Fans of stiff upper lips, the Dowager's withering put-downs and Lady Mary Crawley's side-eye, we've got BAD NEWS. It turns out the sixth series of Downton Abbey could be the last - because Julian Fellowes is reportedly ditching the popular class-obsessed drama so he can move to America and work on another, erm, class-obsessed drama about 19th century New Yawk. So basically, Downton Abbey with an American accent.
According to The Mirror, J-Fell is OVER Downton, and so are the cast, who are already looking for new, similarly lucrative jobs. A source told the paper: “It’s an open secret that Downton is ending this year...some of the actors are keen to let it be known they will be available for work after the summer. Some are interested in the US, where Downton is as popular as it is in the UK."
ITV have declined to comment on the rumours, but apparently they are already looking for a new TV show to replace Downton after the sixth series airs in September. “They are looking for something which is long-running and ambitious and which could appeal to the mass audience in the way that* Downton* has done" - a TV insider/dream-crusher added.
Julian Fellowes has further twisted the knife in by commenting in another interview “Downton is not going to go on forever. It won’t be Perry Mason.”
But WHY NOT Julian? What if we wanted to see the crusty old family trundle further into the 20th century and struggle to deal with the rise of unkempt facial hair, flares and the sexual revolution?
We still have so many unanswered questions - will Lady Mary ever settle down? Will Lady Edith find love again? Will we see Carson unfurrow his furrowed brow and crack a smile as he walks down the aisle with Phyllis?
Of course, none of this gossip is confirmed by TV bods yet, and we've still got another series to come, but if it is true, it could be the most devastating aristo-based news since the untimely demise of Isis the dog. Or maybe Dan Stevens losing his chubby good looks when he went Hollywood. Either way, we're sad.