My fellow American Downton Abbey lovers are still waiting for season 5 to air in the U.S. (January is right around the corner!), but we’ve already received some great news about the future of the series. ITV and Carnical Films announced that they’ve renewed Downton Abbey for a sixth series! Right now series 5 is airing in the UK and ratings have been strong. According to Carnival’s Managing Director, Gareth Neame:
“We have had an amazing reaction to the story lines, acting and production values of Downton Abbey this year and the whole team is thrilled to be moving ahead with a new season of the show. This will provide audiences with a fresh opportunity to see what will befall our much loved characters.”
And ITV’s Director of Drama Commissioning, Steve November also said:
“It is fantastic that Downton continues to be such a phenomenon – still the most popular drama on ITV in its fifth series – and we are thrilled to have commissioned a sixth series. We don’t know yet what Julian has planned, but we are looking forward to working with him, the fantastic cast and Carnival again and have no doubt series six will be unmissable.”
The last episode of series 5 will air tomorrow (Sunday, November 9) in the UK, but will return for the Christmas Special on December 25.
Season 5 will premiere in the U.S. on PBS MASTERPIECE on Sunday, January 4, 2015.
Even though we have yet to see season 5 in the U.S., it’s excellent to find out that we’ll have even more Downton Abbey to look forward to!
What do you think of the news? What story lines are you most looking forward to seeing?