‘Downton Abbey’ season 5: Producer blasts rumors of show ending

Just because you may think that “Downton Abbey” should end in a season or two does not necessarily have to mean that it will. For some more of that, just take a look at what one of the executive producers had to say in response to some heavily-circulated rumors by the British press (the mustache-twirling villains of the internet) that claimed the series was definitely getting set to sign off at the conclusion of the fifth season next year.

The following response to that claim comes via Gareth Neame, one of the show’s executive producers, in a statement to Zap2It. He also spends at least a minute talking about the starting point for season 5 production, and some of the components and challenges that go into making that a success:

“That was totally invented by the British press, totally made up. Completely untrue. There are no plans to end the show. We start filming Season 5 in about five weeks’ time … We’re working heavily on the episodes now. [Creator] Julian [Fellowes] has written the first four episodes, I’ve been working hard on those with him. Right now we’re honing them ready for production.”

Of course, it is far too early to really say anything for sure about a season that has not even started filming yet, especially when the fourth season is still airing in the United States.

The primary reason that we have been somewhat content with the idea of the series ending next year is not because we want to see “Downton Abbey” sent off to the TV wasteland; instead, it is just because we don’t ever want to see it run to the point where it becomes irrelevant. Thanks to the way that contracts are written here, it’s a little harder to keep the same cast together than it is for American shows, and this could be a hard show to press on with if it was to lose someone like a Robert or a Lady Mary at some point in its run.