‘Downton Abbey’ season 6: Hugh Bonneville discusses emotional end

For a while, the cast and crew of “Downton Abbey” was forced to be both quiet and coy when discussing whether or not the upcoming sixth season would be the last. Now that they have been freed from that burden, there must be a certain amount of happiness that comes from not having to hide some of that information … right? It certainly seems that way, based on the fact that Hugh Bonneville is one of many out discussing it.

Speaking in a new interview with his network in ITV, the series lead (who has received all sorts of acclaim over the years) made it very clear that this is not going to be an easy show to say farewell to after being a part of it for so long. Also, he let us in on a surprising bit of news in that the fifth season of the show was originally going to be the last:

“Series five was supposed to be the last so this one is a bonus and it feels right for the story … Of course it’s sad. We’re filming the final episodes now. When we finish there’ll be tears.”

While we would have been okay if season 5 was the end (it’s always good to end on a high note), we are personally rather pleased that a renewal did happen. This gives the show a proper opportunity to craft endgame scenarios for many of the characters, and also free the actors up for future projects. Many of them have already had meetings in America about other work, and we imagine that few of them will have any problem moving forward.

If you missed what Bonneville’s co-star Elizabeth McGovern had to say about the series coming to a close, head over to the link here right now! Also, you can sign up right away to acquire some other TV updates on all we cover via our CarterMatt Newsletter. (Photo: ITV.)