And I want people to know that,” he explained. “I think this is the central question of essential tremor: Why do so few people know about it? Including me before I had it. I hope that I can be of some small use in getting it known.”

“When I lost the tremor in my right hand, and once I’d got the pleasure of being able to write again, which I now can, that was a big step for me,” Fellowes said. “For me, my life is much more normal again because it worked. For me at least, this was worth it and I haven’t regretted it for one second.”

For more information about focused ultrasound, visit the Focused Ultrasound Foundation at www.fusfoundation.org.