Best. six. ever.
‘Downton Abbey’ ending after next season
The Crawley estate is closing its doors.
executive producer Gareth Neame confirmed Thursday that “Downton Abbey” will end after its upcoming sixth season — and said there has been discussion of continuing the story of these charismatic aristocrats as a feature film.
“It is something we are contemplating. It would be a wonderful extension of the TV show,” Neame said. “It would take a lot of time and planning. [Creator] Julian [Fellowes] and I would be very interested in doing it.”
Neame said that the decision to end “Downton” on a high note was a joint decision by producers and the cast and he stressed that contract negotiations or ratings were not a factor.
“If Julian wanted out of the show, I would not be inclined to keep it alive without him. he’s written every episode and created all the characters,” Neame said. “It’s good to quit while you’re ahead. We feel the show’s in incredibly good shape. The new scripts are fantastic. The danger is to let the show go on forever, for seven, eight years. It’s more important to ... not outstay our welcome.”
Production is under way on Season 6, which will place the family in 1925, closer to the 1929 crash that brought the aristocratic way of life in Britain to an end as families were forced to sell their grand estates to stay afloat.
“We have been about the end of a way of life, the end of a particular history,” Neame said. “The aristocracy and the wonderful lives they lived ... We will now start to see how that way of life comes to an end. In developing these episodes, we’ve been very much keeping an eye to where the characters will end up. We’ve seen characters die and others have children. Will Bates and Anna ever get a break? What will happen to poor edith?”
Neame confirmed that all of show’s current characters would appear in the final season, which in Britain will conclude on Christmas night. New episodes will not air in the US until January 2016.
“Downton,” which debuted on PBS in 2011, is the top drama in the public broadcaster’s history, averaging 12.9 million viewers in Season 5. Filmed largely at highclere Castle, it garnered 51 emmy nominations, winning 11 statuettes. It also airs in some 250 markets worldwide.
Season 5 ended with Lady Mary (Michelle Dockery) potentially finding a new suitor, Lady edith (Laura Carmichael) seeing her family accept her illegitimate daughter and Lady Rose (Lily James) getting married to a Jewish banker. Lady Sybil’s widower, Tom Branson (Allen Leech), moved to America with their daughter, Sybil.