“Downton Abbey” ended tonight in Britain, with an apparently satisfying ending that left a lot of doors open for one more go.
It’s a happy ending, with no spoilers here, just enough to say the doors close on Downton with reportedly in everyone in fine fettle expecting the future.
Of course, the show ends in 1925, with Maggie Smith’s Dowager Countess still alive and quipping. This means that there are still two good years before the world economy starts to sour ominously. A movie could still take place in that time and have dramatic endings for some of the characters. The pay off would be a lot better for the show’s creators at $10 a pop than on public television.
So threats of a movie now seem more real. But it’s nice to know that the TV series ends without great weeping or rending of garments. As I always said, no one wanted to get news of Violet Grantham’s death on Christmas Day.
All hail, “Dowton Abbey.” They were the Best Ensemble on television (save “Mad Men”). Now they will live on in misty memories.
The final season begins in the U.S. on January 3rd.
More “Downton” news imminently…