Good things always come to those who wait and that’s especially accurate for the Downton Abbey’s fans. In the drama’s final season, the fans will once again have to wait for the British series to finish airing in England before it starts in the US, and the final season of Downton Abbey will be premiered on Sunday, January 3, 2016.
This fact has been announced by PBS at a press conference for the Television Critics Association, where both the cast and the writers fielded a plethora of questions about the show’s future. Despite the fact that the series finale will air in the US at the end of February, there is plenty of hope that the story will continue in the form of a movie or a spinoff series.
During the announcement, PBS also revealed the first look of the series. It teases a wedding, Edith, played by Laura Carmichael, striking out on her own, Branson, portrayed by Allen Leech, being lonely in America and, of course Isobel, played by Penelope Wilton and Violet, played by Maggie Smith, facing off once again.
Season 6 will depict the year 1952 at the wedding of Mr. Carson and Mrs. Hughes. They have the most delightful exchange, when Hughes wonders if Carson should call her Elise or not. Meanwhile, Edith is in London trying to make a go of it as a businesswoman now that Michael Gregson’s, portrayed by Charles Edwards, company is hers after his death.
In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, the show-runner, Julian Fellowes, said that there’s no speculation about whether he will ever make a Downton Abbey movie or not. Executive producer Gareth Neame said that Fellowes could easily balance both, that is writing a screenplay and working on the new show The Gilded Age.
Vanity Fair further reveals that the idea for the Downton Abbey spinoff wouldn’t necessarily show the future of the Crawley family, but the past. It would be a prequel, but as the executive producer has mentioned multiple times, no further Downton Abbey plans have been cemented so far.
The show-runner and the Executive Producer have kept rumors about movies and spinoffs alive all through the year and when they were asked about the possibility of a release in March, both of them were just as open to all the prospects. In an interview with Variety, Neame said that it will be great fun since he thinks that it would be a wonderful extension.
The filming of this drama recently concluded at Highclere Castle and the cast sat down to discuss the emotional final season. In an interview with Oregon Live, Hugh Bonneville revealed that after the final dining room scene was shot at the castle, everyone gathered round to take a group photo while Laura Carmichael added that during the last day at Highclere Castle, she shed a few tears and took one last walk around the set with her co-star Michelle Dockery, as a way of saying goodbye.
Bonneville was unable to provide too much information about the final season but he pointed out that this season has the flavor of the end of an era. In addition to this The Downton Abbey Star also added that his character Lord Grantham will finally accept that the whole world is changing and time has come to change his past ideals.
However, the final episode will not be entirely depressing and Neame reassured the fans that both he and Fellowes took immense ache to make sure that the series finale will not at all annoy the audience.