While "Downton Abbey" will wrap up the series after its sixth season, its executive producer has hinted that there may be more to come for the period drama.
Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter, Gareth Neame revealed that both he and series creator Julian Fellowes have discussed possibly making a silver screen adaptation of the television drama.
"It's something that Julian and I have been contemplating," he said, "and would be a wonderful extension."
However, he was quick to reign in the excitement by adding that nothing concrete has been agreed. "[I]t would be wrong to say there are any plans. There is nothing firmly in place."
He further added that while they would like to keep the show running as long as possible, the stars of the show may have other career paths that may be a problem later on.
"If we had gone on for three more years, we might have found ourselves in the position where half of the actors wanted to stay in the show and half didn't," he admitted. "One of the difficulties in a show about a family as opposed to a show set in a police station or hospital is that employees can come and go, but family members can only leave through death or divorce. So it was very important that we retained the family ensemble together, and I think if we'd gone on for years and some people had gone and some people hadn't, it wouldn't have felt right."
Neame also revealed that there are currently "no plans" to have spin-offs but such hasn't been ruled out completely.
Sixth and Final Season Announced
It was announced on Thursday that "Downton Abbey" will conclude next season. Season six will air in the U.K. later this year and premiere in the U.S. on PBS in early 2016.
"Millions of people around the world have followed the journey of the Crawley family and those who serve them for the last five years. Inevitably there comes a time when all shows should end and 'Downton' is no exception," said Neame said in a statement via the network's website. "We wanted to close the doors of 'Downton Abbey' when it felt right and natural for the storylines to come together and when the show was still being enjoyed so much by its fans. We can promise a final season full of all the usual drama and intrigue, but with the added excitement of discovering how and where they all end up..."
The sixth and final season arrives in the U.K. later this year and will follow in the United States by early 2016.
