Bringing the series one step closer to the episode where the Crawleys attend the Monterey Pop festival—and Maggie Smith’s Dowager Countess expresses dismay at the racket that passes for music now, shortly before Jimi Hendrix lights Edith on fire—Downton Abbey has been renewed for a fifth season. The series recently wrapped its fourth season in the UK and in the laptops of Americans of lesser nobility, and while it remains a ratings success both abroad and on PBS (where it returns Jan. 5), it’s naturally begun to weather the usual problems of any long-running show—including some fan and critical backlash, and even the possibility of losing its creator, Julian Fellowes, to American television. Although, the latter seemed to be resolved when Fellowes said he would delay working on NBC’s The Gilded Age until whenever Downton was finished, which is now at least one more year away. And as always, the former could be fixed by the introduction of some steampunk robots.
Join the discussion...