The end of an era is approaching as Downton Abbey, the biggest hit in PBS history, prepares to launch into its sixth and final season. But it may not be the end of the upstairs-downstairs melodrama as creator Julian Fellowes is considering a proper movie after the series concludes.
In an appearance at the Television Critics Association Press Tour, Fellowes said that while he thought the series could go into a seventh and even eighth season, he wanted Downton to go out on a high note rather than overstay its welcome. “If we’d tried to eke out a season eight we would have started to run out of ideas,” he said. But a theatrically released film is something Fellowes would be open to, though there are no firm plans yet. “There’s rumor and speculation, but there’s nothing planned,” said Fellowes. “I think a Downton movie would be wonderful, but there’s no script.”
If there is a movie, don’t expect it to include the Wall Street crash of 1929, which destabilized the global economy and would certainly curtail Downton’s opulence. “I’m not sure I could bear to see Robert Crawley go through a financial crisis,” said Fellowes.
Downton Abbey’s sixth season premieres in January.