End of a class act

Producers confirm ‘Downton Abbey’ is closing after next season

THE DOWAGER Countess was right. The upcoming sixth season of “Downton Abbey” will be its last.

Confirming reports earlier this month, executive producer Gareth Neame said Thursday that the most successful drama in PBS history is ending because its creators don’t want to stretch it beyond its natural life span. “Millions of people around the world have followed the

journey of the Crawley family and those who serve them for the last five years,” said Neame. “Inevitably, there comes a time when all shows should end, and ‘Downton’ is no exception. We wanted to close the doors of ‘Downton Abbey’ when it felt right and natural for the story lines to come together and when the show was still being enjoyed so much by its fans.”

The sixth season, now filming, will air in the U.K. in the fall and on PBS starting in January 2016. Maggie Smith, who plays Dowager Countess Violet, said earlier this year that she expected the upcoming season to be the last. She said she “couldn't imagine” how Violet, for one, could go much longer.

The core cast (including Michelle Dockery and Laura Carmichael, inset, from l.) will return and Neame strongly suggested that most major story lines will be wrapped up this year — though perhaps the long-term fate of Downton, a continuing concern for the characters, will have to be left in the balance.

“We can promise a final season full of all the usual drama and intrigue,” he said, “but with the added excitement of discovering how and where they all end up.”

T hat’s only slight consolation to viewers who will be left without the upstairs/downstairs intrigue, and to PBS, which must find something to replace a show that made public broadcasting a center of television watercooler buzz.