Fans of “Downton Abbey,” take heart.
Unlike many American series that end unsatisfactorily, the producers on this show had plenty of time to prepare a proper ending — one that ties up many loose ends and sees its most cursed character experience a remarkable reversal of fortune.
“It became clear to us that Edith (Laura Carmichael) would get some good luck and trump all the rest of them,” says “Downton” executive producer Gareth Neame. When we last saw the middle child of the aristocratic Grantham family, she’d missed out on another chance at marriage, thanks to her awful sister, Lady Mary (Michelle Dockery). So of all the smiles that spread across the faces of the show’s main characters — as they celebrate the happy endings bestowed upon them by creator Julian Fellowes — Edith’s is the hardest-earned.
“Laura’s character got happier and happier as she went through the six seasons,” Neame says. “Her story just felt so right.”
Neame adds that bedeviled spouses Anna (Joanne Froggatt) and Bates (Brendan Coyle) also “get a break.” If fortune smiles on Edith, Mr. Moseley (Kevin Doyle) and even the dubious Mr. Barrow (Robert James-Collier), there’s one person who gets the short end of the stick.
Rumors on the Internet speculated that the finale would skip 10 years, to 1935, and that Violet, the Dowager Countess of Grantham (Maggie Smith), would not appear. In fact, the action picks up where we left off, shortly after Lady Mary’s marriage to Henry Talbot (Matthew Goode). “The Internet was designed to get information,” says Neame. “Increasingly, it’s about spreading information. Somebody says someone is leaving the show and it’s around the world.”
Unlike the Dowager’s demise, rumors of a “Downton” movie are not the stuff of fiction. “The idea for the show was inspired out of a movie [‘Gosford Park’]. The English country house genre has been successful on the screen,” Neame says. “So, we’re investigating. I believe we’ll get there.”
In the six years and 52 episodes that it’s been on the air, “Downton Abbey” broke ratings records at PBS, won a slew of international awards and made stars out of most of its cast members. (Maggie Smith was already a star.)
“People watched this show because they love these characters,” Neame says. “We were blessed with a cast that moved effortlessly between drama and comedy. We won the Screen Actors Guild award for Best Ensemble three times. Extraordinary.”