With one season left for ‘Downton Abbey,’ it has been a strong speculation that the worldwide British phenomenon could continue on by means of a spinoff film.
At a special screening of the first episode of the hit period drama's sixth and final season for the media, producer Liz Trubridge said she would prefer to see the characters resurrected in the 1970s.
Executive producer Gareth Neame had also put a storyline forward featuring Master George, son of Lady Mary and her late husband Matthew, as the Earl of Grantham, who will be in charge of the estate in the mid-1950s.
The seventies had brought on critical changes for the British aristocracy as numerous privileged families were forced to sell their estate to get themselves out of debt and held on to their collapsing fortunes.
‘Downton Abbey’ season six is set in 1925 and points out to the threatening times, with the Earl of Grantham's neighbor forced to vend the estate's silver.
Hugh Bonneville, who takes on the role of the family patriarch, opened up about the final series, which will start airing September and is set in 1925, describing it as having “a flavour of the end of an era.”
'Robert, the dinosaur that he has been this time does adapt, does see that change is necessary…” Bonnevile added. “He wants to conserve the best of the past but absolutely understands that the future beckons.”
The idea of a ‘Downton Abbey’ movie has been previously discussed by series creator Julian Fellowes as a project that he might possibly consider or even accomplish in ten years’ time. While there have been no final plans, ample territory has been left to cultivate.
At the press launch in London, the screenwriter opened up about ending the hit period drama at the right time but teased, "Life is a slightly open-ended story. You can't just kill the entire cast."
Fellowes also agreed that the 1970s would be a fascinating period to return to the upper-class family.
"Until the end of the Seventies it was very uphill trying to keep the show on the road in these places," he said.
Asked whether she would be eager to work on a spinoff film, Dame Maggie Smith who takes on the role of the Dowager Countess of Grantham, Violet Crawley, points out that she was "just surprised that I got to the end," also saying that a movie "would be fun".
The Oscar award-winning actress also said that she will be taking a break after ‘Downton Abbey’ ends, saying: "I'm going to be lying down. I believe for quite some time."
The below-stairs servants filmed their final scene during the night before the press briefing, which was attended by many of the cast members.
"It's an incredibly emotional, moving scene in the very last episode," Neame said. "It was very cleverly scheduled that they had that scene to do and then we clapped them all off the stage. I can tell you that quite a few tears were shed by grown men in the form of butlers and footmen that I never expected to see."
Looking back at the past seasons, Fellowes further shared, “People ask if we knew what was going to happen when we started to make the first series and the answer is that, of course we had no idea.”
For the final season of ‘Downton Abbey,’ the period drama will not necessarily shed light on all of the possibilities for the characters nor will it offer flash-forwards.
“We don’t have to have completely happy endings, but for the audience it is not a satisfying ending to have the place blown up. It is overwhelmingly a positive show, even when melancholic,” Neame explained.
‘Downton Abbey’ season six is set to make its premiere on Jan 3., 2016.
