"Downton Abbey" season 6 will be the last season for the show and will retain its 1920s setting. The Christmas special will also serve as the ninth and final episode. However, there have been rumors that a true conclusion might surface through a theatrically released movie. Series creator Julian Fellowes and executive producer Gareth Neame finally gave their thoughts on this.
In an interview with Deadline, Fellowes stated that the conclusion isn't necessarily going to resolve all the storylines. Some will find closure while "anything unresolved is unresolved," meaning they are still keeping things open in case they do find a way to continue to the story of "Downton Abbey" in another format, say a movie or book.
He also stated that this is exactly why the finale won't just kill off the characters all at once. Just because the series is ending doesn't mean that the characters' lives and stories won't go on.
When asked about finishing "Downton Abbey" with a theatrical film, Fellowes had mixed feelings about it. He stated that he is open to the idea but isn't anxious about doing one right now, stating that the movie conclusions to television shows he had seen before were all disappointing.
"Normally they're not very good because the film producer says, 'Oh, it's not going to be anything like the series,'' and of course what you want is for it to be exactly like the series," Fellowes explained. "I hope we would avoid that error in doing one, but I do have mixed feelings about it."
Neame was a little bit more optimistic about it, stating that the cast and crew are all up for a film to end the series if the opportunity comes around. However, he did reiterate that there are no firm plans to do so at the moment, which means the 2015 Christmas special will be the show's conclusion for the time being.
"Downton Abbey" season 6 premieres this November.
